Room 9

Drawing on her experience in the New York State comptroller's press office the author creates a convincing scenario of urban political corruption. The apparent suicide of N.Y.C. Deputy Mayor Jason Isenberg, architect of a shelter program literally going up in flames, exposes Mayor Kenneth Nicosea's vulnerable throat to the eager fangs of the City Hall press corps housed in Room 9. Marie Terranova, a police widow who is the mayor's administrative assistant, stonewalls the newshounds until evidence in the Isenberg scandal links City Hall to her husband's death. Galvanized by the loving attentions of Raul Vega, a hot Cuban reporter investigating the shelter fires, Marie begins to realize the extent of her bosses' hypocrisy. Their search for the truth takes Marie and Raul through the city's seamier quarters on a convoluted chase that underscores the plight of the urban poor under a regime dependent on moneyed interests. An old story is engrossingly retold with the impact of a disillusioned insider's knowledge. (Jan.)