Severn House Hardcover Edition |
“Sex.
A senator. A murder.
An international orgasm.”
The novel opens with Dev Conrad driving from his Chicago
office to Senator Logan’s rural upstate cabin.
The senator telephoned Dev with some unidentified trouble, and Conrad,
in a state of confusion and dread, is on his way to help. The trouble is a beautiful women lying dead in
a pool of her own blood on the porch of Senator Logan’s cabin. The senator has a history with the
woman. She was seen at several of his
campaign events in recent weeks, and the senator admits to everything but
sleeping with her.The election is a few weeks away, and the story captures the 24 hour cable news cycle, and one of the networks is aligning Senator Logan with the devil. Conrad quickly retains Ben Zuckerman, a top-notch Chicago criminal lawyer, but Logan is holding something back. Conrad doesn’t know what, or why, Logan isn’t forthcoming, but he is certain Logan didn’t kill the woman.
The cast of characters includes Senator Logan’s strong daughter, delicate wife, and manipulative brother. A less than ethical operative from the other side, a beautiful local attorney, a detective, and a somewhat disconcerting federal investigator. It is a dark story, almost cynical, without Mr Gorman’s usual wary hope. It casts the political system in a stark, and corrupt light. Dev Conrad compares current elected pols with the openly corrupt senators of the late 1800s, which were referred to by the industry each represented rather than their respective home states.
The mystery is top-notch. The murderer isn’t revealed until the final
pages, and I was genuinely surprised, but Flashpoint
is more than a mystery. It is social
commentary on the state of the current American political environment from popular
sentiment to its elected officials. It
takes a whack at the news media, specifically the cable news networks, and the
hatred and misinformation disseminated by certain fringe elements, which have garnered
mainstream credentials in recent years.
Flashpoint is a serious and stark novel; however it is told
with a wry sense of humor. There are a
handful of lines, which made me laugh aloud, and more than a few places where I
smiled. Not to mention it isn’t every
novel that can make mention of Thomas Eagleton, communists, George W. Bush, conspiracy,
and The Manchurian Candidate without
devolving into something less than it is. And what it is, is a very fine novel, but be
warned Dev Conrad’s cynicism is catching.
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