Shining City

Peter Rena #1

by Tom Rosenstiel

Peter Rena is a “fixer.” He and his partner, Randi Brooks, earn their living making the problems of the powerful disappear. They get their biggest job yet when the White House hires them to vet the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court. Judge Roland Madison is a legal giant, but he’s a political maverick, with views that might make the already tricky confirmation process even more difficult. Rena and his team go full-bore to cover every inch of the judge’s past, while the competing factions of Washington D.C. mobilize with frightening intensity: ambitious senators, garrulous journalists, and wily power players on both sides of the aisle.

All of that becomes background when a string of seemingly random killings overlaps with Rena’s investigation, with Judge Madison a possible target. Racing against the clock to keep his nominee safe, the President satisfied, and the political wolves at bay, Rena learns just how dangerous Washington’s obsession with power—how to get it and how to keep it—can be.

Written with razor-sharp political insight and heart-pounding action, Shining City is a hugely impressive debut that announces a major new talent.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Politics, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook

368 pages, ebook

First published February 21, 2017

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Rosenstiel presents this poignant piece that provides readers with a balance of political intrigue and mystery, all set against the fast-pace of electrifying Washington, D.C. This is exactly the kind of book I enjoy and so I chose to return to it (having read it 4-5 years ago), as it is now a series and I wanted the full impact. Rosenstiel does well to capture the political flavour and keeps the reader hooked until the very end, when much is revealed.

Peter Rena enjoys his work as an investigator in the Greater D.C. Area, partnered with politically-savvy Randi Brooks. When news hits the wire that a liberal Supreme Court Justice has died, all eyes turn to the White House to make a new nomination. Inside the Oval Office, President James Nash is mulling over his options and turns to Rena to handle not only the background work on a potential nominee, Edmund Roland Madison, but also guide him through the entire process.

Rena and Brooks begin the process by heading to San Francisco to meet with the potential nominee, under veil of secrecy, and uncover some potentially controversial actions back when Madison was a student and Vietnam was at its height. When President Nash rolls the dice and chooses Madison as the man he wants on the High Court, Rena must prepare him for the battle of his life.

Madison’s past judicial choices are not at issue, nor are the apparently activist moments from his youth, but the nominee’s apparent disregard for the entire Senate hearing process, which is a circus without justification. When Madison lets this be known in front of the microphones, Rena and Brooks must scramble to play damage control, while also keeping Madison on track to answer questions meant to trip him up by the most right-wing political hacks. Will President Nash end up with egg on his face, having chosen a nominee who has little regard for the political process before him?

In an alternative plot line, someone has been watching Madison and exacting some form of revenge, killing those who might have some connection to the judge back in his trial days. Rena and Brooks cannot see it coming, but this, too, might create headlines that are hard to dilute at a time when smooth sailing is essential. Rosenstiel offers much fodder in this well-paced novel that exposes some of the most ‘made for TV’ aspects of the Supreme Court nomination process, educating and entertaining readers in equal measure. Equally fitting for political and mystery junkies, the story flows with ease and keeps the reader hooked until the final page.

Having never read any Tom Rosenstiel, I was not sure what might come of this novel. Its title is deceptively brilliant, as it pokes fun at that Shining City within a (Capitol) Hill, where justice is served and the people are heard. Using some wonderfully founded characters, the reader is able not only to learn about the political process of choosing one of the Nine, but also the struggles that come from deception and hidden lives, both key aspects of the Washington world. Rena and Brooks are two well-established characters throughout the story, though their narratives differ greatly. The political heavyweights that grace the pages are not able to trump these two investigators, though Rosenstiel does not pretend the temperature of the political climate is not influential in how things are run. Characters come to life throughout, from the dedicated investigators, the hard-nose political advisors in the Oval Office, through to the entitled senators who seemingly hold all the power. Rosenstiel makes great use of them all. The story is strong and the premise is one that hooked me early on. How the reader could not find themselves fully enthralled, I cannot say, though with numerous plots to follow, there is something for everyone. Rosenstiel does not try to make a blatant soapbox commentary on the entire nomination process, though he does poke holes at times and offers some witty asides. Things take on a life of their own and the reader can decide for themselves by the end, which seems to have an anti-climactic moment that was perhaps the book’s biggest issue.

