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John Campagna runs for mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, on a platform of honesty and transparency reminiscent of his late father. After unscrupulous cocaine-addicted incumbent Jack Donovan, Campagna is a breath of fresh air. Donovan held office for twenty years by nefarious means but now flees to Europe to avoid prosecution as the FBI pursues him for graft, necessitating a special election. If only Henry Mercutio, Campagna's political consultant, still shared his scruples. Just thirty-two, Mercutio, an Ivy League graduate, already has a booming law practice he achieved through honest, challenging work. But in this race, Mercutio soon stoops to the sorts of character-smearing and intimidation his rival consultant Gordon Beako favors, finding himself the subject of racy photos taken with Campagna's niece hours before her suspicious death. How dirty will Mercutio play to ensure a win for Campagna? Might it even cost him the regard of the woman he loves?
Houle describes the fondly held values of both his conservative and liberal candidate characters with believable passion and yet without injecting his own bias either way. Henry Mercutio's very name reflects his political acumen. His father named him for Shakespeare's politically astute King Henry V. The Shakespearean theme continues with his last name, which is Latin for "mercury" and pays homage to both Mercutio's changeful character and the unpredictable political climate in which he finds himself. Even as he descends into unethical campaigning practices on Campagna's behalf, Mercutio experiences the self-loathing attendant upon a guilty conscience, a sensitivity he never loses. His progression from a person consumed with the heady power of politics to one who gives it up after realizing that political strife never ends will resonate with readers who take a jaded view of the workings of government or who respect those who relinquish power and fame.