Arlington, VA, Saturday September 17, 2016: Rick Ainsworth will be appearing to sign books at the Barnes & Noble Clarendon store, located in Clarendon Market Common. His latest novel, American Dictator – Changing of the Guard, has received rave reviews and is particularly relevant in this xtraordinary election year.

This exciting political thriller, first of a trilogy, chronicles the campaign and early days of a new U.S. president, M. Spencer Howell. He and his administration enact bold reforms, supported by a popular majority. Voices in and out of the government have misgivings about some of the details, but the character and honesty of the president dampen their concerns. Yet, some on the President’s team appear to have their own ideas. What might happen without Howell’s cautious hand on the controls? Great power given to one president can and will certainly be used by subsequent presidents, with unpredictable results.

“… Ainsworth deftly tracks the arc of Howell’s power as it grows more tyrannical. Even more impressive is the author’s depiction of the profound consequences of widespread disenfranchisement and the blindness of the public when it’s deeply disappointed by its supposed representatives. …this is a very timely book, given that we live in an age of national frustration, and it artfully captures the precariousness of even the best democracies. A well-crafted parable about the vulnerability of democracy to demagoguery.” Kirkus