The Incumbent [Hardcover]

Brian McGrory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2000

A sizzling thriller from Washington press insider Brian McGrory, who stormed to the top of the political suspense A-list with his highly praised, national bestselling debut The Incumbent.

Brian McGrory's first novel generated excitement and praise from every quarter -- writers, politicians, journalists, and discerning thriller aficionados alike. Bob Woodward called The Incumbent, "a real, genuine, classic political thriller." It was a People Page Turner of the Week, and the Chicago Tribune cast it as "the literary equivalent of a grande espresso mocha -- rare and most welcome."

Harry Cutter, reporter for the Boston Record, is beginning to have doubts about the journalistic ethics employed by his mentor Robert Fitzgerald. But when Harry's uncle, the newspaper's publisher, is murdered in the company's parking lot, Harry's focus changes as he determines to investigate the killing. Is it connected to the attempted takeover of the newspaper? Or could it be linked to the confirmation hearings in Washington for the new U.S. Attorney General, who is Fitzgerald's oldest friend? As Harry works against a dwindling clock, and is forced to reassess his relationships with all those closest to him, only one thing is certain: he must uncover the truth behind the unimaginably dark conspiracy before it is too late.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Brian McGrory's experience as a veteran in Washington journalism ought to serve him well in this insider's take on presidential politics, which has been thoughtfully timed for pre-election publication. The premise is a good one: an assassination attempt just days before Clayton Hutchins faces his first national race for the White House, witnessed by a reporter who's been invited to join the campaign as press secretary. But there are too many holes in the back story to make this thriller credible, as McGrory should know. The plot turns on a secret any self-respecting reporter would have tumbled to at the time Hutchins, a self-made millionaire who was elected governor of a Midwestern state in a last-minute landslide, was appointed to replace a vice president who died in office. It strains credulity that by the time Hutchins ascends to the presidency (just a few weeks before the election, when the incumbent also dies in office) that his entire life has not been so thoroughly scrutinized that there are no skeletons left in his closet.

A warning by an anonymous caller that "nothing is as it seems" sets reporter Jack Flynn on the trail of the truth, a trail that takes him first to a militia compound in Idaho and then to a workingman's bar in Boston before he realizes that the answers are hidden much closer to home. The flaws in the plot are even more glaring considering the paeans to investigative journalism and its heroes with which McGrory seasons his narrative. It wouldn't have taken Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein 10 minutes of telephone research to conclude what the author requires three-quarters of a novel to figure out. But in an election year when the candidates compete to see who can put the voters to sleep first, The Incumbent may whet the appetites of a few political junkies. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

HJust in time for the 2000 presidential campaign comes this crisp Washington thriller, a superb first novel from the Boston Globe's former chief White House correspondent. The intrigue begins less than two weeks before the election. Jack Flynn, chief White House reporter for a Boston paper, asks at a press conference why President Clayton Hutchins has pardoned a certain felon. Quickly, Flynn is summoned to join the president for golf at Congressional Country Club, where he's invited to become the next White House press secretary. Right after that, a gunman opens fire, grazing the president but landing Flynn in Bethesda Naval Hospital. He's no sooner awake after surgery than he receives an anonymous phone warning: "Do not believe anything that they tell you." Flynn, of course, wants to investigate the attempted assassination; unfortunately for him, Secret Service agents have not only killed the shooter, but have conveniently rendered his body very hard to identify. Further mysterious phone calls put Flynn on the trail of what he suspects is an FBI coverup. From D.C., the trail leads to a remote Idaho militia stronghold, and then to murky dives in Boston. The peripatetic journalist-hero must stay one jump ahead of a killer intent on eliminating him and his story. Meanwhile, romantic overtures from sexy FBI agent Samantha Stevens tie Flynn in knots while the body count rises. As Flynn comes closer to the truth, questions of journalistic ethics, newspaper culture and Clinton-era politics begin to inform the narrative. Fans of Baldacci's Absolute Power or Demille's The Lion's Game should plunge into McGrory's enticing plot, following Flynn and his makeshift allies and enemies through a complex and credible web of deceit.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (August 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743403509
• ISBN-13: 978-0743403504
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,279,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding First Novel, September 11, 2000

By 

"--archangel--" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Incumbent (Hardcover)

Sometimes you walk into a bookstore simply hoping to find something to pass the time until the next book by one of your favorite authors finally comes out. I was fortunate to run across THE INCUMBENT on just such a day, and I am very glad I did. Brian McGrory has written an outstanding first novel that brings a breath of much-needed fresh air into the political thriller genre.

