West Bend Community Memorial Library

Strange Bedfellows: A Vote for Political Novels
[printable] [printable-just titles]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Set against a backdrop of the reign of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, this narrative moves between the Dominican Republic and contemporary New Jersey to tell the story of a family, their friends and a diaspora. Remarkably formatted with footnotes reflecting history and authorial commentary, this novel compares growing up under a dictatorship to growing up in a minority in America.(2007)

Dead Watch by John Sandford - From the author of the #1 bestselling Prey novels comes an extraordinary story of murder, passion, and deadly ambition--a political thriller like no other.

Camel Club by David Baldacci - Just outside the White House gates, a ragtag group of conspiracy theorists gathers to find the hidden truth behind the actions of the power elite in Washington, DC. Led by the mysterious and aptly aliased Oliver Stone, the Camel Club develops wild conspiracy theories about the inner workings of the U.S. government—theories that, on rare occasions, turn out to be accurate. While the club is generally considered a nuisance, this time its members have witnessed a murder, and their subsequent investigation may uncover clues that could prevent a nuclear war.

Act of War by Dale Brown - In Act of War, Dale Brown takes readers deep into the new world of intelligence-focused warfare, and introducing a cutting-edge new hero: thirty-two-year-old Army Major Jason Richter, designer of a whole array of futuristic infantry weapons and devices created to hunt down a new breed of enemy with unmatched speed and lethality. With all the thrilling battle scenes and expert military maneuvers that have become the hallmark of this author, this is an intense, action-packed spectacle that combines geopolitics, terrorism, and warfare. Near Houston, Texas, an oil refinery belonging to one of the world's largest multinational energy companies is destroyed by a "backpack" nuclear device. This is just one of many attacks being perpetrated against the company around the world by a group whose mission is to stop global corporations and government organizations from plundering the world's natural resources in the name of profit. Before this group strikes again, Jason Richter is called in with his top-secret high-tech military unit, code-named Task Force TALON, a special joint military and FBI unit set up by the national security advisor to track down and defeat terrorists around the world. Richter believes there is only one strategy in which to snare his opponents - find, pursue, engage, and kill. And the only way to do this is to play them at their own game: Be unconventional and swift, hit-and-run and brutal enough to strike fear into the heart of the most dedicated terrorist. Richter must also lead the way through a series of unexpected turns that eventually uncovers a mole high up within the government who is in pursuit of his own personal revenge. If Richter fails, it won't be just the lives of his team that are lost, but America itself.

Absolute Power by David Baldacci - A Washington, D.C., political scandal begins when the president gets into a drunken knife fight with his mistress.

Simple Truth by David Baldacci - Twenty-five years ago, Rufus Harms was convicted of a murder he knows he committed. But when his memory is jogged by a letter from the army, he has a shocking realization: he's not guilty. From prison, Rufus secretly files an appeal with the Supreme Court, unaware that they real killers are on to him. But the long-time convict knows he's running out of time when the Supreme Court clerk, who is the first to see Rufus' appeal, & Harms' lawyer are murdered. Sprung from prison by his brother, Rufus must now elude capture long enough to expose a shocking cover-up & save his own life.

Echo House by Ward S. Just - This is a novel about the will to power of one American family, the Behls of Washington, D.C. Their world turns on secrets - family secrets, state secrets, secrets divulged, secrets misunderstood, secrets denied. At the center of the story stands Echo House, the family mansion, exerting its own field of force. Three generations of men in the Behl family Adolph - his son Axel, and his grandson Alec - as well as the women they marry and sleep with, pursue power and influence from before the New Deal through the Cold War and far past the Gulf War. They live off-the-record lives and love off-the-record women. And the women tell their story. Echo House is populated not only by actual and fictional presidents and candidates but by White House staffers, by fortune-tellers and adventuresses, by powerful journalists male and female, by lawyers and bankers young and old, honest and dishonest, by researchers and diplomats. Nearly all the characters are Beltway insiders: rumor spreaders, power brokers, secret keepers, senators, investigators, spies, would-be ambassadors, and the canniest survivor of them all, a women who in the 1950s declared her intentions to become first lady and finally succeeded.

