Sequel to Murder on False River - Political Treason - by Martha Gabour Manuel... A Conclusion or Setup for More?!

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Political Treason is an interesting followup title to Manuel's previous novel, Murder on False River. Of course, it really isn't if you've read the first book, since it definitely took readers deep into the political arena, as does the sequel. 

The way the second book ended, however, I wasn't quite sure whether or not this really was an ending to the savvy  Senator Savannah Devereaux and her family... you'll see why when you learn what happens.

And speaking of family, it is her stepson who is shot in this second book, although thankfully he survives after critical care at the Baton Rouge General Medical Center... The shooting was cause for high visibility since there had not been a shooting in the Capitol since Governor Huey P. Long had been shot... It is rumored that this latest incident had the ghost of Governor Long roaming the halls of the building...

Political Treason

By Martha Gabour Manuel

You might say that Dylan had been exactly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through an oversight by an employee, an important envelope had been left in a conference room; but just as he was going back to retrieve it, it had been stolen and the thief was fleeing. Although he chased after, by that time, the thief was coming out a door and ran directly into Dylan, shooting him before Dylan even realized what was happening...

While all the attention was on getting Dylan to the hospital, rushing him into surgery, contacting Senator Devereaux and all other needed activities, another man named Sydney Fairchild had been traveling in his RV to meet a trusted

friend and contact. He was just about to turn onto the Audubon Bridge when he was hit by a huge truck and also rushed to the same hospital. Travis, his contact, had been waiting, anxious to know what new information Sydney would be sharing, only to later learn it had been completely destroyed in the fire that also destroyed the RV...

All five men ordered drinks. They they began
looking over the menus while Patti left to fill
their orders.
The band of men had been formed many years
ago. Each member that was invited into their
elite circle was discussed at great length and
chosen only after much deliberation and soul-
searching...Senator Lansing was the first man
to speak. From his take charge attitude he
appeared to be the ringleader. He was by far
the oldest...
I thought we agreed that there would be no
violence in any actions that we undertook...
What happened..."
That's, plus the fact that I'd
like to know how the word got out about the
envelope," stated a third man. "Everyone's
talking about it. The only good thing is that at
least we got the envelope before it got to the
governor."
"Well, yes and no..."
"I have the envelope we got from our two
messengers. You can look for yourself and see
the information we recovered that we were
led to believe was being forwarded to the
governor."
"It means that someone is on to us," said
Senator Lansing.
"What do you mean?" questioned the fifth man.
"There's nothing but blank paper in the
envelope. What was supposed to be in it?"
"I hate to admit it, but it's very possible we
have an informant either in our group, or
someone that has access to what we are doing...
!!!

Emile sat quietly by himself in an office down the hall from where Dylan had been shot...His mind started retracing the day's events...

The special meeting called by the governor's staff for the press corps earlier in the day had been a highly contentious one, and consequently kept Emile working later than usual. Throughout the State of Louisiana, the news media had once again latched on to the continuing saga of the Bayou Corne Sinkhole. It was the first reported failure of a brine cavern sidewall, which made its collapse unprecedented.

At the end of the press conference different members of the governor's staff had him running paperwork back and forth and delivering messages. Still, that was no excuse for leaving highly confidential information unguarded on a table in the conference room...

He knew the meeting had been necessary, but it was a difficult meeting for him to sit through...Many people, including some of Emile's family and friends, had been forced to evacuate their homes almost two years ago. 

Regardless of all his other attributes, Emile's most valuable asset to the office was the fact that he never questioned authority...

"At first I though I just didn't understand how the system works," Emile confessed to Rose. "From the beginning there have been things going on that bothered me. I didn't want to call you, because the walls in the capitol have ears. Somehow or another they know everything you say or do. When I first started working in the governor's office, I was told that I had to have a private email account. That was in case anyone needed to send me information that they didn't want the general public to know about. They said that everything that is sent through regular email is a matter of public record that the press can have access to. I told them I understood, although I'm not sure I really do.

Since I have been in the governor's office, I have started seeing multiple contracts being given out to close friends of the governor and his staff. They were contracts that should have been on.

Often when contracts were about to expire, the individuals who were responsible for the contracts suddenly left their contracted jobs and were moved into top level government positions...I can't even begin to tell you about the cover-ups that I've seen go on in state government in just the short time that I've been there.

Somehow, word has gotten out about a few of the contracts that have been given out illegally. I'm beginning to wonder if they may think that that's my fault too, since it looks like the leaks have started since I was hired."

"Oh, Emile, that's horrible. Sure they can possibly think it was you have was responsible for telling anybody."

"I didn't think so at first, but now I'm not so sure. I don't know what to do
Rose. They longer I'm there, the deeper I'm getting involved...

~~~

Savannah and Dana had become close and she spent as much time as possible at the hospital while he was recovering.  At the same time, we get into an interesting subplot when the other man who had entered at the same time, Syndey, is taken to a retirement home and develops friendships with another older man and a young male employee. What these three get into certainly adds a bit of fun and warm feelings as they grow closer to each other. Part of a climatic ending, one of them shows just how much they meant to him...

One mystery slowly evolved as it was realized that key people in government were dying--usually through some type of accident. Savannah was shocked when one of them was a good friend, Senator Tom Bickman. But it got worse, when she learned what they were saying...

"I guess you know what they're saying," Ruth Anne came back.
"No what?" asked Savannah somewhat confused.
"The talk is that he was on his way back to Baton rouge after the Easter holidays. He stopped at a store in Marksville to get coffee and got shot by a man trying to rob the store. He died before they could get him to the hospital."
"Oh yes, I know that."
"But that's not all. They say it was a setup," Ruth Anne continued.
"What?"! a horrified Savannah exclaimed.
"That's true," said Shirley. "You know he had that legislation he wanted passed to ban those bath salts. That's gotten to be a big business around here. I know for a fact there were some people that were really mad at him for that."

~~~

And now she was wondering if whether Dylan's being shot was also a setup...

Perhaps even what had happened to her was a followup to her husband's accident... Or was it just two criminals who were trying to prevent her from testifying against them... Well no matter what, she was going to make sure nothing stopped her from putting those men behind bars!

While a later twist was not too surprising, it did pull the whole story together, while at the same time, Savannah had an opportunity to take a cruise and had a wonderful time! And with this hint, I'm closing with a high recommendation...

GABixlerReviews

About the Author

Martha Manuel retired from state civil service in 2007 to run for state senator. While unsuccessful in her bid for office, the experience offered her an opportunity to view the electoral process firsthand. Martha's eminence as a registered representative with a major Wall Street investment firm; director of the EBR Parish Health Unit; and executive director of the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs only highlight a few of the varied and coveted positions she has held, adding an unusual degree of credibility to her stories. Martha Manuel is also the author of Murder on False River.

Murder on False River Hones in On Government Support of Hurricane Relief in Louisiana...

"Do you see something bobbing up and down in the water by that tree trunk?"
"Where?"
"Look over there by that clump of bushes," said Bert.
Beth turned pale in the moonlight. "It...it looks like a body!"
..."Hey Sheriff, this is Bert. Beth and I were sitting out on our pier tonight when we saw something floating in the water. I went out to see what it was and, man I hate to tell you this, but I found a body in False River. There's no telling how long it's been in the water. It's all bloated up and looks like something's been eating on it. It really looks bad. Can you get over here quick?"
..."Let's get this area roped off with crime scene tape right away," said Sheriff Breaux. "The more people we have underfoot, the harder it's going to be for us to do our job."
Left in the still of the night was Sheriff Breaux and his deputy, the police, members of Wildlife and Fisheries, the news media, and an assemblage of horrified people. There had never been a murder on False River before.

~~~

Murder on False River

By Martha Gabour Manuel

When you meet Savannah O'Brien Devereaux, she will be in no condition for you to interact with her...she's in the hospital, cannot move, speak--she was totally dependent on machines. But she was able to hear and while she lay motionless, she heard two women talking about her..one was telling her that she was Senator Savannah Devereaux and learned that she had crashed on New Year's Eve. Some said that she must have been drinking... But the worst was that she heard that her husband had passed away earlier. It was the maids' thinking that his death could have led to her accident... Then she noticed they were talking in the past tense! She was still alive, but could not cry out--she was trapped inside her silent body...

Her doctor came in and then the Sheriff, both hoping that something would happen to bring Savannah back to consciousness... All she could do was pray--she had to be able to tell them all that had happened!

Interestingly, readers are then taken to a new part, set in 2003, where we see three teenagers plan to rob a local store, One backed out and left the scene; two entered and were surprised by a cop who was accidentally killed. If you are confused, that's alright, because there is not a merge of the stories until later in the book...so...hold on!

Enter Michael Joseph Devereaux on the day of his marriage, for a second time... He was 58 and the year is 2008. But as he waited outside, his thoughts reviewed his first marriage, which had ended in death... To begin a new life, he had left Shreveport, purchasing an established real estate company in New Roads. Even that day, as he planned to marry Savannah, who he did love, he still felt mixed emotions...

Now I must say that the romance between these two is almost overwhelming in its intensity, and yet, as the story goes on, readers find that each have secrets that they decide not to share with the other... Both are working at the realty office, but Mike has gotten involved with politics and, in particular, issues related to the horrible conditions in Louisiana due to the hurricane damage. There was growing evidence that corruption at all levels of the government were delaying and sometimes preventing the aid needed to respond to the needs of the citizens there...

Mike was well aware of the wheeling
and dealing that went on behind the
scenes in politics. He arrived in
Washington anticipating problems--
but none like this one. His first night
in Washington and already he was on
Senator Adams "hit list."
~~~