McGrory, a reporter and columnist for a Boston newspaper, does what many first novelists do--bases his protagonist on himself in order to write about familiar places and situations. Unlike most first novels, however, McGrory does so without overdoing it. Jack Flynn, the reporter at the heart of the story, is a main character that many readers can identify with--he loves his job and has had his share of personal tragedies to accompnay professional successes. While researching a story on presidential pardons, Flynn is suddenly thrust into the middle of an assassination plot while golfing with the president, Clay Hutchins, just as Hutchins offers him a job as press secretary after the election two weeks hence. Flynn finds himself, ironically, the center of media attention and in the middle of what could be the biggest story of his career. As the plot unfolds, McGrory takes the reader on an interesting journey through the "life" of a story and builds to an exciting--if marginally unbelievable--conclusion. Along the way, Flynn's life is threatened on a number of occasions and it remains unclear until well into the book who the shadowy figure stalking Flynn really is. McGrory does a nice job in interweaving the back story into the main plot, never giving too much away until the reader has already pieced most of the puzzle together for himself.

If the book has any flaws, they are mostly the by-products of the book's length--I would have enjoyed a little more detail about Flynn's meetings and history with Sammy Markowitz and in other places in the narrative. McGrory's climax and denouement are questionable, but this is excusable to a certain extent given the book's main problem. Without giving the plot away, it is unlikely in the extreme that Curtis Black could have achieved what he did in this era of media scrutiny. Nevertheless, this plot contrivance is only a minor irritant in an otherwise well-written and surprisingly thoughtful novel.

Overall, this is certainly a solid book, and one only hopes that McGrory takes the time to demonstrate his talents for political fiction again...and soon.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pulling Back the Curtain on Washington Journalism, December 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Incumbent (Hardcover)

I've always thought that a fast moving, unpredictable plot was enough to satisfy your average thriller reader. I am not not your average thriller reader. In fact, I never read thrillers because I don't feel like I learn enough from them. The Incumbant is different. It offered much more than just a whodunnit with the usual twists. Instead it provided a realistic, sometimes humorous view of the world of White House reporting. I was a White House correspondent for a news service for six years and Mr. McGrory captured not only the difficulty the job entails but also the absurdity of the beat. Readers can't help liking Jack Flynn, the book's hero. He is self-deprecating enough to make you root for him yet cocky enough to be believable as he looks for answers to a presidential assassination attempt. That mix gives the book its strength. The fact that the plot twists and turns when you least expect it only makes an already admirable first book effort from Mr. McGrory that much better. The Incumbant is fast paced enough to be read in a sitting on a rainy afternoon, but that does it a disservice. There are nuances in the work that ought to be savoured. There are laugh out loud jokes. And there are tender moments, regarding Flynn's marriage for example, that give the book a depth that can be missed by a quick reading. I hope there are more books to come from this talented new author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Presidential Election Year Read, October 8, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Incumbent (Hardcover)

THE INCUMBENT might not be the very best polictical thriller that I have ever read, but for a first novel, I rate it 4 stars. Brian McGrory has done a good job with his "hero" Jack Flynn. The obvious plot flaws, as pointed out by other reviewers, do not detract from the storyline, it just carried me along to its exciting conclusion. The author paints a good picture of DC politics and the many journalists who cover the President of the United States. I felt as if I were right in the White House briefing room. McGrory does not mind making jokes at the expense of his fellow journalists-himself included. Read this book and learn how jounalists should feel about the government and the Constiution of the United states. The fictional President Hutchins has quite a past-judge for yourself! The highest praise that I can give the THE INCUMBENT is that I will probably read his next book.