An eager young guy goes to work for a member of Congress, falls wildly in love with a staffer from the opposing party and discovers an illegal human smuggling cartel along the Southern border that’s got A-list Capital Hill protection.
Investigation and mystery ensues, hardball politics ierupts and things get odd and dangerous in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol, circa 1985. A John Grisham novel? No, it’s a Roger Fleming novel, and it’s got a potential “House of Cards”-style series written all over it.
An insider’s insider, author Mr. Fleming is an attorney, a former congressional legislative counsel and an appointee in the George H.W. Bush administration who’s frequented those very hallowed halls, not to mention the local eateries and watering holes. It is one of the few novels out there which includes footnotes citing the Pew Research Center and congressional transcripts.
“The book is an historical lesson about Capitol Hill, and illustrates how Republicans were so often outmaneuvered by Democrats there in the 1980s – including on the Immigration Act of 1986 which resulted in full amnesty but no border security,” Mr. Fleming tells The Washington Times.
Although fictional, the storyline is tethered to reality by dozens of endnotes including this prescient quote from a committee report on the House immigration bill in 1986: ‘We strongly believe that legislation without – border control will only encourage millions of new immigrants to come into this country illegally and require another amnesty program in the future.’ Has the lesson been learned?” the author asks.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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