Shining City A novel

Tom Rosenstiel

eAudio - 2017

Peter Rena is a fixer." He and his partner, Randi Brooks, earn their living making the problems of the powerful disappear. They get their biggest job yet when the White House hires them to vet the president's nominee for the Supreme Court. Judge Roland Madison is a legal giant, but he's a political maverick, with views that might make the already tricky confirmation process even more difficult. Rena and his team go full-bore to cover every inch of the judge's past, while the competing factions of Washington D.C. mobilize with frightening intensity: ambitious senators, garrulous journalists, and wily power players on both sides of the aisle. All of that becomes background when a string of seemingly random killings overlap...s with Rena's investigation, with Judge Madison a possible target. Racing against the clock to keep his nominee safe, the President satisfied, and the political wolves at bay, Rena learns just how dangerous Washington's obsession with power-how to get it and how to keep it-can be. Written with razor-sharp political insight and heart-pounding action, Shining City is a hugely impressive debut that announces a major new talent.

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Subjects
Genres
Suspense fiction
Published
[United States] : HarperAudio 2017.
Language
English
Corporate Author
hoopla digital
Main Author
Tom Rosenstiel (-)
Corporate Author
hoopla digital (-)
Other Authors
David Colacci (-)
Edition
Unabridged
Online Access
Instantly available on hoopla.
Cover image
Physical Description
1 online resource (1 audio file (11hr., 08 min.)) : digital
Format
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
ISBN
9780062659743
Access
AVAILABLE FOR USE ONLY BY IOWA CITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE CONTRACTING GOVERNMENTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, HILLS, AND LONE TREE (IA).
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Rosenstiel is out to write a roof-rattling thriller, and he's brought it off in doubles. Peter Rena is a Washington, D.C., operator whose special skill is making problems disappear. This time his client is the president of the U.S., no less, and the problem is the background of the chief executive's potential Supreme Court nominee. Could he be too radical? He did, after all, protest the Vietnam War. As Rena digs into the past of this man, who looks like a wholesome Peter O'Toole, a serial killer goes to work, and we discover, as Rena does, that everything is connected. What's really fun here is watching old-hand Washington observer Rosenstiel drop insights about the Kabuki world of the nation's capital. A restaurant hostess doesn't take drink orders it's a status thing. To keep an interview subject ignorant of your agenda, make him mad at you. The thriller plot returns, hammer and tongs, for a fine action finale, but what we remember most is characters like the vice president. He's taken on a gaunt look from attending too many funerals. Give this one to fans of the late, great Ross Thomas.--Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Senior Brookings Institute fellow Rosenstiel (The Elements of Journalism, with Bill Kovach) makes his fiction debut with this polished, entertaining political thriller. President James Nash hires Washington, D.C., spin doctors Peter Rina and Randi Brooks to "scrub" potential Supreme Court nominee Roland Madison. Their researches reveal a 1960s radical taint in Judge Madison's background, providing red meat for challenges from Nash's opponents-in particular, the founder of the ultra-right-wing group Citizens for Freedom. But a more alarming problem arises when the murdered bodies of Madison's colleagues start turning up. Rina and Brooks must now expand their investigation to hunt for a serial killer. The conservative Rina and the liberal Brooks are an engaging team, and Rosenstiel does a brilliant job dramatizing how Washington's political sausage is made. Less convincing is the plot's serial-killer element, which feels as if one of John Sandford's psychopaths has wandered into Primary Colors. Still, readers will want to see a lot more of Rina and Brooks. Agent: David Black, Black Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Keep your friends close but your political enemies closer. Peter Rena and his partner, Randi Brooks, are "fixers" who are known for being extremely effective in making problems go away. That's difficult in Washington, DC, where the struggle for political power is ruthless. When a Supreme Court justice dies suddenly, Rena and Brooks are hired by the president to vet his replacement nominee. Judge -Roland -Madison is a political maverick, which makes the proceedings even more difficult for everyone. The nomination process then takes a deadly turn when Rena uncovers a series of seemingly random killings that might be connected to Madison. Could Madison also be a target? Rena and Brooks must race to figure out who is behind the murders as they try to protect the president from any political fallout and save Madison's life. VERDICT Veteran journalist Rosenstiel's debut novel "shines" with page-turning intensity that will make readers hope that this book is the beginning of a new series. Highly recommended for legal and political thriller junkies and fans of David Baldacci and John Grisham. [See Prepub Alert, 8/26/16.]--Susan Moritz, Silver Spring, MD © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.