NECK & NECK

In Brown’s political thriller, a private detective suspects a faltering political campaign is behind a criminal conspiracy.

Israel Munoz is a low-ranking but ambitious volunteer for Massachusetts’ U.S. Sen. Finn Harper’s reelection campaign, and he dreams of landing a full-time position in the legislator’s office, once he wins. However, Israel is frustrated by his lack of progress in his career, so he takes a shot at blackmail, demanding a senior position from campaign manager Joan Wright in exchange for not sharing a video in his possession—one that shows Harper engaged in a sexual indiscretion. Soon after, Israel and his boyfriend, Ricky Boyle, are brutally murdered. Harper’s campaign then hires private detective Earl Town to shadow Andre Bolduc, who was just released from prison after serving time for another double murder. His early release is the result of a prison reform act championed by Maria Santos, a young, upstart state senator who’s challenging Harper’s reelection bid. Town begins to suspect that his real function is to collect evidence to frame Bolduc for Munoz and Boyle’s murders, which would put Santos’ signature legislation in a very bad light, indeed. Brown offers readers a fine thriller that’s also a deliciously cynical sendup of the ghastliness of American politics. Its tone is crisply summed up by Wright’s worldview: “Patriotism is a terrific cover for all manner of human defect and had become the preferred disguise of those who lust for power, are possessed by unbridled greed, and exude rampant narcissism.” The author not only delivers a marvelously complex and politically astute plot, but also manages to provide readers with a healthy countermeasure of humor, as well, as when Harper’s smile is described as one “which had been designed by an MIT body language expert to convey both empathy and wisdom and took him weeks to perfect.”

A sharp, realistic look at the shadowy side of American elections.