If Men were Angels by Reed Karaim - A searching and powerfully written novel about a dark-horse presidential candidate who seems to be the answer to the hopes of the American voters. Is he, perhaps, too good to be true?

Woody by Peter Lefcourt - The most outrageous, inside-Washington satire since "Primary Colors, The Woody" is a hilarious and timely novel of sex, spin and the Senate.

Last Debate by Jim Lehrer - Sharp satire of the presidential debate that changes the course of electoral politics (and the news business) forever--by Jim Lehrer, who has been a moderator of past presidential debates. The targets of this satire--religious fundamentalists, political handlers, self-important journalists, feral network programming heads--could not be more timely.

Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry - An intricate and intelligent novel set in the not-too-distant future, by the author of The Miernik Dossier. The president is still celebrating his victory when it's discovered that his over-zealous aides may have stolen the election via computer.

Lucky Bastard by Charles McCarry - Lucky Bastard is the suspenseful and hilarious story of a gifted politician with dangerous friends and a zipper problem. The author is Charles McCarry, a writer widely acclaimed for his richly perceptive novels of political intrigue. John Fitzgerald Adams, known by the voters who love him as Jack, has good reason to believe he is the illegitimate son of JFK. His goal is the same as that of any Kennedy: to reclaim the presidency . . . and enjoy as many women as possible along the way. Jack possesses an instinctual political genius, an unerring knack for charming voters and advancing his own interests. But Jack, up from poverty, cannot make it to the Oval Office without money and support. Luckily, he becomes the beneficiary of the largesse of two maverick Russians who recognize Jack's talent and invest considerable resources in his rise to power. Jack also relies on a strong-willed wife, an ardent radical who masterminds his political moves while guarding against the threat that his wild libido will destroy his career. As Jack marches toward the presidency, others who realize the truth about his sinister connections try to stop him. But will anyone believe them? Charles McCarry has long been recognized as the dean of Washington's novelists, "a magical writer, the very best in this field" (Martha Gellhorn, Sunday Telegraph). With Lucky Bastard, McCarry has written the novel of his career, a thrilling and imaginative vision of power and conspiracy in the age of Clinton.

Face-Time by Erik Tarloff - What if your girlfriend is sleeping with your boss? And what if your boss is the President of the United States? These provocative questions are at the heart of Face-Time, a compulsively readable, devastatingly insightful, and darkly humorous morality tale about how celebrity, sex, power, and ultimately love collide in the corridors of the White House. Face-Time is the story of Ben and Gretchen, two young political activists who meet and fall in love while working on a presidential campaign. When their candidate wins, both are given jobs in the new administration, his as an increasingly prominent speechwriter and hers in the Office of Social Affairs. But then Ben finds out that Gretchen has been sleeping with his boss, the president, and he confronts her. Gretchen swears her love for Ben and vows to do anything to ensure their future happiness together...except end the affair. She has gained the ultimate Washington prize: one-on-one "face-time" with the president. And, perhaps not coincidentally, Ben's stock as a speechwriter has never been higher. But is the professional success worth the personal price?

Speak No Evil by Gary Aldrich - Bestselling author and former FBI agent Gary Aldrich has teamed up with former White House speechwriter Mark Davis to pen the political thriller of the year. When the career-derailing opposition researcher known as "Dr. Death" is found dead on the floor of the Nixon Library, with his lips sewn shut and the message "Speak No Evil" written next to his body, it's up to FBI Special Agent Mike McGuire and journalist Anne Carlson to find his killer.

First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer - From Jeffrey Archer, author of the bestselling Kane & Abel, comes this spellbinding tale in its complete and original form, published for the first time in the U.S. First Among Equals chronicles the lives of four extraordinary men who battle for a prize that only one of them can win-;to become Prime Minister. CHARLES SEYMOUR: An accident of birth kept him from an earldom, but nothing and no one can keep him from what he believes is his destiny. ANDREW FRASER: His father was a football hero to thousands. Andrew intends to be a political hero to millions. SIMON KERSLAKE: Born not quite of the true upper class, Simon is determined to lift himself as high as his dreams and the voters allow. RAY GOULD: Son of a Leeds butcher, Ray realizes early on that his keen intellect and his driving ambition can raise him from the back streets to No. 10 Downing Street. Through three tumultuous decades of bitter rivalry, they fight for Britain's most powerful office-;a rivalry that sets honor against deceit, love against hate, and loyalty against betrayal.

