Not salacious at all. Couldn't put it down. We are well and truly screwed. Thanks for the confirmation, Bob. Highly recommend.

Okay, so I’ve been putting off writing this review while I try to process my feelings about it. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:1. There was nothing particularly surprising in this book or in any of the other books that have been released about Trump, except this book describes the lengths to which his staff go in order to handle him—taking documents off his desk before he can sign them, conducting meetings prior to meetings to try to agree on an approach2. The book itself was disjointed and unfocused. Perhaps Woodward did this on purpose to try to portray a chaotic and unfocused administration, but I honestly am left wondering why he felt he had to write the book now and why he was in such a hurry to release it. I felt as though the book was not finished—it ends abruptly when McGahn resigns and I’m not sure if there was a point to it ending then or if it was just the last thing Woodward could cover before he could meet his publishing deadline.3. Bannon comes off surprisingly well in this book. I suspect he is a source for much of the info.4. Woodward comes across as lukewarm on the Mueller investigation. I doubt that is his intent, however he is being so careful to try to present things from the point of view of Trump and his team that he gives the impression that he is somewhat sympathetic to them.5. Repeatedly we see Trump refusing to look at evidence, especially if it contradicts his own long-held beliefs. For instance, one of his economic advisers says that his role is to identify the underlying statistics that confirm Trump’s instincts, and Trump’s instincts when it comes to the economy are always correct.6. This book reinforces that Trump views everything from a profit motive. He obsesses over the fact that countries benefit from the US military without helping to pay for it, not understanding the strategic importance of using our military around the world. He gets all excited when Afghanistan promises him the mineral rights in exchange for our military support, not realizing that the minerals in Afghanistan are totally inaccessible and are useless to anyone.7. And everything comes through a filter of how it impacts Trump. This is the only thing he cares about.But he knew that. We knew it before the election, and nothing has changed except he’s become even more boorish and less conciliatory. My guess is that the Trump apologists will do what they always do and shrug this book off- fake news, poorly researched, lies, etc. Those opposed to Trump who have been following his presidency at all will shrug and say, “Yeah, tell us something we don’t know.” (This is pretty much where I am.)The key target audience is, of course, the in-betweeners, and despite all the teeth gnashing and hand wringing about this book, if they haven’t figured everything that is in this book out already, then they are willfully sticking their heads in the sand and aren't going to change nowSo bottom line, for me, is that I truly don’t understand why Woodward wrote this book at this point in time. My husband says he was trying to impact the elections, and that may be it. Somehow, I just don’t see it, though. I think voters have Trump fatigue. I think they are tired of the whole thing, and most of them have probably already decided for whom they will vote. At this point, Mueller could come out and tell everyone that he has discovered all of Hillary’s missing emails on Trump’s servers and found evidence that Trump and Clinton are colluding together on pizza gate, and it still wouldn’t have an impact on anything. These are, indeed, strange and scary times.

The reality is sobering. Our form of government clearly did not work as the framers intended when we elected the man-child Donald, who never should have been accorded presidential powers. Donald the blowhard, malignant narcissist, sociopath, perpetual liar (mixed with delusion), meant to be a reality tv star and hustler, not leader of the free world. The evidence was out there…..but somehow here we are, on the self-induced path to our own destruction. Who would have thought that American supremacy could end in this way?I am thankful to Woodward for *Fear*. It is a highly detailed account that confirms our suspicions about Trump while alerting us to the real and present danger posed every day he remains in office. It is up to us, now, to get him out. Some of the damage he is doing is irreversible. Every American needs to be on a mission, to save what we love so our children and grandchildren will have freedoms and rights and economic prosperity that we have enjoyed.You will encounter Trump’s most influential enablers in *Fear*. How could they have propped this man up, knowing what they knew about him? Just because a man CAN become president doesn’t mean he SHOULD be president. But in this administration, as can be seen in endless vignettes in the book, character does not matter. Imagine that. Truthfulness is for sissies. Winners need not have honor. Slander should be the weapon of choice if a candidate can pull it off (as Trump does magnificently and maliciously).Woodward’s *Fear* is carefully researched with documentation. The author is unarguably truthful, honorable, a "winner" with known approved character. Let’s appreciate the many truths he has uncovered for us, so we can better figure out what we must do to save our democratic republic. Let this book serve as a call to all patriots capable of seeing through the glass clearly: Americans, we the people, can get our country through this assault on our values, way of life and treasured form of governance.

How did we ever, got to this point, should be the question to ALL of us.

This is the book that only Bob Woodward could have written. With his experience and regard as a journalist who's held numerous administrations up to scrutiny (both Republican and Democratic), this is the examination of the Trump administration that we very much need. It's a pity that so many of his supporters will tune out this warning because it's one that's badly needed.Woodward doesn't mince facts as he shines a spotlight on the chaos within the White House. That even those who are unprepared and unqualified for the positions that they hold are scrambling behind the scenes to make coherent policy out of Trump's whims, reining in the worst excesses and even taking the unheard of step of actively working to keep Trump from entirely gutting American's foreign and domestic operations. We see his staff members trying to salvage our alliances, recognizing how vital they are for our country's security even if the man holding the office of president doesn't.But while the book, based impeccably on fact and direct testimony of those trying to operate in the eye of the storm, reveals the total dysfunction of the Trump White House and how utterly detached Trump is from reality, it raises other more troubling questions. Where are the checks that our founding fathers built into our system of government that were meant to corral an out-of-control president? What happens when the Congress, currently in the control of Trump's supposed party refuses to take seriously its role as an equal part of the federal government and give Trump free rein. What will remain of the Republican party once Trump leaves the political stage (whether by impeachment, being voted out or at the end of a dreaded second term)? What happens to our need for rational political discourse now that we've entered a world where fear, personal insults and cruelty are seen as political assets?I'd call this a must read even with the knowledge that too many people who need to read this book won't. Which is a real shame because like it or not, we're all in this together and one day we're all going to be survivors of what Trump has inflicted on our country.