Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington Correspondent, has written The Hellfire Club, a political thriller set in Washington, D.C. the 1950s.The main character, Charlie Marder, has been appointed (thanks to his father’s political connections) to fill out the term of a Congressman representing a district in New York. Once there, Charlie dives in to his job, trying to maintain his integrity and do the right thing, although he learns that “principles had been a lot easier to fight for before he entered world where there were actual consequences.”
Charlie has immediate issues to deal with, starting when he wakes up in a wrecked car (not his) and finds a dead woman at the scene. He has no clue who she is, how he got there, or what to do, but a lobbyist who has been hovering around him conveniently shows up and takes Charlie away from the scene, setting fire to the car (and the woman) and saving Charlie – who now owes him big time.
Charlie’s wife Margaret is a zoologist with her own ambitions, who is happy to have moved closer to the Chesapeake Bay, where she can study the topic of her research, the mysterious ponies of the region. The scene into which the Marders are thrust is very Mad Men-ish, with lots of cocktails, smoking, and the rampant racism and sexism that were so accepted at the time. As part of a poker group for Veterans, he becomes friends with Isaiah Street, and he is keenly aware of how Isaiah’s struggle is even more difficult than his own. He “…couldn’t imagine what it was like for Isaiah to have risked everything for his nation in war and then return home and be treated not just as a lower caste but a potential menace.”
Charlie, Margaret, and Isaiah find themselves in the middle of a ton of mysterious situations, surrounded by people from all sides of the political spectrum, both fictional and real historic figures. The book uses historical facts and people (yes, he Hellfire Club is real) to tell Charlie’s story and address issues. For example, the inclusion of mention of the work of journalist Joseph Alsop for the CIA brings the reader face to face with Charlie’s sense that “…too much of what’s in the news media is spoon-fed to journalists by various government factions with agendas.” Seriously, is Jake talking about 1954? Or 2018?
Additional issues of the day that figure in the story include:
- the shooting by Puerto Rican nationalists during a session of Congress
- advances in technology (including a device called a “baby monitor” and the earliest copying machines made by the Haloid Company, the real-life company that became Xerox)
- the dealings of Sam Zemurray of the United Fruit Company
- dangerous testing and use of chemicals, including chemical manufacturing plants that destroyed towns and testing and use of pesticides that became Agent Orange
- the hearings and work of Joseph McCarthy
Tapper draws parallels with current issues, including this description of McCarthy:
“He’s impossible to ignore. He’s become this . . . planet . . . blocking the sun. And whatever points he makes that have validity are blotted out by his indecency and his lies and his predilection to smear.” Sounds like someone currently in office?
I loved the way the issues and people of the time were interwoven into the plot. The appendix includes notes about the people and events, and are well sourced. While the resolution of Charlie’s story requires a certain amount of willing suspension of disbelief, Jake Tapper is a great storyteller and has done a terrific job with his first thriller. With thanks to Little, Brown & Company and NetGalley for a copy of this fun read in exchange for my honest review, The Hellfire Club gets four and a half stars, rounded down to four because it isn’t QUITE a five – but I would bet his next one will be.