In fact a number of individuals had joined together to visit Washington to see if they could garner support from those in Congress, but the first night Mike was heading to his room, he saw something that he shouldn't have...

A door to his right unexpectedly opened and out stepped a man in a business suit. He was obviously in a hurt to leave, probably hoping that he wouldn't b seen by anyone. The man was followed by a woman, clad only in a flimsy black negligee, still holding on to his hand. Unfortunately for hhim, it was too late to escape unnoticed. Not only had Mike seen him, but he also recognized the illustrious Senator...from Louisiana.

Senator Adams hurriedly pushed the woman back inside the room, closing the door behind her. Then he walked to the elevator as if nothing out of the ordinary had just taken place. It was an awkward moment for both men. Mike walked straight to his door and was busying himself opening it as Senator Adams passed by. Neither man acknowledged the other.
"This is just great," thought Mike. "I wonder what affect this will have on our negotiations when, or even if, we are allowed to meet with him this week."
Mike had a few flings in his younger years, but never while he was married. He considered himself open minded, but not when it came to cheating on a spouse. His philosophy was, "if a man can't be faithful to his wife, how can we expect him to be faithful to the voters who elected him?"

~~~

What the group discovered was that they would not be able to find support from other legislators! Unless they were able to find somebody to run against the present senator, who had been running with no opposition for years, they might as well give up trying to improve things.  Most of the group were heading home, but Mike was going to stay the night and go for one more meeting... Instead he was mugged in the hotel elevator and when he was able, traveled straight home, not telling anybody about what had happened... Not telling anybody that he'd been warned not to continue his investigation...

"What am I going to tell Savannah?"
~~~

The man standing behind Mike tightened his grip to the combatant in front of him from falling. "That's enough," he said to the combatant in front of him. With the same menacing tone he whispered into Mike ear, "It's time you quit your investigation. If you think this was bad, just tell anybody about it, and see what happens to the pretty little wife of yours. This is our first and last warning. Don't get involved in things that don't concern you. You may be a big man with your friends, but you're nothing to us..."

"That not true, Mike," Savannah said
dejectedly. "If you say you definnitely
don't want me to run, I won't run. But,
Mike, this would be such a great
opportunity. I've always wanted to be 
in a position where I could make a
difference..."
~~~

                                                         ~~~

And then Savannah started to talk to Mike about running for the Senate... And she won--upsetting the occupant! And then, of course, things only got worse and soon she started getting similar calls for her to tell her husband to stop his investigation... And before long, Mike was killed while flying his plane to a meeting...

Not only do things get more dangerous, but they get more complicated! And there are still surprises to be discovered... I would like to assume that this novel will also have at least one sequel, but the story can stand on its own, although I would prefer to see a different ending... Let me know what you think!

Murder on False River was much more than the traditional murder mystery. In fact, the murder almost seems insignificant to the overall story, since the man murdered is a minor character to a degree... I previously read and reviewed a book about the corruption in Louisiana related to hurricane rebuilding--that was non-fiction, however... This author does a fantastic job in merging this important issue into the overall political realm that reaches all the way to Washington where, some may not be involved, but are also not willing to take the action needed to ensure that it is stopped! A sad but not unexpected reality where keeping your political power is more important that preventing the fraudulent actions that costs, perhaps, in the millions, or even more! Again, I'd like to see further stories by this author who is seeing the "dubious" politics in her own backyard...

A must-read for some in my opinion...But a great political thriller for all...Check it out!


GABixlerReviews

From a run for political office, to her days in the cockpit, to leadership of government agencies, Martha Gabour Manuel and her heroine, Savannah O'Brien Devereaux, have both discovered that truth is often stranger than fiction. In her debut novel, Martha invites readers to experience Louisiana's beauty, mystery, dubious politics, and enduring characters, through the eyes of Savannah. Readers are welcome to send comments to: Martha Manuel, P.O. Box 1023, New Roads, LA 70760; www.marthamanuel.com; or martygmanuel@yahoo.com