An official summer read of Publishers Weekly and The Interrobang, "Hope Never Dies" is a roughly 300-page work of political fanfiction, an escapist fantasy that will likely appeal to liberals pining for the previous administration, longing for the Obama-Biden team to emerge from political retirement as action heroes. But it's also at times a surprisingly earnest story about estranged friends who are reunited under strange circumstances.

While readers are sure to get a kick out of the codenames and inside jokes used playfully throughout, "Hope Never Dies" is an intriguing saga that doesn't sacrifice momentum for winks and nods.