Here’s a story that will awaken every cynical bone in your body that resonates to the waves of political corruption we see every day in the news. In Girls, Crimes, and the Ruling Body, veteran political operative Barry R. Ziman has written a novel for our time. You have only to glance at the nightmarish scene unfolding in Washington, DC, today to appreciate the truth he writes about in this gripping tale of skullduggery and murder among those who write the laws that govern our lives. It’s a knowing, insider’s look at how politics corrupts.
A years-long saga of corruption and crime
Ziman’s story opens in Albany, New York. Cathy Wilet, a “twenty-one-year-old with blonde hair and a pert nose” clambers into a limousine her boyfriend has sent. The car takes her deep into the woods outside the city to a luxurious cabin. There, pretending that the meeting is a romantic rendezvous, her boyfriend quizzes her about an inquiry into a scandal involving the governor. Disgusted with politics, Cathy tells him, “I did not give the governor’s precious ombudsman files to the DA. The files are still at the office, and no, I told you already. I did not give them your name.” But the young man in the cabin is unsatisfied. And he bludgeons her to a bloody death.
Meanwhile, a young man named Ryan Scowen has observed Cathy Wilet’s departure. He’d made a half-hearted attempt to pick her up before she reached the car. Ryan is the political force behind the scenes for Assemblyman Nickolas Somatos, Democrat of the Bronx. And when Missing posters go up around town with Cathy Wilet’s name on them, he recognizes that she was the woman he saw days earlier. He makes a lame attempt to tip off the police under an assumed name, not wanting to risk raising a hint of scandal for his boss. But the police pay no attention to him. And thus begins Ryan’s years-long saga as an observer, and a “person of interest” to the police, in a series of crimes that unfold in Albany and Washington, DC.
Girls, Crimes, and the Ruling Body by Barry R. Ziman (2021) 285 pages ★★★★☆
A cast of characters any politician will recognize
If you’ve viewed statewide or national politics up close, as I have, you’ll probably notice a lot that’s familiar in the principal characters in this story. Here they are:
Ryan
Ryan Scowen, Ziman’s protagonist, is a young political operative with great skills both as an organizer and a speechwriter. He’s ambitious, but anyone could be forgiven for calling him a do-gooder. Ryan views politics as a way to help people. Naive? Maybe. But history shows there’s no other way to solve society’s problems on a wide scale.
Nick
Nick Somatos, Ryan’s boss, is a Greek American with fierce pride in his heritage. He’s a Democrat, and a left-leaning one. For example, he uses his office, first in Albany and then in Washington DC as a member of Congress, to expand access to healthcare. But Nick is also a pragmatist. And he’s always willing to trade favors with his peers to gain an extra measure of power.
Congressman Green
Assemblyman, then Congressman, Charles Everett Green of Long Island is the fifth-generation scion of an affluent North Shore family. “The material trappings of his wealth were largely inherited, and his election to the state assembly was a product of his pedigree, since his father had held the seat until his death twelve years ago.” Somatos, resentful of the man’s wealth and attendant privilege, hates him. But as a colleague he’s forced to work with him.
Seth Tantalus
Seth Tantalus is Ryan’s counterpart in Green’s office. He’s a thuggish bodybuilder who employs his looming presence to intimidate. Like Ryan, he’s his boss’ fixer. But, unlike Ryan, the problems he fixes raise far more troubling questions.
Cathy Wilet and Amber White
Two young women, Cathy Wilet in Albany and Amber White in Washington, are both involved in the outer reaches of the political process. Both go missing, seven years apart. And Ryan inadvertently becomes embroiled in both cases. It’s clear to him from the outset that both women have become involved in the corrupt practices of the men they work for. What’s not clear is how, or who might be responsible for their disappearance.
Girls, Crimes, and the Ruling Body is a superior work of political fiction. It’s not a pretty story. But what else could you expect from an insider’s look at the seamy side of contemporary politics?
About the author
Google Books notes that “Barry R. Ziman started his career as a Director of Legislation in New York State in the 1980s. In the 90s, he became a lobbyist first in New York City and later in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and the State University of New York College at Oneonta.” Amazon adds that Ziman won high praise for two short stories and several literary awards for this novel. In an email to me, he wrote that he has no plans to write a second book.
For related reading
See The five best novels about politics and especially Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright (How the sausages are made in today’s Texas).
You might also care to scan Top 10 nonfiction books about politics or Top 20 popular books for understanding American history.
Or, to take a different approach, see 20 excellent standalone mysteries and thrillers.
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