Saving Faith by David Baldacci - Not far from Washington, D.C., in a wooded area of Northern Virginia, a small house at the end of a gravel road serves a secret purpose. With its sophisticated security apparatus and hidden miniaturized cameras, it is being used by the FBI to interview one of the most important witnesses the agency has ever had, a young woman with an incredible story to tell. One man - a local private investigator named Lee Adams - has come to the house on the orders of his client. Another man, a hired killer, stakes out the house on orders from his powerful paymasters. And the witness, Faith Lockhart, is coming to tell the FBI everything she knows about the powerful lobbyist with whom she has worked, a man who manipulates U.S. government policy and who, in the process, made some very dangerous enemies. Then, before Faith can tell her story, the hit man pulls the trigger and the wrong victim falls. Now Faith Lockhart is on the run - from the most dangerous people in America - with Lee Adams, a man she doesn't know, yet must trust.

Father's Day by John Calvin Batchelor - In 2003, President Ted Jay has invoked the 25th Amendment to the Constitution--Presidential vacancy, disability and inability--temporarily transferring power to his Vice President, T.E. (Shy) Garland. But five months later, when the Chief Executive attempts to reclaim the reins of power, Garland refuses to step aside, setting in motion a bloody and ruthless plot that will tear America in two.

American Hero by Larry Beinhart - Once upon a time, there was a mean, dying GOP chairman named Lee Atwater who had the most brilliant, insane, frightening and do-able idea ever concocted to assure that his man, George Bush, would retain the office of the president of the United States. And the only man on the face of the earth who could pull of such an elaborate scheme was none other than the world's most celebrated Hollywood director. It's a sure-fire hit! A joint D.C./L.A. production that will play not in movie theaters but on the nightly news! Of course, hundreds of thousands of "extras" will die . . . . But, hey, that's show biz!

First Hubby by Roy Blount - Blount, well known as a country humorist with a flair for punning, has written a first novel about a country humorist with a flair for punning. Guy Fox, whose wisecrack on hearing Noriega's name is, ``Have yourself a merry little isthmus,'' is, in 1993, married to the first female president of the U.S. He decides to write a journal/memoir about how he and Clementine Searcy Fox met, reached the White House and what some of their problems and victories have been. What he, and Blount, bring off is a sweet and randy valentine to conjugal love.

Senator by Richard Bowker - Narrator James O'Connor, a young Republican Senator in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, has a month to go in his reelection campaign when he finds the body of ex-mistress Amanda in her Back Bay Boston apartment. The plot tracks O'Connor's attempts to find the killer, avert scandal and win the election, but the real story concerns the Senator's relations with his family: a privacy-craving wife, a precocious daughter, a widowed father and a ne'er-do-well older brother born the same year as he, his ``Irish twin.'' Almost as important are his trials with friends and foes, including a campaign worker in love with him, a manager with White House dreams, a slavishly devoted driver, the archenemy Boston D.A. and the Governor trying for his seat. All these characters come alive, most notably an emotionally restrained, proud, puckish father, who laments: ``Two sons . . . one a lush, the other a Republican. Where did I go wrong?''

Exclusive by Sandra Brown - The newborn son of the president and the first lady has died suddenly. Was his death a tragic consequence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)-or was it murder? Brown (The Witness) pulls out the stops in this nimbly plotted political thriller that pits a down-on-her-luck TV journalist against a popular chief executive. Barrie Travis is looking for her ticket out of a second-rate Washington, D.C., TV station, but she has a reputation as a screw-up with little credibility. When First Lady Vanessa Merritt hints to her that the baby's death may not have been due to SIDS after all, Barrie has the big story she needs-but who will believe her? Before Barrie can learn more from the First Lady, President David Merritt sends his wife "into seclusion," where she's heavily drugged and kept under close guard. Determined to uncover the truth, Barrie travels to Wyoming to question the man rumored to have been Vanessa's lover and possibly the father of her child, military hero Gray Bondurant. After a sexually charged meeting with the reclusive Gray, the reporter returns to Washington to find her townhouse bombed into rubble and the FBI asking too many questions. Can she, with Gray's help, rescue the First Lady and expose the president's secret?