Kudos, Mr. Rosenstiel, for this book. I am interested to see what else you have written and if I might find myself drawn to them as well. I will surely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a little politics and mystery interspersed in their lighter reading.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

DNF @45%
2017; Ecco/HarperCollins

My bad, I was expecting this book to be focused more on law and justice suspense, but it was more a political intrigue mystery. I am not really a fan of spy/intrigue novels. I did request this book and thought it could be more like Richard North Patterson - political suspense. Peter Rena is a fixer, in the sense he makes problems go away. He and his partner, Randi own a company that does just that. I could not connect to Rena...he just seemed like another Reacher (Lee Child) and there was nothing that made me interested in knowing more about him. That combined with the story, just didn't work for me. I just could not read anymore as there were other books beckoning me.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book largely on the Michael Connelly book jacket blurb (I know, naive) and also the solid Goodreads ratings. My quick critique: front loaded with too many characters not relevant to the plot. The romantic side of the story seemed cut and paste-not believable...but overall an interesting look at the D.C. vetting process for a Supreme Court nomination. It felt believable, especially with the unbelievable state of current politics. One other observation: publisher shouldn't release a book with typos and editing errors.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A political fixer is hired to vet a supreme court nominee. The confirmation battle jumps into high gear, and the nominee becomes an assassination target.

Seems pretty tame after the Kavanaugh nomination.

[John Gomperts · Rating 5 out of 5]

No need to choose between entertaining and informative -- Shining City is both. A first-rate and gripping story of a Supreme Court nomination, the inner-workings of Washington, with a heart thumping series of murders . . . Should be a hit in this season.

[epstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel tricked! This book is basically a procedural on how to politically create a Supreme Court Justice. Not a bad thing necessarily but there is also a major and useless side plot about a serial killer that goes nowhere. And the author not once, not twice, but three times openly hints at a twist that compels you (or at least me) to keep reading. THERE IS NO TWIST. It's not a bad book I just feel like I got suckered into wasting several days reading it.

[Martha Anne Toll]

Could not put it down! Timely and provocative.

Here's my take on NPR's 2017 Book Concierge https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2017/...

[Amorak Huey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book centers on the vetting of a Supreme Court nominee by Washington "fixer" Peter Rena, a sort of Olivia Pope-lite character (the text even acknowledges the similarities by mentioning Scandal directly). It definitely gets a bit heavy-handed in its laments about the current state of American politics, and it's marred by some of the clunkiest use of present tense I've come across in a while. Alas. Also, the central mystery -- the one thing that could derail the nomination -- ends up being vastly underwhelming. Oh, well.

[Craig Leimkuehler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly I was not enthralled with this book. While the author is certainly a professional writer and the plot and characters all are reasonable in the context of the story I was never really drawn in. The murders were the only saving grace. The political aspects just reminded me how hopeless our political system is.

[Sharon Beers · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

You might well ask why did I award only three stars to Shining City? I was led to believe that Tom Rosenstiel had written a superior book, since, according to the inside back cover, he is " a veteran observer of the the political and media scene in Washington, D.C,.....executive director of the American Press institute.....the founder of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism....a correspondent for Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times." Perhaps the book was rushed to press to capture the public's attention following the drama, if not outright shenanigans surrounding the ramming through of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The editing was slap-dash, as several typos and other annoying errors slipped through, "up with this I will not put," as a long-ago editor was reported to have said. Add this to the fact that Rosenstiel's writing was surprisingly wooden. He had an excellent idea in attempting to illustrate how a nominee for the Supreme Court might be scrutinized, his writings, speeches, judgements and personal life, to ensure that these align with the political party in power.. The nominee's grasp of the Constitution and the laws that flow from it no longer appear to matter in Washington. All the politicians want is not a man or woman who is supremely well qualified, experienced, impartial and balanced, but one who best represents their ideology and who will protect it, particularly if the new Justice's vote could tip Court decisions one way or the other. The very fact that political parties hire "fixers" to achieve their aims of finding and having their chosen Justice nominated, is part of the problem. The framers of the Constitution did not think in terms of conservative or liberal, but today's Supreme Court has been hijacked by reactionaries, and the country suffers as a result. However, the plot was exciting, and we can only dream of finding a Justice like Roland Madison. Rosenstiel's descriptions of how the vetting process takes place, or should take place, was illuminating. This is a cracking good story with several suspenseful twists and turns, but if I were not such a stickler for grammar and punctuation I would have awarded it at least four stars.

