{"product_id":"2940013613034","title":"The Solomon Scandals","description":"Ever wonder why our politicians, business leaders, and media figures\u003cbr\u003eso often disappoint us, and what happens after the scandals?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Solomon Scandals is not only about the original chicanery\u003cbr\u003eand related crimes but also their ripples--right up to the late 21st\u003cbr\u003ecentury. It mixes suspense, tragedy and satire in an edgy look at\u003cbr\u003eWashington life in the fast lane. What happens when a newspaper\u003cbr\u003ecolludes with the White House? In the wake of the Rupert\u003cbr\u003eMurdoch scandals--with unsavory ties between press and government in\u003cbr\u003ethe U.K. and with investigators checking out some disturbing American\u003cbr\u003eleads--Scandals is chillingly timely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlong the way, the novel goes beyond the bare-bones approach of the\u003cbr\u003estandard Washington nonfiction, exploring the personal lives of\u003cbr\u003ejournalists, real estate tycoons, federal contracts officers and other\u003cbr\u003eWashington players as part of the main theme: the conflict between\u003cbr\u003efriendship and duty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePoliticians blackmail and corrupt. A high-rise on the Potomac may\u003cbr\u003efall. A dictator launders his money with help from the D.C. elite.\u003cbr\u003eSpies and journalists court each other in a moral or not-so-moral\u003cbr\u003emist, and lines can blur between the two occupations, just as they\u003cbr\u003ehave at times in real life. A gossip columnist kills herself. What\u003cbr\u003estarts out as a campaign-donations investigation ends up going\u003cbr\u003elethally awry in more ways than one. A nuclear-regulatory scandal\u003cbr\u003efuels a subplot. Jonathan Stone, the reporter protagonist, finds\u003cbr\u003ehimself literally in bed with the voluptuous female bureaucrat behind\u003cbr\u003ethe sleaze. Will their bedroom talk be fodder for a grand jury?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlthough on the surface a beach read or airplane book, Scandals\u003cbr\u003ehas plenty lurking below. The author grew up on the outer fringes of\u003cbr\u003ethe D.C. elite--a future Watergater lived almost next door--and the\u003cbr\u003enovel offers the nuances you would expect from a Washington-area\u003cbr\u003enative. Partly inspired by now-forgotten events, including a Senator's\u003cbr\u003esecret CIA-related investment reported on the NBC Night News but not\u003cbr\u003ein Washington dailies, Scandals was required reading in a\u003cbr\u003ecourse at George Washington University, as a roman a clef weaving\u003cbr\u003etogether \"the various strands of politics, big business and media in a\u003cbr\u003econcrete (no pun), character-driven way.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Seymour Solomon in the title is a massive ex-bricklayer with two\u003cbr\u003efingertips missing. Ever attentive to the crew at the General Services\u003cbr\u003eAdministration, from the administrator on down, Solomon leases acres\u003cbr\u003eand acres of office space to the federal government.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTens of thousands of bureaucrats work in Solomon's buildings. An\u003cbr\u003eimmigrant's son, he has managed to break into the highest reaches of\u003cbr\u003eWashington society, not so coincidentally befriending his share of\u003cbr\u003epowerful politicians, judges, and building inspectors. Jon Stone, the\u003cbr\u003ereporter, discovers that Solomon has stinted on construction of the\u003cbr\u003ehuge Vulture's Point complex on the Potomac River. In researching the\u003cbr\u003estory, Stone is aided by Margo Danialson, a spirited young medieval\u003cbr\u003estudies graduate trapped within the bureaucracy Solomon has bought\u003cbr\u003eoff. By the end of the book, thanks in part to Margo, not just the\u003cbr\u003escandals, Stone is a different person. During the investigation, Stone\u003cbr\u003emust struggle with resistance from his editors and even his own\u003cbr\u003efather, who works for a PR and lobbying firm representing a bank that\u003cbr\u003ehas financed Solomon's projects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you're familiar at all with Washington and its ways, you'll nod at\u003cbr\u003ethe observations in Scandals. This D.C. is not the mystical\u003cbr\u003ecity--of white stone monuments and secret ceremonies--that one\u003cbr\u003ereviewer saw in The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Instead it is\u003cbr\u003ethe city of lawyers and lobbyists, strategically targeted campaign\u003cbr\u003egifts, and other \"practical\" concerns.","brand":"Twilight Times Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145763045616,"sku":"2940013613034","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013613034_p0.jpg?v=1763583018","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013613034","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}