Deep Background [Hardcover]

David Corn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

After President Bob Hanover is shot dead at the White House press conference by a gunman with no identity, Nick Addis,, a presidential aide, is reluctantly drawn into an unofficial-and private-investigation of the assassination. In this off-the-books effort, he is joined by Clarence Dunne, the disgraced chief of White House security, and Julia Lancette, a CIA analyst at odds with the Agency. As the intrigue mounts-the first lady and the vice president are fiercely competing for their party's presidential nomination-Addis, Dunne, and Lancette are confronted by faceless and ruthless enemies determined to stop them from uncovering long-hidden secrets.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When President Bob Hanover is shot point-blank during a White House press conference, just weeks before he's scheduled to accept his party's nomination for re-election, Nick Addis--a trusted aide--happens to be in the midst of investigating an old real estate transaction involving Hanover and his wife (back when he was the governor of Louisiana) that has come back to haunt them. Meanwhile, Clarence Dunne, the head of the Secret Service detail charged with guarding Hanover's life, has been shut out of the subsequent investigation, but continues to do legwork on his own. Of course, Dunne and Addis cross paths, and they in turn eventually meet Julia Lancette, a beautiful CIA analyst whose specialty lies in tracking down the agency's rogue elements. In the midst of all this intrigue, Addis is also under pressure to choose sides between the former vice president and the first lady as the nominating convention draws near.

Deep Background is perhaps the best Clintonesque roman à clef since Primary Colors, although David Corn does sometimes play the parallels a bit too heavily (such as his recycling of the joke about the president, his wife, and her ex-boyfriend the gas station attendant). As the Washington editor for The Nation, Corn is intimately familiar with D.C. power games, and he puts his knowledge to masterful effect here. But thinly disguised and slightly altered portraits aren't enough to carry a novel of this sort--so Corn loads up the plot with plenty of twists and turns. Fans of two very different types of Beltway fiction--thrillers of the David Baldacci school and Allen Drury's political dramas--will find something they can share in Deep Background.

From Publishers Weekly

An intricately plotted debut novel by the Washington editor of the Nation magazine (The Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades), this inside-the-Oval-Office political thriller resurrects vestiges of JFK, LBJ, RMN and the present-day WJC administration with impressive authenticity. On the eve of the (unspecified) party convention, President Hanover, the shoo-in candidate for a second term, is assassinated at a White House press conference while his close personal aide Nick Addis and the horrified world watch on TV; the assailant then takes poison. Caught between supporting the feckless VP-now-prez or the power-hungry newly widowed ex-First Lady, Addis takes refuge in an assignment to fly to New Orleans and squelch some ugly rumors about a tainted land deal that took place while Hanover was still governor of Louisiana. Meanwhile, lone wolf CIA internal watchdog Julia Lancette stumbles onto a possible link between the shooting and an obscure deep cover unit of agency assassins, and is menaced by shadowy figures as potential witnesses start to die. Determined to discover the assassin's identity, Clarence Dunne, the disgraced White House chief of security, eventually crosses paths with Lancette and Addis as, separately, they are led deeper into a complex web of intrigue and deceit. Pressure for Addis to choose political sides intensifies. Dunne is wounded and Addis joins forces with Lancette as they attempt to trace a paper trail to the nameless assassin. As its labyrinthine plot unfolds, the tale takes on unexpected dimension, and Addis and Lancette are drawn toward a violent, edge-of-the-seat denouement. Corn hits the mark with this chilling look at ugly ambition inside the Capital Beltway. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209002
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209001
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,317,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bingo!, October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Background (Hardcover)

I am a great fan of thrillers and this is just top drawer. David combines the smartest of prose with the greatest dose of real-life inside-the beltway insight. When my very favorite, Ross Thomas, passed away a few years ago I was sure he could never be replaced. Hey.. Ross.. old buddy, catch this!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most exciting novels I have read in years!, October 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Background (Hardcover)

This book hits the ground running. It doesn't allow you the typical expository, introductory period. Instead, it completely sweeps you away, practically from the very first page, into one of the more interesting and creative mystery storylines that you will ever read.

I felt completed engrossed by its stunningly realistic views into the inner workings of a presidential administration. The dialogue was so natural and the setting descriptions so vivid, that I often forgot that this was a novel. It felt more like I was actually witnessing events that were not meant to been seen by a Washington outsider, such as myself.

Quite an accomplishment for a first time novelist. Watch out, Clancy, there's a newcomer on the block.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific thriller of an accidental conspiracy gone awry., September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Background (Hardcover)

This is a good one! Corn, the Washington editor of The Nation, makes effective use of his insider perspective, not to mention the D.C. locale. You'll have fun deciphering the references to classic political literature (where DID he get the idea for the stuttering faithful retainer). The roman a clef aspects come at you like a Pedro Martinez change-up; for example, the Clintonesque president is a Vietnam hero, not a draft evader.

Well-paced, written with a reporter's eye, and sophisticated, Deep Background is an all too believable account of the aftermath of a political assassination. Hang on tight as presential aide Nick Addis, CIA analyst Julia Lancette, and discredit Secret Service chief Clarence follow paths that ultimately converge on the inevitable, disillusioning truth.