As a club, we found the premise of the book very interesting but the book itself was a tedious read. Some of the references to the government in Washington were difficult to comprehend, more so because we were not aware of some of the backgrounds to certain situations. That being said, it was a good book in terms of understanding the influence of powerful individuals in high civil service jobs and how lives are manipulated and sometimes even destroyed for what may or not may be the 'greater' good of the public. For the reader who loves fast-paced stories and simple plot lines, the angst of the main characters and the slow plodding through their lives may be a turn off.