THE PRESIDENT'S MAN

First of a series of posthumous novels featuring Jack Endicott, a friend of and troubleshooter for Franklin Roosevelt, then New York Governor, soon to be elected to his first term as President. There have been threats against Roosevelt's life- -probably from various rum-running gangleaders intent on keeping Prohibition or maybe from Tammany, intent on electing Al Smith and preserving their longtime graft and privilege. Jack proceeds to contact all the heavies—Al Capone, Dutch Schultz, Lucky Luciano, etc.—and promptly becomes the target of several attempts on his life, but, with courage and craftiness, he fulfill his mission, bringing Roosevelt safely through his nomination at the Chicago convention. As with the author's previous work (First Class Murder, etc.), the story is peppered with names from the past—Thomas Dewey, Polly Adler, Louie Howe, and Lucy Mercer, Roosevelt's secret love, among a host of others. Repetitive, clichÇd hoodlum dialogue, perfunctory sex passages, and endless details of clothes worn and food eaten keep this one dull and static beneath all the gunfire, but history and nostalgia buffs might like it anyway.