[Rebecca Gartland · Rating 1 out of 5]

After about a third of the book finished, I couldn't continue. This was not my cup of tea.

[Mark Stencel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely political thriller about a Supreme Court contender and the court case that haunts him -- as told from the point of view of the Washington fixers whose jobs are to see this challenging nominee confirmed. From start to satisfying finish, this is a page-turner that had me turning pages -- or whatever the listening equivalent is, since I _also_ bought the audio book to get through it faster. I won't give away details here. For those who pay attention to real-life political dramas from afar, this novel offers a portrait of the people who do the heavy lifting and messy work backstage. For those who watch or participate in those political dramas here in Washington, the backstory to this thriller will ring true and make you think a bit about how our city works. Or doesn't. And you will inevitably wonder about the real-world people who inspired which characters and which were entirely the creations of Tom Rosenstiel, the novelist/journalist who is now a proven pro at both professions. Looking forward to the sequel.

[Beverly Laude · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book featured as a Serial Read on Nook and decided to give it a go. I don't usually like political thrillers so this was a little out of my norm for reading material.

Peter Rena and his partner are Fixers, hired to fix problems for their clients. Everything from a Congressperson who has embezzled money to trying to cover up a pro football player's indiscretions to vetting a Supreme Court nominee seems to be within their purview.

The book was well-written, but it really went into too much detail about political machinations for my taste. According to this book, nobody in DC can be trusted and everybody is ready to stab their counterpart in the back. Maybe this is true, but it sure leaves a sour taste. Maybe this book was just a little too timely in light of everything going on in our country today.

I found myself skimming a lot of the book when it went into great detail about the whole procedure. On top of this, there is the whole separate storyline of a serial killer avenging his brother's death. Just a little too much going on to make this a great book.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ebook was the Jan 2019 Serial Reads selection from Barnes and Noble. I have difficulty knowing how much progress I should take credit for each day. At first I thought there were only 21 chapters. Then, the information said 57 chapters and I had to recalculate. I previously gave myself about 3 or 4 percent per day, and that is what I may do from now on.
Back to the book and why I give it three stars instead of 4: this last chapter feels more like a set-up for the next book than a satisfying conclusion. Most of the conclusion occurs in chapter 56.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best political thrillers I've read in a decade. It gets into the nitty gritty of why and how decisions get made (or not) in DC and has a murder plot to boot. Good stuff.

My review for the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books/...

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and suspenseful book about the politics behind the Supreme Court nomination process, vengeful murder and the obligatory romance between athletic, pretty people. I wanted to love this book, and initially I did. But it became pretty formulaic in the end.

[Janet Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and would have given it 4 stars, but I really don't enjoy politics, especially since the last election. Otherwise the story was interesting and well written. This was the nook serial read for this month so I started it on the 1st. I'd consider reading book 2.

[Boris Feldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good transcon airplane read. Two-dimensional characters. Good reminder of why it is better not to live in D.C.

[Lisa Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my pick for a read. It was a Nook Serial Read. I have enjoyed most of them even though they are books I would pick. This one was just too political.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

He’s a private detective of a sort but is never called that. Some refer to him as a fixer or a problem-solver. But Peter Rena and his partner, Randi Brooks, don’t think of themselves as problem-solvers. ‘They never fixed problems—they just ended them.” Their consulting firm, Brooks, Rena, and Toppin, advertises “Research and Security.” In reality, they’re crisis consultants. They go to work when things go bad. But they stand out from the K Street crowd in that the firm works with both Republicans and Democrats. In a time when partisanship reigns in Washington politics, they’re regarded as freaks.

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS A SUPREME COURT NOMINEE

Rena himself is ex-military and a Republican. Brooks is an outspoken liberal Democrat. (Their ex-partner, Toppin, is retired.) But “most of their work isn’t political; corporations wanting background checks on potential CEOs or troubled executives, law firms with big cases, sports teams with stars in a fix or draft prospects surrounded by rumors.”

However, as Shining City opens, Rena is involved in a political case. He’s cleaning up one mess on Capitol Hill—and the whole firm will soon be engaged in a much bigger one. Because the President of the United States personally has hired Peter Rena and the firm to vet a controversial candidate for a seat on the US Supreme Court. The job will involve Rena and Brooks in a protracted campaign to investigate and then manage federal judge Roland Madison’s months-long effort to gain confirmation by the Senate—all the while an assassin is on the loose and a mole is working on their team.

