Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman

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A Chicago politico fights to protect his candidate from a murder investigation

On the outside, Senator Warren Nichols’s reelection campaign appears to be proceeding smoothly. But behind closed doors, chaos reigns. The senator’s rabble-rousing opponent is gaining in the polls, and rumors of Nichols’s womanizing threaten to end his political career forever. When his chief of staff quits and then commits suicide, turmoil threatens the Nichols camp. Only Dev Conrad can haul the senator back from the brink.

A battle-hardened political consultant with a military background, Conrad finds the Nichols campaign in even worse shape than he imagined. A sleazy political operative has gotten his hands on a compromising tape of the senator, and he wants $1 million to keep it under wraps. When the blackmailer turns up murdered, Conrad must find the tape to keep his senator out of jail.

“Rewardingly dry-eyed political savvy without the bloat of most novelists who patrol this turf. The prose is pared so close to the bone that it makes Elmore Leonard look positively garrulous.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Engaging . . . Highly interesting . . . Dev’s strong showing in this sophomore campaign should guarantee that he’ll run again.” —Publishers Weekly

“[Dev Conrad] evokes some of Ross Thomas’ savvy political fixers. . . . Gorman is an experienced and accomplished storyteller, and genre fans will not want to miss his latest.” —Booklist

ED here: Sleeping Dogs is of course the title of Dick Lochte's brilliant novel. Chemo-brain or old age or both made me forget
that. I apologize, Dick.

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