Book Review: The Incumbent

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Incumbent     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Brian McGrory
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Political Intrigue   Thriller   Amateur Sleuth
Pocket, Sep 2000, $24.95, 344 pp.

In the exclusive Congressional Country Club in Maryland, Boston Record Washington DC correspondent Jack Flynn plays golf with President Clay Hutchins. Though the upcoming election appears close, the President is confident of winning and offers Jack the position of press secretary. However, on the sixteenth hole, Jack and the President are in a sand trap when all hell broke loose due to a sprinkler setting off and soaking the players. That turns out to be a diversion as an assailant shoots both golfers, but in turn is taken out by the Secret Service.

While recuperating in the hospital, Jack receives an anonymous call insisting that the so-called assassination is “nothing as it seems”. Unable to resist a story of a lifetime, in which he is a major participant, Jack begins to make inquiries even as a Deep Throat like person keeps giving him tips and warnings. Soon, a killer decides Jack is getting to close to the truth and needs elimination.

THE INCUMBENT is an exciting political thriller that will please fans of conspiracy theories, those readers who question the role of the modern media, and the anti Clinton crowd. The story line never eases up at the throttle as Jack digs deeper and deeper into the mystery, but each new fact makes the investigation seem more complex and convoluted rather than simplifying it. Though the characters are never fully developed except to a degree the hero, the twisting, dangerous inquiry makes Brian McGrory’s shocker a winner for sub-genre fans.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner