‘Fatal Legislation’ takes on healthcare, hacking, Capitol Hill

Award-winning Prince William County author Ellen Butler will release the second book in her Karina Cardinal suspense series, a novel injected with politics, cybercrime and current events that hit close to home, particularly for those following national dialogues and technology.

The book opens with lobbyist Karina Cardinal duking it out with a senator who torpedoed her healthcare legislation initiative, only to have the senator die in front of her. But the senator’s death was no heart attack – a hacker with a keen understanding of technical and personal vulnerabilities had disabled his pacemaker. Now a person of interest, Karina begins a dangerous back-channel investigation to identify the culprit and clear her name.

Butler’s quick-witted prose brings readers into the amphitheater of Capitol Hill culture, one with which she is highly familiar: with a master’s degree in public administration and experience in the policy and association worlds, Butler has been up close and personal with politics, intrigue and drama. She further intertwines her knowledge of cyber security and current events to bring relevant, powerful fiction to the bookshelves and beyond.

“I think what makes this book so timely is the storyline, which delves into the trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industrial complex and its influence on our elections and legislative initiatives,” says Butler.

“My research revealed American consumers are funding those lobbying efforts, which are at time detrimental to our own healthcare, as we’ve seen with the opioid crisis.”

Butler also believes the book “weaves an underlying commentary on our day-to-day vulnerabilities with technology.”

Colleen J. Shogan, Author of K Street Killing says, "Fatal Legislation is a perfect Washington suspense novel. Ellen Butler has created an intricate plot with realistic characters embroiled in the world of policymaking, lobbyists and congress.”

Fatal Legislation will be available through Amazon and online outlets in December 2018. Learn more about Ellen Butler at www.EllenButler.net.