The Devil May Dance: A Novel

Description

Charlie and Margaret Marder, two rising stars in 1960s Washington DC, know all too well how shady the tangled web of power in the nation's capital can operate. But as they settle into their new lives, they are recruited by an old friend, Robert Kennedy to investigate a secret that could threaten the presidency and the entire country's security. Charlie and Margaret travel to Los Angeles, where they are confronted by a completely different, but no less sinister power dynamic. Instead of power hungry politicians, they must navigate glamorous musicians and actors. At the center of it all is Frank Sinatra, a close friend of John F. Kennedy, and a rumored mob affiliate whom Charlie and Margaret are tasked with investigating. Corruption and ambition form a deadly mix in this thrilling sequel to The Hellfire Club.

CNN anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper joined the network in January 2013. The Lead with Jake Tapper, his one-hour weekday program, debuted in March 2013. Tapper was named host of the network's Sunday morning show, State of the Union, in June 2015. Tapper has been a widely respected reporter in the nation's capital for nearly 20 years.

The Hellfire Club "Tapper's excellent sequel to 2018's The Hellfire Club opens with a highly effective tease. . . .Tapper makes good use of the rich source material." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Frank Sinatra, Robert Kennedy and Charlie Marder -- you can't lose with this combination of characters in The Devil May Dance. Jake Tapper explores the thin lines between politics, pop culture and crime, and the story is always gripping, accurate and right on target when it comes to underlining that the past is prologue and politics are always played for keeps."--Michael Connelly "Jake Tapper's deep inside knowledge of power, greed and politics fuels this riveting page-turner. Warning: Don't start this book late at night unless you have no plans the next day." --Harlan Coben "One helluva a mystery--bursting with early-'60s luminarios from Bobby Kennedy to Frank Sinatra and his swinging gang. Tapper effortlessly blends a journalist's sharp eye with a storyteller's keen sense of suspense: The result is as bracing as the bourbon the book's Rat Packers knock back and as fizzy as the champagne the Hollywood stars swig. Raise a glass."--Gillian Flynn The Hellfire Club is hot summer reading--Tampa Bay Times The Hellfire Club's first, thrilling scene pulled me into 1950s Washington, D.C., and didn't let go until the last, satisfying page. Tapper's passions for history and politics shine through in this remarkably timely, page-turning debut.--Alafair Burke, author of the New York Times Bestselling The Wife [The Hellfire Club is] both an engaging and slyly timely foray into Washington politics... incorporat(ing) shades of Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as well as elements of contemporary toxic alliances.--Seattle Review of Books [The Hellfire Club] has the best qualities of this sort of historical fiction, which include the winking perspective of the present.--Ben Smith, BuzzFeed A fun, fast, gripping thriller full of real-life dirty dealmakers and legendary political power-brokers. No one knows the ins and outs of Washington politics like Jake Tapper.--Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Dispatches from the Edge A splashy, swampy page-turner [that] plunges readers into the heart of '50s Washington, D.C. The book showcases Tapper's passion for American political history, rich as it is with fascinating period details, as well as his feel for a story well-told.--David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly From the moment you enter The Hellfire Club's world of suspense and intrigue and sex and danger, you won't want to leave. The swampy world of 1954 Washington DC feels vividly relevant in our current day politics. A must read!--Shonda Rhimes Here's your chance to get up close and personal with John and Bobby Kennedy, Nixon, Eisenhower, Kefauver, LBJ and Joe McCarthy. Jake Tapper puts you right back in the 50's. At the same time, Tapper has written a superior thriller that I couldn't stop reading. To be completely honest though, Tapper is an irritating bastard. Journalists like him are supposed to be writing dusty non-fiction tomes that help us get to sleep, not thrillers that keep us up half the night. The Hellfire Club is a helluva good read. Now Tapper should return to writing non-fiction.--James Patterson, #1 New York Times Bestselling author Insightful... it almost feels like everything actually happened. It is fiction, however, well-written and worthwhile.--Jeff Ayers, The Associated Press Leave it to Tapper to find the truth in fiction. This great buzzsaw of a mystery is packed with indecent politicians and secret societies - making the 1950s setting just as relevant today. The scariest part of The Hellfire Club is that it proves Washington - and America - is forever mourning for the past.--Brad Meltzer, The Escape Artist Startlingly good...a reminder that the rarest thing of all in spy novels is a writer willing to give us a character who could exist just as easily in any kind of literary fiction.--Alexander Aciman, Tablet Tapper uses his storytelling chops to deftly put you in the moment when Joe McCarthy was waving his infamous paper and the Congress was at peak skullduggery. Hellfire is a potent thriller, replete with well-developed characters that made me think that history does indeed repeat itself.--David Baldacci, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of End Game The action comes fast and furious, House of Cards on steroids; you'll be turning pages faster than a cable channel updates its chyron.--Cynthia Dickison, Minnesota Star Tribune This is a remarkably accomplished effort, especially for a first novel. . . . Tapper brings . . . the kind of detailed political knowledge that only someone with his first-hand experience could bring to the story.--Booklist "An ambitious debut, a meticulously researched work of historical fiction with a byzantine plot punctuated by explosive, Dan Brown-esque twists."--Alexandra Alter, New York Times "CNN's Jake Tapper proves he has the page-turning knack in his entertaining debut novel."--Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today "Fiction is as suspenseful as truth in Jake Tapper's The Hellfire Club."--Vanity Fair