A BALANCED VIEW OF WASHINGTON POLITICS

Tom Rosenstiel is an eminent journalist with an impressive working knowledge of Washington politics gained from more than thirty years in the field. In Shining City, he conveys—even-handedly—a detailed picture of the collision between the courts, the White House, the Senate, and the interest groups on both Left and Right that erupts whenever a seat opens up on the Supreme Court. The novel features insightful pictures of maverick Democratic President James Nash; liberal firebrand Deborah Cutter, head of Fair Chance for America; Right-Wing lobbyist Josh Albin of Citizens for Freedom; and crusading journalist Gary Gold. Some of those portrayed resemble real-world personalities. Albin, for example, is a stand-in for Grover Norquist, lobbyist and organizer for the far-right Taxpayer Protection Pledge. A few of the Senators seem to have their counterparts in the real-life Senate, too. All told, it’s a compelling picture of Washington politics laid bare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wikipedia describes Tom Rosenstiel as an American author, journalist, press critic, researcher, and academic. In addition to the four Peter Rena novels has published to date, he has written, coauthored, or edited seven nonfiction books on journalism. For nine years, he served as executive director of the American Press Institute. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and the Columbia School of Journalism. Most recently, he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland as a visiting professor on the future of journalism.

[Thomas Bruso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Rosenstiel’s adrenaline-fueled political thriller, “Shining City,” digs into the trenches of the political landscape’s dirty deeds.

“Never make an ally into an enemy,” says a character, summing up the entirety of the novel.

The sudden and tragic death of Justice Julius Hoffman, a sitting justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, heightens the suspense of the novel’s well-paced narrative.

The main protagonist, Peter Rena, a “fixer” (someone hired to make problems disappear), is called to the White House to meet with President James Barlow Nash.

Greeted by the White House Chief of Staff, Spencer Carr, Rena is taken to the Oval Office to discuss the president’s vetting process for the next nominee for the Supreme Court. Rena, already suspicious of this unexpected meeting, inquires why his partner, Randi Brooks, who, unlike him, is a registered Democrat, hasn’t been summoned instead.

As Rena races against the clock and the ticking-bomb tensions of politics in a city overwhelmed with secrets, lies, and deceit, he must protect his and his partner’s life as he circumnavigates the treacherous world of Washington’s unhealthy obsession for power.

With a profound understanding of politics and media, Rosenstiel delivers an authentically addictive and propulsive narrative steeped in critical issues facing our world today.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I downloaded Shining City a few weeks ago it was because I had heard of it--but I couldn't remember exactly what I'd heard. Since then I've seen this novel mentioned a few other places. You know, social media asking what you're reading these days and such. Wow. This is insightful and up-to-the-minute, almost pulled from the headlines. (It was published in February 2017.) While I was unsatisfied with a couple of chapters that had to do with the "mechanics" of the crimes, the view into politics at the federal level, specifically the nomination, vetting, and confirmation of Supreme Court justices, was gripping. If this is #1 in a series of Peter Rena books, I'm on board for any others.

[meghann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the Barnes and Noble Nook serial read for the month of January.

When I read the blurb for this, my first thought was that it was basically Scandal. Scandal was one of my favorite TV shows, and this book was a lot like this, but more action than sexy.

The main character, Peter, grew on me. I felt I understood him more as the book progressed. The story was engaging and the action built as it progressed. I would definitely be interested in reading the next book in this series when it is released.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars for this primarily because I guess I don't really care that much about the politics and power plays in Washington surrounding the nomination process for the Supreme Court. If that's your thing then you should try this book. The other reason for the rating is that this book is pimped as fast-paced, exciting, edge-of-your-seat thriller and it certainly wasn't for me.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Bored me to death.

[Margi Olson]

Truth is stranger than this fictional account of the selection of a supreme court justice.

[Barry Medlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Rosenstiel is a new author for me and I really enjoyed this first Peter Rena novel! I was pulled in from the beginning and just couldn’t put it down!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, but after all the suspense and various kinds of intrigue, the end is disappointingly blah.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun summer read. Would that Supreme Court vacancies were still filled in 350 pages.