STANDALONE WITH ENGAGING CHARACTERS: A Simple Choice introduces a fresh, timely concept and new protagonists who are outsiders in the traditional political world, including a strong female Supreme Court Clerk who readers will root for.

FANTASTIC PRAISE: The Voter File, David Pepper’s first novel featuring Jack Sharpe published with Putnam, garnered amazing reviews, with the Wall Street Journal calling Pepper “one of the best political-thriller writers on the scene.”

AUTHOR WITH A ONE-OF-A-KIND PERSPECTIVE: Pepper was until recently the chairman of the Democratic Party of Ohio; he knows the ins and outs of American politics. He also worked for three years in Russia in the 1990s, so he has a firm grasp on the culture of America’s most active antagonist.

WELL-CONNECTED AUTHOR: Big names like Bill Clinton and Senator Bill Bradley blurbed The Voter File, and Pepper will tap into his many political connections with this publication. 

A NEW ENTRY IN A POPULAR CATEGORY: Pepper writes the kind of political thriller made newly popular with authors like Stacey Abrams, and that should please fans of David Baldacci and Alex Berenson—and he’s the only author writing in that vein on the Putnam list.

PAPERBACK TIE-IN: We will publish the trade paperback of The Voter File in June 2021, and it will include a teaser from A Simple Choice.

David Pepper is the author of The Voter File, The People’s House, and The Wingman, all of which feature Jack Sharpe. He earned his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He has clerked for a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, served in local elected office in Ohio, worked for major law firms, and taught election and voting rights law. Prior to law school, Pepper worked in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2015, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Democratic Party of Ohio.

Author Residence: Cincinnati, OH

“David Pepper has written another thriller ripped from the headlines.”
—Hillary Rodham Clinton

“With A Simple Choice, David Pepper uses his insider knowledge of American politics to deliver a riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller about two regular people up against extraordinary odds. This is a page-turner with a provocative idea at its heart.”
—Stacey Abrams, author of While Justice Sleeps    

“[A] tantalizing thriller…Pepper makes it work splendidly.”
—Booklist

“Pepper…knows how to cast a chill with deep state politics.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Eerily realistic…The author challenges preconceived notions about a horrible, multifaceted disease and combines this with car chases and behind-the-scenes political skullduggery, making the choice to read A Simple Choice a simple one.”
—Shelf Awareness

“Pepper certainly knows how to write a political page-turner….This ability to make the reader truly consider important ethical dilemmas is no small part of Mr. Pepper’s talent as a storyteller.”
—Criminal Element

“The fast-moving plot of A Simple Choice will keep readers turning the pages.”
—The Florida Times-Union

“As gripping as it is on point.”
—Providence Journal