Matthew Quirk’s gripping first novel, The 500, opens in DC’s “most respected strategic consulting and government affairs firm,” where young-gun attorney Mike Ford is cutting a deal for his life with the most ruthless man in Washington. Meanwhile, a Serbian war criminal with a penchant for eating the hearts of those who cross him waits outside in a Range Rover stuffed with Brioni-clad goons. “Die in infamy, honor intact,” Mike thinks, “or live in glory, corrupted.” Not the best options anyone’s ever had in this town but probably not the worst, either.
