We hold some truths to be self-evident, and the most obvious is that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is really funny. Kevin Bleyer is one of the writers on The Daily Show, and he is of course really funny. Follow the logic here: Kevin has written a book about the Constitution, and it too is really really funny. Not the ship, the Constitution, but the other Constitution, that brief document that has shaped our legal system, our government, our electoral system, and our society for the past 225 years.

The difference between fictional thrillers and Seth Jones’ new book, Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa’ida Since 9/11, is that Seth Jones’ thriller is nonfiction. For lovers of the spy thriller genre, or the newer fictional genre pertaining to global terrorism, you’ll wonder when the next fictional thriller bestseller will credit Seth Jones’ terrific new study. Seth Jones may not be a bestselling thriller writer just yet, but he produces heart-stopping nonfiction literature.