Book notes

By Thomas Lifson

I was finally able to indulge one of my guilty pleasures: reading a summer novel, a political thriller, no less. I made a great choice. The book in question is A Time Like This: 2001-2008., written by AT contributor William Tate. It is never a good idea to reveal too much about the plot of a thriller, but suffice it say, the book begins with an entirely plausible premise, and then follows the course of political scandal through the eyes of Trevor Wayne, who gets his feet wet in politics in the 2000 presidential campaign, and subsequently gets sucked-into high powered politics, replete with skullduggery.

The picture of life in Washington, DC for the young and mostly faceless behind-the-scenes folk who seek careers is vivid and interesting. Bill Tate had a long and distinguished career as a television journalist, and it may be that he is telling the truth via fiction, a device that has often appealed to me when it comes to the things I know but can't write about.

It's the perfect book for recreational reading during the campaign, or maybe for that last trip to the beach before Labor Day.

A second thriller, which I confess I have not yet read, but intend to, is Tethered, by Amy McKinnon. Amy has the good fortune to be married to Jules Crittenden, city editor of the Boston Herald and blogger extraordinaire. He is an absolutely terrific writer, and his wife is likely to be his match. Jules has written a description of the book and its book party at his eponymous blog, and includes in a picture of his lovely wife to boot. Check it out.