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Potomac Fever: A Novel

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As up to the minute as the latest CNN news report and as chilling as reading your own obit, Potomac Fever by the pseudonymous husband/wife team of Diane Henry and Nicholas Horrock (Blood Red, Snow White, 1992) is part psychological thriller, part savvy political commentary, and all can't-put-down, spine-tingling drama.

This Washington based, suspense driven tale has everything - a compelling opening, an unexpected finish and in between violence, sex, race, betrayal, conspiracy - all held together by crackling dialogue and authentically drawn characters.

For starters, we witness the sadistic beating of homicide detective Cal Terrell, an honest experienced cop with a love of horses and the Chesapeake. Cal has been ambushed by masked thugs at his stable/home. Years on the Washington scene have taught him what he didn't want to know: evil does exist.

As Cal lies in a hospital's intensive care unit he mentally replays his investigation of the murder of nubile Mary Jeanne Turner, a 19-year-old dining room hostess in a posh club. Her cocaine stoked body, distinguished by a "B" branded on her posterior, had been retrieved from Chesapeake Bay.

Cal and his partner, feisty, gorgeous, tough Bobbie Short, misnamed because she's about 6'1" in heels, were also ordered to investigate shootings outside the youth oriented Reggae Club. What on the surface had appeared to be random acts of violence, perhaps gang related, turned out to be a heinous plot designed to force residents to sell their property to Virgil James, a wealthy black realtor and compatriot of Washington's black Mayor, Martin Cameron.

James, it seems, has been dating Mary Jeanne who has a penchant for interracial relationships and, as we later learn, has also become the Mayor's main squeeze. We suspect that perhaps James is providing cover for the married Mayor's liaisons, and we learn that James is trying to accrue property for rich and questionable Harry Moray, who wants to transform downscale D.C. areas into profitable luxury condos.

Moray is a lobbyist, a power broker with easy access to the President. A former senator, he "saw that the opportunities in Washington were in a different direction, that the rewards of government were not in governing."

Add to this mix of nefarious no-gooders Vivian, Cal's ex-wife, a glamorous TV journalist now married to Edward St. Denis, the President's counsel. She tries to rekindle any old sparks lying dormant in Cal's heart and loins. Why?

Blend in Nathaniel Bench, Cal's former partner and now proud to be Washington's black police chief - somewhere along the line he lost his spine and mastered double speak. He's busy throwing roadblocks up in Cal and Bobbie's investigations.

The possibility and plausibility of the authors' inventive story line make this tale more chilling than a sci-fi epic. Combine that with non-stop action ignited by an insider's edgy narrative and you have Potomac Fever - a shocking yet compelling read.

Those who can't get enough of the "conspiracy at the highest level" genre of thrillers will want to add this to their reading lists, but the average reader is likely to grow exasperated with this overblown mess, which is stuffed with every push-button issue under the sun. Sex, race, class, drugs, corruption, homosexuality, shadowy operatives, high-power lobbyists, shady real-estate deals, professional athletes, hit teams, public relations, the White House, it's all been crammed into the plot. At a certain level one has to admire the husband-wife authorial team for managing to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to craft a gripping tale. However, all the "ripped from the headlines" plotlines won't help if the story is told in awkward prose with cheezy dialogue by cardboard characters in a confusing mix of flashback, flashforward, and present tense narration. The plot is too convoluted to recap here, but basically everything is driven by one homicide detective with a dogged determination to pursue justice in the face of high-level opposition. It's a tired character type, and there's certainly no new twists to it here. Indeed, there's no a single character that brings anything fresh or new to the mix, you've seen 'em all before, and here they are again, running through the paces. If you want to read crime stories set in the real D.C.-not the imaginary world of movers and shakers-check out any of George Pelecanos's books, like Right As Rain. They'll show you the real city, whose crimes are much more banal, and much more tragic than the foolishness in this tired "thriller".

By Richard J. McGowan

Potomac Fever is a suspenseful, can't-put-down story of survival told against a background of greed, power and political intrigue in Washington, D.C. Like most Washington novels, this one is full of knaves and knights, vendettas, plot twists and hard-boiled action. However, Potomac Fever doesn't focus on smarmy denizens in Congress or the White House. It unfolds through the eyes of two world-weary homicide detectives, Cal Terrell and Bobbie Short, who start out investigating the murder of a beautiful 20-year-old, District of Columbia restaurant hostess. They wind up burrowing through the mean streets of the nation's capital to uncover the corruption strangling the District's power brokers. Anyone who has followed the political shenanigans in D.C. in recent years should recognize some of the players in this well plotted and riveting tale. Henry Horrock is the pen name of veteran journalists Diane Henry and Nicholas Horrock. The husband-and-wife team, authors of the sexy thriller Blood Red, Snow White, live in Virginia. In Washington, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and the quest for power runs unchecked in all branches of government. Potomac Fever fills in the District's blanks as the reader is taken on a roller-coaster ride. The body count soars and the beatings get bloodier. Everyone has a hidden agenda, except the two jaded but dedicated detectives. The psychological suspense holds until the final pages when the villain is finally unveiled. By then the reader will be as spent as our charismatic hero cop Cal Terrill who, hopefully, will return in another thriller by the Horrocks.

Washington DC detective Cal Terrell lies in a hospital bed unable to speak and suffering from a clot on his brain due to a blow to the temple. Though he is aware of everything around him, including the vigilance of his ex-wife at his side, Cal reflects back on where it all began: the murder of Mary Jeanne Turner.

To Cal and his partner Bobbie Short, the Turner death was just another number to a growing statistic. The two homicide cops and their superiors believe the mass killings at a local teen club is a much more important use of the forces manpower. However, the two police officers make inquiries into Ms. Turner's background. They soon find links to the mayor, the massive Rivergate development project, the teen massacre at the Reggae Club, and ultimately to the White House where power is the final aphrodisiac.

Most readers first reaction to another White House murder story is to ignore the novel as there has been an abundance of these stories in books, TV, and the movies. However, that would be a major misjudgment as Henry Horrock has written the DC thriller that will leave the rest of the competition lamely behind. The story line with its multiple subplots intelligently sails smoothly down the Potomac until they converge into a taut psychological chiller. The characters feel genuine and, in some cases, mirror the real Washington as the audience tries to play the match game. POTOMAC FEVER stands out because of the ease in which the dynamic writing team of Henry Horrock explains the unified field theory of chaotic collisions and collusion that define the American capital.

Harriet Klausner

I'm not sure how I ended up with the paperback version of this book. It was probably in a group of books packaged together that I bought in a discount store. And it's probably been sitting around the house for a year or more, and I just read it last week.

I thought it was EXCELLENT. I couldn't put it down, and now I'm loaning it to friends at work who also read a lot.

I'm the type of person who just plain loves to read & I came to amazon.com looking for more titles by this author. This book hooked me from the start, and I must admit that I skipped some of my housework to KEEP READING.

THANK YOU to the authors, and keep writing! because I'll be looking for more!

For a book that I happened to see sitting on a shelf in a bookstore, and never heard of the author (or, in this case, authors), this book exceeded my expectations. I found the story line compelling, keeping me guessing on what the next twist was going to be... or was there going to be anther twist???

Up until the time the story unwound, it still kept you guessing what was coming next, for the unexpected but really shouldn't have been too surprising finish.

Definitely a good read if you like suspense novels.