The Plan by Stephen Cannell - The selling of the president is an assignment that could salvage TV producer Ryan Bolt's damaged life and career, But Bolt doesn't know whom he truly serves. And by the time he finds out, it may be already too late...for one nation under siege.

The Project by Zev Chafets - It's 10 years after the Gulf War and Speaker of the House Dewey Goldberg has been sworn in as President of the United States following the accidental deaths of his predecessors. But he soon discovers that Israeli Prime Minister Elihu Barzel may be backing a fundamentalist opponent. Concerned, he dispatches his journalist-friend Charlie Walker to investigate. What Walker discovers is a plan code-named "The Project"--a plan so compelling that it not only jeopardizes the president's chances for reelection, but also the delicate balance of world power.

The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon - Everybody knows the controversial 1962 film of The Manchurian Candidate starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, even though it was taken out of circulation for twenty-five years after JFK's assassination. Equally controversial on publication, and just as timely today, is Richard Condon's original novel. First published in 1959, at the height of cold war paranoia, The Manchurian Candidate is a terrifying and suspenseful political thriller featuring Sergeant Raymond Shaw, ex-prisoner of war, Medal of Honor winner, American hero...and brainwashed assassin. Condon's expert manipulation of the book's multiple themes - from anticommunist hysteria to megalomaniacal motherhood - makes this one of the most entertaining, and enduring, books of the era.

The Next President by Joseph Flynn - This is no simple cat-and-mouse story, but a nonstop thriller in which you'll never guess who's the cat and who's the mouse until the shattering conclusion. J. D. Cade was trained to kill by his country. To kill without leaving the slightest suspicion as to who pulled the trigger. He did his duty and put the past behind him. Or so he thought. Now someone is blackmailing him to use his deadly skills one more time. Someone is using his only son as a pawn to force him to do what he swore he'd never do again: kill a human being. And this time the target is Franklin Delano Rawley-the first African-American on the verge of becoming the president of the United States. As J. D. penetrates the inner circle of the Rawley campaign and gets to know the man he must kill, the more he realizes how difficult it will be to pull the trigger. But in order to spare Rawley's life while saving his own son, J. D. must somehow find out who is behind the conspiracy that could change the fate of a nation. It won't be easy. J. D.'s every move is being watched by his blackmailer. He has already drawn the attention of a suspicious Secret Service agent. And he has met an old army "friend" working in the Rawley campaign. Just as troubling is J. D.'s attraction to Rawley's beautiful campaign manager. If J. D. does have to kill the candidate, he will have to betray her, too. Time is running out. When J. D. finally pulls the trigger, who will live and who will die? Rawley? J. D.'s son? Or J. D. himself? And who will be the next president? You won't find out until the explosive conclusion of Joseph Flynn's totally unique thriller, one that defies you to guess the answers.

Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn - A group of terrorists invades the White House--driving the president to an underground bunker where he can't communicate with his government. Mitch Rapp, the CIA's top counterterrorist operative, sneaks into the executive mansion to take control and finds that the terrorists are the least of the president's--and the nation's--problems.

Trust Fund by Stephen Frey - From the New York Times bestselling author of The Takeover and The Insider comes a riveting new novel pitting brother against brother and putting personal honor to the ultimate test--in the world of high finance and boundless ambition among power brokers from Wall Street to Washington. A scion of wealth and privilege, Bo Hancock is the youngest son of Connecticut's most influential clan--and the financial genius at Warfield Capital, the multibillion dollar investment firm at the heart of the family dynasty. He is also stranded in the shadow of his charismatic brothers, Teddy and Paul, and starved for the approval of their domineering father. While his brothers enjoy the spotlight, Bo can be counted on to "clean up" when anything threatens to tarnish the sterling Hancock name. Sixteen years ago, Bo covered up a monstrous crime involving Paul and a call girl. Now Paul is on the fast track to the White House--and Bo has become a liability, thanks to his weakness for alcohol and for women other than his wife. Stripped of his position and exiled to the backwoods of Montana--away from temptation and the public eye--Bo thinks his life has hit rock bottom. But a deathbed reconciliation with his father brings him home and reinstalls him at Warfield Capital, sparking a rapid-fire chain of events that could destroy the family and its vast fortune. First Warfield is left vulnerable to every Wall Street shark out to make a killing. Then a sudden rash of real killings forces Bo to confront the specter of a sinister conspiracy--and brings him face to face with one shocking truth after another, shattering the world and the family he thought he knew . . . leaving him utterly alone and running for his life. Trust Fund moves at hyperspeed from the canyons of Wall Street to the corridors of Congress to private sanctums of inherited wealth and power. It is the tale of a great American political and financial dynasty wrenched apart by its own fierce ambition--and by one son's determination to forge his own destiny on his own terms.

Sounding the Waters by James Glickman - This impressive first novel calls to mind All the King's Men--tales of private drama played out in the public arena. Through the eyes of characters who are absorbing, complex, and all too human, we see a telling picture of an election campaign in which all politics is not only local, but personal.

The First Lady by E.J. Gorman - Is the First Lady guilty of cold-blooded murder? Claire Hutton, the wife of President Matt Hutton, awakens next to the body of a man, the murder weapon clutched in her hand. The dead man is David Hart, an old college friend who was blackmailing Claire. Claire has obviously been framed, but by whom? As President, Matt has many enemies, none keener than Knox Stansfield, an arch-conserative radio talk show host who is on a one-man campaign to crucify the President. Stansfield, Hart, and the Huttons all attended college together and deep-seated resentments are very much at play. The police are convinced Claire is guilty, and it is up to her and Matt to prove her innocence.

The People's Choice by Jeff Greenfield - Days after he has won the popular vote for U.S. president, Republican candidate MacArthur Foyle is fatally injured during a parade. Does this mean that his running mate, whom 60 percent of the American people believe is too dumb to do the job, is now the president-elect? Maybe not, because the Electoral College has not yet voted and, constitutionally at least, the College (not the people) elects the president. While the nation mourns, the politicians, lobbyists, and power brokers plot to gain the presidency for their own reward, and as the political crisis deepens, the world lurches toward economic collapse. This may sound like the premise of a political thriller, but it's actually the plot of a very funny satiric novel that skewers both the electoral system and public leaders and their motivations. The author is a correspondent for ABC News and an occasional host of Nightline.

The Abduction by James Grippando - Allison Leahy is the U.S. attorney general, the most renowned lawyer in America. She and her wealthy husband are the twenty-first-century version of the couple who has it all: a happy marriage and two successful careers. To top it off, Allison is the highly touted Democratic nominee for the presidency. Her opponent is Lincoln Howe, a retired four-star army general and bona fide African-American hero. Like Allison, Howe is living the American dream - but time is running out. For months the candidates have run neck and neck. Both sides need just one extra push to swing the election. And on Halloween morning, they get it. A twelve-year-old girl is kidnapped on her way to school. The girl is Kristen Howe, Lincoln Howe's granddaughter. The nation and the candidates explode in outrage. As attorney general, Allison launches a massive nationwide manhunt. But her motives are under fire, especially from her political opponent, who wants his adversary off the case of his missing granddaughter. In truth Allison's drive to bring Kristen home safe is far more personal than political. Years before, Allison's adopted baby daughter was stolen from her home, never to be found. Now it seems likely that her own child's fate is somehow tied to the current crisis.

Power Curve by Richard Herman - A shrewd, efficient and popular politician, Madeline O'Keith Turner was eminently qualified to fulfill her duties as America's first woman Vice President. But Fate elevated her to Commander-in-Chief. . .on the eve of her nation's most devastating modern crisis. From her first day in the Oval Office, Maddie Turner has had to deal with bitter challenges from Congress and duplicity from within the ranks of the Cabinet she inherited from her late predecessor. Now catastrophe is brewing in the East China Sea. Chinese and Japanese fleets are set to collide in the biggest naval engagement since World War Two. And a single false step could result in Turner's impeachment. . .or, worse still, in nuclear war. An untried leader with enemies on all sides must now reach out to her one true ally: National Security Advisor General Robert Bender, a loyal soldier determined to teach his president in record time everything he knows about swift, decisive action and bare-knuckling battling. . .even if it costs his career, and his life, to do so.

The Running Mate by Joe Klein - Hailed as "astonishingly powerful" by The New York Times, and "written perfectly" by The Washington Post, Primary Colors, with over one million hardcover copies in print, was the most- talked-about political novel of the past century. The brilliant portrait of a charming, ambitious, amoral young Southerner on his way to the White House struck an instantly recognizable chord, and catapulted Anonymous--aka New Yorker Washington correspondent Joe Klein--into the public eye as a novelist of the first rank. Now, in The Running Mate, Klein takes the reader on an exuberant, wicked, and unerringly wise political journey with Senator Charlie Martin, a decorated veteran of the war in Vietnam. The experience of combat and his easy dominance of home-state politics have made Charlie fearless. He's a hot, if occasionally reckless, political property--dashing, honorable, and irreverent. And then Charlie's life begins to fall apart. He campaigns for the presidency and fails. The wacky father of a volunteer decks him--in front of the cameras; a well-kept secret from Charlie's Vietnam days is revealed; he reluctantly finds himself at the center of a friend's cliff-hanging confirmation process for Secretary of Defense....And Senator Martin begins to learn that politics in an era of spin, marketing, and vicious personal assaults can be as treacherous--and life-threatening--as combat was. Finally, Charlie Martin must confront the two greatest challenges of his life--a political opponent who has no scruples and a dazzling, unconventional woman who loves him but is appalled by his life's work. Charlie's dilemma is one that has come to haunt contemporary American politics: Is it possible to be a good politician and a good man? Can you live in the public glare and still construct a habitable life? No observer of contemporary politics has a clearer eye than Joe Klein, or can so effortlessly show the moral complexities that arise when public and private lives intertwine. Here, in his superb new novel, he takes a good man's attempt to come to terms with the harsh new realities of the modern political arena--and gives us a book that reverberates with truth about ourselves.

Primary Colors by Anonymous (Joe Klein) - A brilliant and penetrating look behind the scenes of modern American politics, Primary Colors is a funny, wise, and dramatic story with characters and events that resemble some familiar, real-life figures. When a former congressional aide becomes part of the staff of the governor of a small Southern state, he watches in horror, admiration, and amazement, as the governor mixes calculation and sincerity in his not-so-above-board campaign for the presidency

Purple Dots by Jim Lehrer - Washington, D.C., is a town full of powerful people with powerful, often conflicting agendas, and no one knows this better than Jim Lehrer, the preeminent capital newscaster and novelist. His new book is a witty, provocative political mystery about power play and favor swapping at the highest levels of government, written with his own unique blend of political savvy and irreverent humor. Joshua Bennett has just been nominated by the president to be the new director of the CIA. He's the ideal candidate, and everyone agrees his confirmation hearing should be a mere formality. But this is Washington, where nothing as straightforward as choosing the most qualified person for a crucial job can be counted upon. Unfortunately for Bennett, someone's political agenda hinges on his confirmation being vetoed, but he's damned if he can find out whose. In need of good covert help he can trust, Bennett turns to a little known but highly efficient cadre of former CIA spies living in semiretirement in nearby West Virginia. This odd team of sixty-plus-year-old spooks, boasting a combined array of exceptional if eccentric and largely illegal talents, embarks upon a wildly unorthodox Washington power struggle that is no less earnest for being conducted in absolute secrecy. And most secret of all is the highly coveted purple dot--the ultimate national perk. Following the enormous breakout success of Lehrer's bestselling previous novel, White Widow, Purple Dots will fascinate and amuse even more readers, while confirming their worst fears about how our government really operates.

