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Political Intrigue

American Hero
Larry Beinhart

"Once upon a time there was a mean, dying GOP chairman who had a brilliant scheme to assure that his man would retain the office of president of the United States of America. And the only man who could pull off this elaborate plan was a celebrated Hollywood director. Add to the mix a left-coast gumshoe named Broz who is trapped among cover-ups, undercover work, and his own morality, a cast of bicoastal desperate characters, and the stage is set for a powerful D.C./L.A. production." -- the author's Web site.
Later made into the movie, Wag the Dog. Subsequent editions of the book were renamed for the movie.

Answers to Lucky
Howard Owen
Driven by their father to become successful, brothers Tom Ed and Jack are torn apart when Jack contracts polio and is cruelly dismissed as useless by the family, and years later he vows to reestablish himself.
Changes and Chances
Mary Elmblad
On the eve of the inauguration of JFK, Oklahoma lawyer Cassie Steele moves with her congressman husband to Washington, D.C., where she encounters tragedy and a chance to start over again.
Coromandel Sea Change
Rumer Godden
Blaise and Mary arrive at Patna Hall, a hotel on India's shimmering Coromandel coast, to spend part of their honeymoon. Patna Hall is as beautiful and timeless as India itself, ruled over firmly and wise by proprietor Auntie Sanni. For Mary, it feels strangely like home. In a week that will change the young couple's destiny, election fever grips the Southern Indian state and Mary falls under the spell of the people, the country - and Krishnan, godlike candidate for the Root and Flower party...
Corruption
Andrew Klavan
In a small town in upstate New York, a lonely journalist named Sally works to expose the corrupt local sheriff, and in the process, she falls in love with a rich, married man and stumbles onto a murder.
Family Politics
John Buckley

In every tabloid rumor ever printed about the Kennedy, Ford and Buckley families were true, they'd be the Daleys, the down-at-the-heels dynasty whose rivalries are the subject of this genial, often riotous first novel.

Grass Roots
Stuart Woods
Will Lee has returned to his roots to kick off his campaign for the Senate. A prominent lawyer, he has come back to his hometown of Delano, Georgia, to plan his strategies and to argue an explosively controversial case that could seriously damage his fledgling political career. For Delano is a town with a dark secret -- a smoldering hotbed of racial hatred and moral outrage, held in the thrall of a sinister group called The Elect. Its violent, evil forces will stop at nothing to keep the candidate out of office. But Will Lee isn't about to back down, even though it may cost him his career -- and his life.
Preserve and Protect
Allen Drury
It's election time and the President of the United States has been killed just after his renomination. Chaos ensues as members of the party try to decide just who will run for president now. First published in 1968.
Primary Colors
Anonymous
Henry Burton, a former congressional aide, is pressed into service as an assistant to Jack Stanton, the governor of a small Southern state who has set his sights on the presidency. Thus begins a rollicking adventure of backyard barbeques, draft-dodging dilemmas, sex and seduction scandals, and media mayhem. Combining familiar events with juicy behind-the-scenes gossip, the novel presents a unique picture of the politics of a nation which is at once tiredly cynical and hopefully idealistic.
Shelley's Heart
Charles McCarry

An intricate and intelligent novel set in the not-too-distant future, by the author of The Miernik Dossier. The president is still celebrating his victory when it's discovered that his over-zealous aides may have stolen the election via computer.

Smoke and Mirrors
Barbara Michaels
Joining the campaign of a charismatic congresswoman, young Erin Hartsock arrives in Washington, D.C., filled with idealism and ambition. But her enthusiasm dissolves into terror when the campaign takes a malevolent turn. Someone...something...has begun threatening Erin and her colleagues. First come the strange fires, then a seemingly accidental death. As the election nears, Erin fears that she just may be a murderer's next candidate.
Special Relationship
Robyn Sisman
At Oxford, Annie Hamilton and driven American Jordan Hope shared a brief, but intense, connection. Now that Jordan is the Democratic hopeful for the American presidency, Annie's 19-year-old son convinces himself that Jordan is his father, which sets all of their lives in a tailspin.
The Campaign
Marilyn Tucker Quayle and Nancy Tucker Northcott
A conservative African-American senator, Robert Grant is a hopeful in the next presidential campaign, but the incumbent, fearful of losing his power, sets Grant up to take the blame for a murder he did not commit, and Grant must clear his name and solve a murder.
The Last Debate
Jim Lehrer
A satirical account of a presidential debate pits Republican nominee James Meredith, a fundamentalist Christian whose ambitions border on white supremacy, against four reporters who discover damaging information eight days before the election.
The People's Choice
Jeff Greenfield
"An Emmy Award-winning political commentator for ABC-TV news offers a satirical--but frighteningly plausible--novel about the chaos, wheeler-dealers, high-rollers, and innocent bystanders that rush in when a president-elect dies before the inauguration."
The Plan
Stephen Cannell

In the aftermath of his son's death and a divorce, TV reporter Ryan Bolt agrees to film a documentary about a lesser-known presidential candidate and uncovers mafia connections.

Waking the Dead
Scott Spencer
"...the story of Fielding Price, an up-and-coming young attorney in Chicago. He has just been offered a seat in Congress. His victory is virtually guaranteed-all he has to do is run.But on the campaign trail, Fielding finds that he cannot get Sarah Williams, the beautiful love of his life, out of his mind. It has been twelve years since Sarah was killed in a politically-motivated car bombing. But as Fielding is drawn deeper and deeper into the slippery world of politics, he becomes increasingly suspicious that Sarah is still alive."