“The Dirty Secret” is Brent Wolfingbarger’s novel about the
dirty politicians, desperate business owners, angry billionaires, foreign
triggermen, political aides, lawyers, and angry high-class housewives whose
lives all coalesce around the last remaining battleground in a hotly contested
presidential race: West Virginia. For
all that, though, it’s still a pretty unconventional political thriller, which
is a lot of the reason this book makes for such an interesting read. The conflict at the heart of the novel
involves a close presidential race which devolves along similar lines as Bush
v. Gore did in the Florida portion of the 2000 presidential election. The novel follows the presidential race
as it descends into passionate vested interests, dirty party politics, and intense
personal vendettas which all come to bare on the disputed results of
presidential campaigning.
It might sound like just another depressing installment of
the nightly news, and indeed there are elements which have painful real-world
analogs. But the genius of the story has
much more to do with the characters the author focuses on instead of the
politics which are portrayed. I should
spend a moment talking about the politics in the book, though, to give an accurate picture of what readers can expect.
The political stance of the book is actually admirably
measured, shying away from actual issues in favor of fairly nuanced psychological
motivations. Additionally, while there
is ultimately a winner declared, neither party is portrayed in a particularly
favorable light. Just about every
political figure is dirty in one way or another. If one party is portrayed as more aggressive
than the other, it’s only because one party gets away with something that the
other doesn’t. Ultimately, the election
in the book hangs on which party cheats better, and which party gets
caught. My impression has always been
that the conflicts of political thrillers have to revolve around issues most
people can agree on…like avoiding nuclear war or defeating bio-terrorism, etc. But “The Dirty Secret” doesn’t follow the
formula. Instead, “The Dirty Secret”
portrays every political figure as equally corrupt in one direction or another,
but it also relegates them to supporting roles in the real drama of all the
regular people caught in the middle.
There’s the political advisor whose charmed career hasn’t
ameliorated the wreckage of a lost relationship which fell apart fifteen years
earlier in the midst of family tragedy.
There’s a businessman desperate to keep the company which
his dead father built from going bankrupt while settling a lawsuit, and fighting
with his beautiful but chronically disappointed and embittered society wife.
There’s the lawyer, recently appointed to a post as county
prosecutor, trying to balance her new duties with cases already underway while
having to confront conflicting feelings about her high school sweetheart, back
in town on business.
There’s a very rich immigrant fighting against imminent
extradition with his vast fortune and the help of some old-world friends, and
there’s a one-eyed small town sheriff working to keep law enforcement funded and
the citizens of his town safe.
Like a lot of political novels, “The Dirty Secret” is
somewhat complex with a large cast of characters and widely varying motives to
keep track of. But it isn’t Tolstoy or
Dostoevsky, and the story is worth every bit of the mental gymnastics to takes
to keep everything straight. The author
wisely lets his characters drive the story against a background of political
intrigue, and this gives the book a real emotional center. So when politicking and party back-biting
begins to derail the lives of people outside the political arena, the reader
sympathizes enough to feel that the real drama is what happens to those regular
people. But even if the presidential
race in the book is relegated to a position of less importance, the novel is
never dull and keeps up a really well-paced plot.
It’s a really well-written book, with some of the snappiest
dialogue I’ve read in a long time. Much
of the writing is executed nicely, but the dialogue is the best part. Characters have great lines, and great
moments without feeling contrived or unrealistically clever. Each character has their own voice that gives
each of them a rare level of authenticity.
More than that, Mr. Wolfingbarger manages to include some real texture
to his characters, which adds a level of emotional drama to an already interesting
story.
I’d like to say that there’s a demographic I can imagine
that wouldn’t enjoy this book, because it makes me look discerning. And maybe, young adults wouldn’t find much of
interest in “The Dirty Secret.” But
otherwise, this book has a lot to offer…fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...actually no fencing or
miracles, but otherwise that’s pretty close.
There’s even quite a bit of humor throughout the story, and there were
particular moments that made me laugh out loud.
I’m going to say 5 Stars out of 5: Maybe teen audiences won’t get some of the
political subtext (though I’ve known some pretty sharp teenagers) but I really
can’t think of much to criticize about this book. Great characters, great plot, great focus and
an interesting treatment of politics, some really enjoyable dialogue and
well-executed action. It’s a complex book without being overly
complicated, and people looking for a read with some interesting ideas, some
interesting characters, or a nice fast-paced plot that doesn’t feel like
something you’ve already read a handful of times, this is a great choice. Mr. Wolfingbarger seems way more interested
in showing the dimensions of political life instead of touting or defending
any one perspective, and if there’s a cynicism to the portrayal of the American
political system, it’s at least a cynicism that most people will probably
relate to.
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