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Running Mates
When the governor of Maryland is assassinated, investigative reporter Bobby Kelleher investigates and uncovers a plot involving Ku Klux Klan grand dragons, feminists, and hit men. Reprint.
- GenresFiction
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
John Feinstein
75 books591 followersJohn Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 13, 2020
The first three-quarters of this political thriller were very good. Better even than the highly popular The Fly on the Wall of the same vein.
Heckuva hook in the beginning with rifles secretly planted in the public gallery of the Maryland House of Delegates. Later, state political reporter Kelleher is in the chamber along with the state's first female lieutenant governor when a bland, uncontroversial male governor is shot dead while delivering a mid-session speech to the delegates. Kelleher is tipped off shortly afterward by the governor's chief of staff that Jamelle Touretta, an outspoken feminist and supporter of the lieutenant governor, was in the gallery at the approximate location where one of the shots originated.
Kelleher chases interesting leads from there crossing southwest into Virginia (to question Touretta) and back (and somehow getting a surprising amount of sex) in the course of a very busy investigation with lots of pressure from editors to publish significant investigative developments before each evening's deadline.
The stakes ratchet upward with each passing chapter. But as Kelleher nears the truth behind the assassination, the motives and relationships of the conspirators begin making less rather than more sense. The plausibility hits some more turbulence before the novel ultimately crash lands, incinerating any believability in the final pages.
The ill-judged resolution aside, this is a very informative glimpse inside how state politics and news coverage of it tends to work.
Heckuva hook in the beginning with rifles secretly planted in the public gallery of the Maryland House of Delegates. Later, state political reporter Kelleher is in the chamber along with the state's first female lieutenant governor when a bland, uncontroversial male governor is shot dead while delivering a mid-session speech to the delegates. Kelleher is tipped off shortly afterward by the governor's chief of staff that Jamelle Touretta, an outspoken feminist and supporter of the lieutenant governor, was in the gallery at the approximate location where one of the shots originated.
Kelleher chases interesting leads from there crossing southwest into Virginia (to question Touretta) and back (and somehow getting a surprising amount of sex) in the course of a very busy investigation with lots of pressure from editors to publish significant investigative developments before each evening's deadline.
The stakes ratchet upward with each passing chapter. But as Kelleher nears the truth behind the assassination, the motives and relationships of the conspirators begin making less rather than more sense. The plausibility hits some more turbulence before the novel ultimately crash lands, incinerating any believability in the final pages.
The ill-judged resolution aside, this is a very informative glimpse inside how state politics and news coverage of it tends to work.
January 5, 2009
Liked it. Quick read, interesting inside look at covering state politics in Annapolis. Beautiful descriptive passages about Annapolis, driving to Charlottesville, the Boars Head Inn.
January 1, 2017
Tried hard to finish this book last night so it wouldn't be my first book of the new year, but alas there was just not enough time. Quick and mostly entertaining read, but essentially a paint by numbers thriller where the reader sees the twists coming long before the characters. John Feinstein has done better in some of his other mysteries, which I would recommend before this one.
October 28, 2015
Awesome book. Great in-sight into politics. The book after this is Winter Games. Overall, Running Mates is a GREAT book. Loved it. Great characters, and also a great in-sight into the reporter world.
Again, great book. Would recommend it to anyone.
Again, great book. Would recommend it to anyone.
February 3, 2013
Reread it because I really liked it the first time. Still like it a lot. Good, suspenseful story; interesting characters; good insight into the state political process.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews