After Midwest Dave raved about Robert Ellis’ books, I decided to give him a try, starting with his first novel from 2001. Frank Miles is a political consultant in Washington, the man who got the current president elected. He is a partnership with Woody Darrow, and together they started with candidates no one knew, and then gradually worked their way up. As time went along, politics got dirtier. “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” In the last election cycle, Frank got Helen Pryor elected over Ozzie Olson, but he cheated to do so. When Ozzie emerged from a porn house while looking for his runaway neice, his fly was stuck open, and Frank used a picture of that to suggest that Ozzie was a bad man, which he was not. Ozzie lost the election in a landslide and then went on a two-year bender, intent on destroying Frank. Now, Mel Merdock has hired Frank to help him win the Senate seat in Virginia over Lou Kay. Kay is a good man, but Mel is not, something Frank only slowly comes to realize. Not only are their dirty politics going on at the highest level, but there are murders happening, including to Frank’s partner, Woody. The money at stake is huge, and Miles, Darrow & Associates get 15% off the top, so Frank stands to make a lot more money with Woody out of the way. He stands accused of being the one causing all the mayhem. It’s a good story, a very good plot with strong characters. I’ll read more of Ellis.
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