Death of the First Lady — Tim Callahan

The first lady leaves a note for the president blaming the media for driving her to suicide. Her last wish is that he use the media's own tactics against them and expose the hypocrites in the press.
Torn between doing the right thing and avenging her death, Republican President Jack Roberts eventually succumbs to his bitterness and hires the ex-director of the FBI, Cliff Branch, to dig up dirt on the media and blackmail them during his reelection campaign. As a former journalist, Roberts convinces himself he is doing the media a favor. He is only demanding equal coverage and forcing them to do their job right.
But, the ex-director, a victim of the media over 9/11 and burgeoning alcoholic, spins out of control and murders two innocent bystanders. Secret Service agent Ron Brown discovers the media plot and murders and ends up running for his life, branded a killer and traitor by the man he risked his life to protect.
Only the fugitive agent and two unlikely allies, the president's chief advisor and pastor, can bring down the most powerful man in the world.
About the author: Tim Callahan is an author, award-winning journalist and publisher of the Murrells Inlet Messenger. His previous books have been featured in USA Today, the Associated Press and New York Times, and he has won eight statewide (S.C.) press awards in the past two years. He attended Denver Seminary, has a master's degree in journalism, and was a Washington, D.C., freelance correspondent for Christianity Today.
This is his first novel in the Defender of the Faith Series, using suspense and teaching apologetics (the defense of Christianity) to entertain and enlighten readers. He lives in Pawleys Island, S.C., with his incredible wife, Debbie, and his rescue cat, Esther.