Diana Diamond The Other Woman

The Other Woman

Diana Diamond

St. Martin's, June 2006, $24.95, 336 pp.

ISBN 0312352174

Pam Leighton works for the Electric Energy Institute lobbying group that works to make sure no legislation inimical to the power companies is passed. The head of the corporation is John Duke who is Pam's lover and has been for two years. When John is being considered for a cabinet post as the Secretary of Energy his wife says she will support him using her political connections if he severs all ties to Pam and makes sure she leaves Washington D.C.

Pam moves to New York where she plans to write a tell-all book about the lobbying industry. She has the evidence to back up every claim she makes which makes certain Washington power brokers very nervous. They want the publication of the book stopped and they use all sorts of methods to intimidate Pam into giving up getting her book published. When a good woman dies because she helped Pam, the writer becomes even more determined to write her book even if she has to go to outrageous lengths to keep from getting killed.

THE OTHER WOMAN is a fascinating relationship thriller that has readers guessing who is spying on Pam and reporting back to the power brokers. The audience feels pity for John Duke, who broke many laws as chairman of the EEI not because he an evil man but because he is a weak person who allows his ambition and wife to make choices that destroy his happiness. Diana Diamond has written a novel that shows the ugly and illegal relationships between lobbyists and elected officials that come straight out of news headlines.

Harriet Klausner