Robert Ellis - book one

Fast paced DC set political thriller from early in the Millennium. Worth a listen, will try some more of his books!

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"Dogs were hard to stop."

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A superb rendition of a complex, suspended filled mystery set at the heart of the democratic system. Just wonderful.
Frank Miles is pretty happy with his life. He and Woody, his friend from college, had together built a very successful political media consultancy making money and with powerful clients, many in their positions through the agency's help. He was even a friend and consultant to the President. His latest, most ambitious assignment was to ensure the election as Senator of Mel Murdoch, a mediocre man but the son of a multimillionaire with plenty of money to back his aspirations. But his opponent was a good man, if rather dull, and so Frank was enjoying using all of the creative energies required to push his client ahead in the race.
Then Frank's friend and partner is murdered, apparently by a young thief, also found shot dead just outside their offices. And from this point on, Frank's life will never be the same.

The book is well written with the more gentle beginnings laying down the groundwork of characters and the general workings of the agency with the indicators of the make or break power that it wields, a terrifying peek behind the political election curtain that feels all too possible. Then it speeds as action follows action, and a tangle of ideas and leads emerge as further deaths follow and the who? and why? mystery is chased. Strong personalities emerge, some quite bizarre, like the hit man who listens to self help audiobooks as he drives around Washington.

A complex and exciting book needs a good narrator and Andrew Tell is superb, giving realistic and easily identifiable voices to each of the numerous protagonists, big and small. He fits the reading to the text perfectly, by subtle inflection picking up ugly undertones and ramping up the tensions inherent in the story. A masterful performance.

I was very fortunate in being gifted a copy of Access to Power by the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. My thanks for that. This was a book I found very hard to stop once I began to listen and was swept along with the machinations of the political world, the dirty tricks and, of course, the action packed twists and turns of the story itself. As one of the characters comments, "It's not a dog eat dog world any more ... It's rat eat rat. Winner takes all." For me, this book was a winner in every way and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

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