Embedded Files
The Perfect Candidate by Peter Stone
Cameron Carter graduates from his small town high school in CA and heads to Washington DC, following his mother's footsteps to intern for his local representative. His summer work unexpectedly turns high risk when a staff member's death proves far from accidental, and Cameron begins working undercover. Fast-paced and intense, this story shows how one unlikely candidate accepts the challenge to right a wrong even if it means exposing his boss.
Review from Voice of Youth Advocates:
Three days after his small-town high school graduation, eighteen-year-old Cameron Carter arrives in Washington, D.C. as a congressional summer intern. When Ariel Lancaster, the summer intern coordinator, asks for his help on an unnamed project, Cameron feels validated— but Ariel dies in a car crash before revealing the task. An FBI agent raises the possibility that Ariel was killed because she was about to finger a corrupt politician and enlists Cameron in an undercover pursuit. Excited, resourceful, but naïve, Cameron endangers his life in negotiating the space between camaraderie and murderous intent among his office mates. Cameron overhears one staffer cold-bloodedly plotting to have him killed; it is a serious disconnect in tone when he later defends the same girl as a “pretty good girl” in a “bad situation.” Stone’s debut is successful in weaving a complicated murder mystery into a coming-of-age romance set in a D.C. reality show environment, brought to life by the author’s experiences as a congressional intern. The reader may wish for one fewer twist as Cameron struggles through various chase scenes, ratcheting up and then relaxing the suspense, tiring readers who will not want to put the story down. The novel presents an ironic look at the political need to project an attractive, upright persona regardless of reality. The last chapter, told from a different viewpoint, contains a major reveal that will shock the reader but promises a sequel.
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