Boomsday    by Christopher Buckley Order:  USA  Can Twelve, 2007 (2007) Hardcover, Audio, CD Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Boomsday has the unlikeliest collection of characters that ever graced the printed page. Cassandra Devine's father spent her Yale college money and the mortgage on the family home on a dot com scheme that ultimately netted him untold millions. Said father, Frank Cuhane, lusts to be Secretary of the Treasury. Minister Gideon Payne simply lusts. President Peachum decides to run for a second term but is surrounded by those whom he considers unworthy. Massimo Cardinal Montefeltro tries to free himself from blackmailing Russians. Senator Randolph Jepperson drives into a minefield on a fact finding mission, hence his prosthesis. Cassandra (Cass) has come up with a scheme to save Social Security. Have the wrinklies check out voluntarily, preferably by age sixty-five, but the scheme would work even up to age seventy-five. Transitioning would solve the fiscal problem that Peachum never addressed during his first term in office. The tongue-in-cheek story gets so outrageous that it eventually seems logical. Fun is another word that comes to mind. After a while, the mad schemes that abound don't seem so mad. Rather scary. The bumbling president could be a familiar real life president, with a complete disregard for any but his own ideas. Great sums of money change hands, not always legitimately. Christopher Buckley, 'The National Bestselling author of Thank You For Smoking', has done it again. He has provided a chance for many laughs at the zany antics of those in charge, as well as outlining some truly frightening scenarios that could actually happen. Or maybe have already happened. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews