Douglas Brunt (Ghosts
of Manhattan) brings readers deep into the competitive world of
multimedia journalism as it intersects with the hard-boiled grit of politics.
Spanning four years and various U.S. locales, The
Means braids
together three distinct points of view to form a compelling, complex plot that
unspools gradually, deepening the mystery at the center of the book.
Samantha Davis, a former child actress, is smart, beautiful and
ambitious. Now a lawyer, she's hired as a national TV news reporter. As she
learns the ropes, often the hard way, she pursues an evolving news story
concerning the upcoming presidential election that raises her profile and tests
her integrity.
Tom Pauley is a handsome, North Carolina defense attorney. After
he wins a controversial trial, the well-liked, middle-class fiscal conservative
is tapped by the GOP to make a run for governor. Might his popularity and
appealing poll numbers encourage him to set his sights on the White House?
Mitchell Mason is a study in personal and professional
contradiction: ruthless one minute, caring and sensitive the next. He's a brash, headstrong Democrat serving as president in a post-Obama America. A
scandal from his past, however, suddenly threatens to put his re-election bid
in peril.
Brunt is meticulous and detailed-oriented. His finely tuned novel is crafted via cinematic scenes, rich in dialogue, that authentically reveal the trappings and snares of power, ambition and human nature. The corrosion of the U.S. political system--on both sides of the aisle--is at the heart of this engrossing, seductive political thriller served with a twist.
The
Means by Douglas
Brunt
Touchstone, $26.00
Hardcover, 9781476772578, 352 pp
Publication
Date: September 16, 2014
To order
this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE
Note:
This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form)
with the permission of Shelf
Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness:
Reader's Edition (9/23/14), click HERE