Review: The 500 by Matthew Quirk

The 500 by Matthew Quirk

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Pages: 336 

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Mike Ford is a former con artist who's been plucked from his Harvard Law School classroom to be an associate at The Davies Group, Washington's most high-powered and well-respected strategic consulting firm. Their specialty: pulling strings and peddling influence for the five hundred most powerful people inside the Beltway, the men and women who really run Washington -- and by extension the country, and the world. 

The namesake of the firm, Henry Davies, knows everyone who matters; more importantly, he knows their secrets. Davies' experience goes back 40 years -- he worked for Lyndon Johnson, jumped shipped to Nixon, then put out his own shingle as the Hill's most cut-throat and expensive fixer. Now he's looking for a protégé to tackle his most high-stakes deal yet, and Mike fits the bill. 

Quickly pulled into a seductive, dangerous web of power and corruption, Mike struggles to find his way out. But how do you save your soul when you've made a deal with the devil?





Kritters Thoughts:  A political thriller that will take you inside the workings of Washington, D.C., the reader questions where the truth and fiction begin and end.  The book starts in the future for a chapter and the reader is taken into the past to explain the story that must take place to get the characters in that place.  Mike Ford the main character has had a sketchy past, but ends up in a job where his checkered past can be put to good use.  


The working relationships in the book were full of deceit and lies.  I loved the interweaving of storylines and even having moments in the past come back and haunt the characters in the present.  I wonder if this is true in the halls of our leaders in Washington, D.C.  Do they use past secrets to get a decision they want?  These characters all had closets full of secrets that they were using to hold each other accountability, at times it was hard to remember who had what secret and the details behind it.         


Living in the D.C. area, I loved this book because I am always intrigued by what happens behind the scenes on the hill or in these ancient buildings.  I think fans of the political thriller subgenre could enjoy this even if they aren't residents of the D.C. area, but I am more than excited to pass this onto friends who live and work in the area where this book takes place.  




Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel


April-June Challenge 2012: You Live Where?


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author at BEA.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.