Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0385010303, Hardcover)

The setting is Washington, D.C. The action begins when President Harley Hudson is killed in an air crash. The Speaker of the House becomes President and calls for a national committee to select new nominees for the coming election.

The theme of this novel is violence in American life--a violence promoted and condoned by politicians who are fools, dupes or knaves. The narrative moves quickly, full of the excitement and intrigue for which Allen Drury is well known.