The Incumbent by Brian McGrory - As he lies in the hospital, the day after being caught in the crossfire of a presidential assassination attempt, journalist Jack Flynn has some serious questions. And he needs answers -- fast. Why, during the closing stages of a cliffhanger reelection campaign, did the incumbent want to play golf with Jack, a man he'd never met? Why did the president offer Jack the job of press secretary in his new administration? Who was the gunman on the sixteenth green, eliminated by the Secret Service? And who is the mysterious phone caller who has just warned Jack that "nothing is as it seems"? With just eleven days until the election, it's becoming clear that Jack has stumbled into the middle of a far-reaching conspiracy. And the biggest question of all: will he stay alive long enough to find out who's behind it?

The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer - Shadow is the Secret Service code name for the First Daughter, Nora Hartson. And when she starts dating young White House attorney Michael Garrick, he starts feeling like The First Counsel. Garrick gets caught up in a deadly conspiracy when he and Nora see something they shouldn't. And when a body is discovered and Garrick is the suspected killer, he suddenly finds himself on the run in this mesmerizing and suspenseful novel from the author of "The Tenth Justice" and "Dead Even".

Days of Drums by Philip Shelby - Rookie agent Holland Tylo's Secret Service job is a sanctuary from the tragedy that almost destroyed her 15 years ago. But when Senator Charles Westbourne is brutally murdered on her watch, she's got nowhere to hide. Desperate to clear her name and tormented by guilt, Holland searches through a computer diskette the senator secreted with her, and unearths a terrifying conspiracy of scandal, blackmail and murder. A shattering attack at her Georgetown townhouse forces Holland to flee from a twisted, brilliant killer, who wants the diskette as he wants her life -- and from her own colleagues, whose motives she can no longer trust. But as the assassin's grisly swath of terror threatens to reach the president, Holland grabs at one last chance to redeem herself -- and Days of Drums races to its electrifying conclusion.

The Confirmation by Thomas Powers - A novel of high-stakes political intrigue on the shadowy side of Washington, The Confirmation sheds light on the men who run the Central Intelligence Agency, on investigative journalists, and on government officials fighting for control of the nation's secrets. The confirmation of the seemingly spotless nominee Frank Cabot as Director of Central Intelligence is jeopardized when Brad Cameron, a young CIA officer looking for evidence of American prisoners left behind after the Vietnam war, uncovers a suppressed report -- a claim by a convicted American spy that Cabot cooperated with the Russians in a shameful cover-up twenty years earlier. As Cabot attempts to clear his name, reporter George Tater digs relentlessly for the story that will revive his career and Cameron doggedly pursues the truth about what happened. The result is a full-scale Washington media circus, as a host of interested parties -- the president, the press, the senators who must vote yea or nay on Cabot's nomination, and Cabot's friends and enemies -- all try to conceal, expose, or spin what he did and why. Closely paralleling these events is a different kind of conspiracy. A clandestine militia of angry Vietnam vets, convinced that officials in high places have deliberately abandoned American POWs, plot a confrontation -- both clever and rash -- calculated to violently disrupt Cabot's confirmation hearings. Thomas Powers, the author of books on intelligence and covert history, writes knowingly about how the CIA and its officials operate in the world of Beltway politics. At the heart of this riveting novel is a well-kept secret that, as it emerges, reveals how difficult it is to tell the heroes from the villains, the truth from the lies, the honorable from the self-serving. As Brad Cameron learns, in official Washington doing the right thing may prove to be more dangerous than anything he has done before.

Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson - In a compelling new novel, Patterson makes a major departure that confirms his place among the most important writers at work today. A newly elected president faces the unexpected chance to nominate a new chief justice of the Supreme Court, but the Senate majority leader is determined to thwart the nomination for reasons that cross the boundary between the political and the personal. What results is the definitive novel of politics and law at the dawn of the 21st century.

Updated September 05, 2008