'State of Terror': Hillary Clinton teams up with author Louise Penny for political thriller

The two will join forces on a novel set around a novice secretary of state faced with a series of terrorist attacks

Hillary Clinton with her 2017 memoir 'What Happened', which covered her 2016 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. AFP

It might be a work of fiction, but Hillary Rodham Clinton will have plenty of real-life experience to draw on for her coming thriller.

The former US secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate is joining forces with mystery author Louise Penny on a new novel, State of Terror.

The book, which is set to be released on October 12, is centred around a novice secretary of state serving in the administration of her political rival as a "series of terrorist attacks throws the global order into disarray".

Clinton and Canadian novelist Penny's work is set "after four years of American leadership that shrank from the world stage", publishers Simon & Schuster and St Martin's Press revealed on Tuesday.

The main character is "tasked with assembling a team to unravel the deadly conspiracy, a scheme carefully designed to take advantage of an American government dangerously out of touch and out of power in the places where it counts the most", the publishers said.

"Writing a thriller with Louise is a dream come true," Clinton said. "I've relished every one of her books and their characters as well as her friendship. Now we're joining our experiences to explore the complex world of high stakes diplomacy and treachery. All is not as it first appears."

Penny's previous works include 2009's The Brutal Telling and 2011's A Trick of the Light, while Clinton has penned a number of non-fiction books, including memoirs Hard Choices and What Happened.

"What an incredible experience, to get inside the State Department. Inside the White House. Inside the mind of the secretary of state as high-stake crises explode," Penny said. "Before we started, we talked about Clinton's time as secretary of state. What was her worst nightmare? State of Terror is the answer."

With the novel, Clinton follows in the footsteps of her husband, former US president Bill Clinton, who teamed up with author James Patterson on 2018 thriller The President is Missing and The President's Daughter, which is set to be released this June.

The former sold more than three million copies and is being adapted for television.

With additional reporting from AP