Corruption [Paperback]

Andrew Klavan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1995

Obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a corrupt sheriff's power, journalist Sally Dawes enters a battle of wills with Cyrus Dolittle as the latter campaigns for a county election, but her own secrets threaten Sally's life. Reprint. PW. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barbed prose and characters as pungent as the smell of ozone during a lightning storm spark a timeworn plot in Klavan's ( The Animal Hour) latest crime thriller. In upstate New York, local boss Sheriff Cyrus Dolittle has been under steady attack for years from Sally Dawes, the drab, 41-year-old bureau chief for the Daily Champion. But even while Sally tossed minor, irksome roadblocks in his way, Dolittle consolidated power through political favors and cover-ups. Now Dolittle's candidate stands to win the County Executive election and Sally vows to stop him. At the same time, handsome Harvard grad Sid Merriwether, son of a director of the Champion 's parent company, signs on as a fledgling reporter and discovers a fire for journalism and a lust for plain, enigmatic Sally. Sally assigns Sid and his aesthetic opposite, troll-like Ernie Rumplemeyer, to investigate the death of a realtor with Dolittle connections. After the boyfriend of Dolittle's teenaged daughter is killed by the sheriff's men in a drug bust, the dead youth's mobster boss talks to Merriwether and the enraged girl dishes out the dirt to Rumplemeyer. Dolittle and his henchman put some heavy pressure on Sally and her paper. Events careen to a menacingly quiet ending as Klavan builds excruciating tension in this character-driven plot without a cheap trick or false note.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

As editor and bureau chief of the Daily Champion, Sally Dawes enjoys the small-town conceits of Tyler, New York. But an important election is upcoming, and she needs to get the lowdown on her old nemesis, Sheriff Cyrus Dolittle, who is attempting to fill every open slot with his own men. The last thing Sally needs is to take on a new staff member--even drop-dead-handsome nonjournalist Sidney Merriwether, whose wealthy father has arranged the job as punishment for Sidney. Much to Sally's dismay (and delight), Sidney is the spitting image of her old boyfriend. Not only that, but when real-estate attorney Billy Thimble is murdered and mafioso Vincent Scotti brought to trial, Merriwether proves invaluable--as a writer, researcher, and lover. Although the romance between hunky Sid and Sally, who is continually described as having an "old maid's face," seems a bit forced, two-time Edgar winner Klavan has penned a fast-paced, intricate mystery with unusual and memorable characters. Eloise Kinney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Mass Market Paper (November 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312956819
• ISBN-13: 978-0312956813
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Klavan has been nominated for the Mystery Writer of America's Edgar award five times and won twice. He is the author of several bestselling novels, including Don't Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas, True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, and Empire of Lies. He is currently writing a series of thrillers for young adults called The Homelanders. The first two novels in the series are The Last Thing I Remember and The Long Way Home. Klavan is a contributing editor to City Journal and his essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among other places. His satiric video commentaries can be seen on PJTV.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NICE TRY, BUT...., June 22, 2003

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corruption (Paperback)

In reading several of Klavan's books over the years, I have found him to be both original and derivative; challenging and pedestrian; engaging and boring. His best works, "True Crime," "Don't Say a Word" and "The Animal Hour" worked on all levels; "Corruption" doesn't fully satisfy this reader.

I agree with Robert Beveridge's review in that the last chapter is definitely not traditional in wrapping up the many plot developments. While this may be an "artistic" achievement, it doesn't satisfy the reader in at least wrapping up some of the story; after all, isn't that why we read this book in the first place?

Klavan develops some strong characters, flawed and imperfect, such as Sally and Sid; Ernie and Chase; Vince Scotti, Teddy; Cindy, etc. Sid's betrayal of his wife, Emily, is handled very expertly, although one can't figure out how he can love both women so deeply.

The mystery of which there is little is never really solved; what happens to all these people? Ernie's fate is casually presented, with no resolution.

While I admire a writer's attempt to be "different," I don't like feeling as though I never finished my meal.

NIce try but not recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one, April 17, 2001

By 

Mike Wilson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corruption (Hardcover)

I read True Crime and really enjoyed it. I then decided to try another from the same author so I read Hunting Down Amanda and that was great as well.

Corruption was simply awful. It took me 3 weeks to get through it and it's only 370 pages long. (I normally read 2-3 books a week) What kept me reading was the fact that both 'Amanda' and 'True Crime' did take a while to get into so I thought Corruption might at least finish with a bang. However, nothing happens.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Klavan's magnum opus., February 21, 2002

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Corruption (Hardcover)

Andrew Klavan, Corruption (St. Martin's, 1993)

Klavan is finally starting to get the reputation he deserves, though the recent film version of Don't Say a Word may well knock him back a notch. But the author of such recently acclaimed novels as The Uncanny and The Animal Hour has been around, lurking in the shadows, for much longer than most folks give him credit. Corruption was written during his time back in those shadows, and thus the run-of-the-mill Klavan fan may be unaware of it. That's too bad, because Corruption may be Klavan's magnum opus; this is the book that should have put him on the map almost ten years ago.

Corruption, as its title implies, is the story of a corrupt small town. Klavan didn't submit to the usual stereotypes here; his small town is in upstate New York rather than a mostly rural Southern state, and he resists (despite the back-cover-blurb's author to pin everything on the local sheriff) attacking any one particular member of the town as being more corrupt than any other. In fact, the staff of the local paper, the editor of which has been engaged in a pitched battle with the sheriff for the last seven years, isn't exactly the gleaming white knight one would expect from a crusading media presence; there's more than enough going on under the surface at the paper to make the astute reader wonder which enterprise is more corrupt, the politicians or those seeking to expose them. There are bad guys aplenty here, including drug dealers with mafia ties, puppet electoral candidates, etc., but one wonders if there's one true good guy anywhere to be found in the novel. This is the novel's main point of brilliance; once the underlying scandal is fully revealed (the mystery portion of the novel), the reader immediately wonders whether it's really as bad as anything that's been done to uncover it. (The novel's other truly brilliant undertaking is the last chapter. In fact, the last page stands out as well; Klavan takes a big chance with the way he ends the novel, and in my view it pays off nicely. Without revealing any plot points, I will caution the reader that anyone who likes everything tied up in a nice, neat little bow when the back cover of a book is closed is going to have a very hard time with the way this novel ends. I thought it brilliant and, more importantly, true to the way things really work.)

With excellently drawn characters, a decent mystery underlying them, and Klavan's usual page-turning style, this one's sure to satisfy most mysterygoers who can get past the caveat in the last paragraph above. If you're not a Klavan fan, or hadn't previously heard of this particular Klavan novel, do yourself a favor and get acquainted.