Purple Dots

August 31, 1998
PBS newsman and veteran novelist Lehrer (White Widow) neatly interweaves ruthlessness, hypocrisy and CIA intrigue in this disarming political thriller. Ex-CIA operative Charlie Henderson comes out of retirement to clear the name of his friend and fellow spy Josh Bennett, whose nomination for CIA chief has Republican Senator Marty Madigan frantically digging for dirt. It seems Madigan is following orders from Senator Lank Simmons of New Mexico, who is being blackmailed, in turn, by a Texas senator who has New Mexico's water supply under his thumb and happens to back a certain undesirable candidate for the Supreme Court. Lehrer gains satirical mileage by narrating the same events from the viewpoints of both Charlie and Marty. Although Marty comes off as a slick, aggressive opportunist in Charlie's version, he earns the reader's sympathy in his own account as a young, ambitious politician caught in a complicated power struggle between his self-interested superiors. As the opponents wrestle their way toward a gratifying resolution, Lehrer deftly exposes duplicity and pettiness on both sides through smart (if occasionally overblown) dialogue that spoofs their simultaneous lack of communication and merciless competition for powers great and small (such as the "purple dots" on license plates, which prevent car towing in Washington). Lehrer maintains admirable objectivity: no character is ultimately sympathetic or completely tarred and feathered by the end of this pointed portrait of Capitol Hill. (Oct.) FYI: In October, Doubleday will publish Breaking News, the third novel by Lehrer's longtime (and now former) collaborator on The News Hour, Robert MacNeil.

June 1, 1998
Taking off some time from newscasting, Lehrer crafts a political thriller about the confirmation of a CIA director with a protagonist who's sharp, witty, and over 65.

August 1, 1998
The president's nominee for the post of director of the Central Intelligence Agency runs mysteriously afoul of one senator as the confirmation hearings are about to begin. With help from within the agency, the senator's aide is gathering bits of damaging information that could derail the nomination of Joshua Bennett. Why? Not even Bennett, the current deputy DCI, can find out; so a group of retired spooks who admire Bennett dust off their tradecraft and take to the field to see that the venerable ritual of senatorial advice and consent remains true to its intent. Even in the age of C-SPAN, the "Drudge Report," and 24-hour news networks, Lehrer's insights into the way Washington actually works will inform and entertain. Business Washington-style is all about agendas: a judgeship in Texas, water in New Mexico, parking privileges in the District. Written by a less astute observer of national politics, this novel could have been a funny but cartoonish satire, but Lehrer knows that true players in Washington politics are neither purely good nor wholly evil, neither rabid ideologues nor complete crooks. None of Lehrer's cast is perfect, and none is perfectly hateful. It's a good thing for us to know, and the lesson is packaged in an engaging, entertaining tale. Lehrer's former coanchor on the "MacNeil/Lehrer Hour," Robert MacNeil, has also been writing novels--see below. ((Reviewed August 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)