After his taut mystery thrillers, "The Millionaires" and "The First Counsel," Brad Meltzer again takes us by the throat for a game and a chase through the corridors of the U.S. Congress and an original take on how human weakness can affect the governance of our nation and allow it to become an unwilling provider for a treasonous operation. If you don't get caught up in the drama (but you will), you'll come away from this read with an insight into how congressional staffers negotiate appropriations for bills. It's our money, so it pays to have some idea.

The weakness is in being a sucker for an insider's game--a secret game for the privileged. Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler his mentor who helped him get on Congressman Nelson Cordell's staff and in on the game, are players. It's a secret game that gives you a sense of importance because you don't know who else in Washington might be playing. The object is to bet on such things as getting unsuspecting legislators to do or say specific things, or guess the final tally on a vote. The stakes are based on a preceding round of betting and, so far, the it's been little more than dinner money, but the real payoff is establishing yourself as a true power broker in Washington.

To win the latest Zero Game, Matthew has to insert his Congressman's land sale project into the Interior House Appropriations bill, which has to do with the transfer of land rights for a closed gold mine in South Dakota, little more than the usual pork and a simple matter for him to do. He can taste victory and wavers only when the bet rises to a couple of thousand dollars. Greed and the intoxication of a sure thing drives him to ignore the fact that a loss could put him in the poor house. He inserts the project into the bill and, shortly thereafter, is murdered.

Harris is devastated, but he also realizes that his friend's fate can't be unrelated to the game. Drawing in the unwilling help of Viv, a 16-year old, black, female page whose access around the Capitol is as unnoticed as it is unlimited, he sets out to investigate a case his superiors are suggesting was just an accident. It doesn't take long to realize that his efforts have made him and Viv targets for attack by Janos, an arch, relentless hitman who's working for the influential lobbyist pulling all the strings.

This is high adventure in high places, with layers of unpredictable developments in a dense plot of international intrigue. Recommended for the mystery thriller reader who will happily fall into its trap of suspense dug out of dirty earth and a fresh set of circumstances and locales.