Is the first lady trying to overthrow the president? Award-winning writer Kathleen Antrim's fictional response to this shocking premise is at the heart of her chillingly convincing political thriller, CAPITAL OFFENSE.
CAPITAL OFFENSE - A NOVEL BY KATHLEEN ANTRIM
Award-winning writer Kathleen Antrim?s fictional response to this shocking premise is at the heart of her chillingly convincing political thriller, CAPITAL OFFENSE. Combining hot fiction with today?s headlines, her debut novel is the gripping tale of Carolyn Alden Lane, who sacrifices her career and personal happiness in order to guide her husband?s rise through the political ranks to the highest office in the land. The pay-off? A chance to put her own legislative agenda into play. Willing to stop at nothing to achieve her goals, as first lady, she will have to decide whether to covertly institute the ultimate, unthinkable power playÚoverthrowing the president.
According to Kathleen Antrim, the genesis for this fast-paced suspense story was Hillary Rodham Clinton?s demand to have a West Wing office after her husband was elected president. ?It intrigued me that she was breaking with the tradition of first ladies working in the East Wing,Ó says Antrim. ?It made me realize that first ladies are essentially accountable to no one. They have immense, unregulated power, and work completely off the radar screen.Ó
A successful prosecuting attorney married to Senator Warner Lane, Carolyn Alden Lane is haunted by personal demons. Demons that drive her desire to enact legislative reform. At six, her mother was killed by a drunk driver and Carolyn became a foster child, sexually abused by her male caretaker.
An affair with a powerful businessman resulted in a botched abortion that left Carolyn unable to conceive and her own husband cold and distant. The only bond alive in their loveless marriage is their shared political ambition, with the presidency as the ultimate prize. Warner needs her intellect and political savvy in order to win; she needs him in order to achieve her personal goals. Only as first lady, will she be able to realize her dreams for new drug, child abuse, and foster care laws.
Cold and calculating, there are few boundaries to Edmund Lane?s ruthlessness when it comes to getting what he wants, and what he wants is to see his son, Warner, elected president. However, he and Carolyn are bitter enemies. She has forbidden his participation in the campaign. Although Carolyn believes she is controlling the show, Edmund has assembled a clandestine ?councilÓ of wealthy, influential politicos who are willing to use any means necessary to achieve their amoral ambitions and make sure their hand-picked candidate gets into the White House.
Meanwhile, maverick journalist Jack Rudly?s father, a senior senator, is dead. And, according to an anonymous source, he was murdered. As Jack begins to investigate, he discovers that all the evidence points to the White House and First Lady Carolyn Alden Lane. Suddenly, his career and his life are in serious jeopardy.
As CAPITAL OFFENSE builds to its stunning climax, Carolyn realizes that she is a pawn in a deadly game of power with the nation?s highest office at stake. Driven by desperation, refusing to accept defeat, she knows it is time to even the score. Just how the first lady survives in a pit of political vipers is revealed in the novel?s shocking conclusion.
From high-stakes political maneuvering and back-room deals to campaign machinations, corruption, and cover-ups, with CAPITAL OFFENSE, Kathleen Antrim has written a riveting tale of American politics. And, with the coming 2004 presidential election, the book provides a prescient message about the immense, unregulated power of first ladies.
