Set during the tumultuous middle of the George W. Bush years-amid the twin catastrophes of the Iraq insurgency and Hurricane Katrina-Landfall brings Thomas Mallon's cavalcade of contemporary American politics, which began with Watergate and continue with Finale, to a vivid and emotional climax.The president at the novel's center possesses a personality whose high-speed alternations between charm and petulance, resoluteness and self-pity, continually energize and mystify the panoply of characters around him. They include his acerbic, crafty mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush; his desperately correct and eager-to-please secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice; the gnomic and manipulative Donald Rumsfeld; foreign leaders from Tony Blair to Vladimir Putin; and the caustic one-woman chorus of Ann Richards, Bush's predecessor as governor of Texas. A gallery of political and media figures, from the widowed Nancy Reagan to the philandering John Edwards to the brilliantly contrarian Christopher Hitchens, bring the novel and the era to life.The story is deepened and driven by a love affair between two West Texans, Ross Weatherall and Allison O'Connor, whose destinies have been affixed to Bush's since they were teenagers in the 1970s. The true believer and the skeptic who end up exchanging ideological places in a romantic and political drama that unfolds in locations from New Orleans to Baghdad and during the parties, press conferences, and state funerals of Washington, D.C.

CAST OF CHARACTERS(Persons with names in quotation marks are entirely fictional.)Buzz Aldrin:American astronaut; landed on the moon with Apollo 11Mohammed Yusef Asefi: Afghan physician and painter"Kevin Barden": U.S. embassy staffer in BaghdadCherie Blair: prominent barrister; wife of the British prime ministerTony Blair: prime minister of the United KingdomKathleen Blanco: governor of LouisianaLindy Boggs: former member of the House of Representatives (D-LA) and former ambassador to the Holy SeeJosh Bolten: director of Office of Management and Budget; White House chief of staff (April 2006-January 2009)John Bolton: U.S. ambassador to the United Nations"Emile Bourreau": assistant concierge at the Hotel Monteleone, New OrleansStephen Breyer: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court"Bill Bright": builder and political operative from Slaton, TexasTom Brokaw: author and former network anchormanSherrod Brown: Democratic senator-elect from OhioBarbara Bush: former First Lady of the United StatesGeorge H. W. Bush: forty-first president of the United StatesGeorge W. Bush: forty-third president of the United StatesLaura Bush: First Lady of the United StatesNeil M. Bush: younger brother of the president of the United States "Mrs. Randolph Caine": New Orleans realtor and preservationist Steve Cambone: undersecretary of defense for intelligence Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: wife of the Prince of Wales Andrew Card: White House chief of staff (January 2001-April 2006) James Carville: Democratic political consultant and commentator "The Chairman": head of the "National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities" Charles, Prince of Wales: heir to the British throne Dick Cheney: vice president of the United States Liz Cheney: daughter of the vice president; principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs Lynne Cheney: wife of the vice president Jacques Chirac: president of France Bill Clinton: forty-second president of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton: Democratic senator from New York; former First Lady of the United States Stephen Colbert: comedian; host of The Colbert Report Howard Dean: former governor of Vermont; chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tom DeLay: member of the House of Representatives (R-TX) and majority leader John Dingell: member of the House of Representatives (D-MI) Christopher Dodd: Democratic senator from Connecticut Bob Dole: former Republican senator from Kansas and defeated presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole: Republican senator from North Carolina; wife of Bob Dole David Herbert Donald: retired Harvard professor and Lincoln biographer Matt Drudge: Internet news aggregator; editor of the Drudge Report John Edwards: former Democratic senator from North Carolina and defeated vice-presidential nominee Betty Ford: former First Lady of the United States "Gary Fowler": community activist in Holy Cross neighborhood of New OrleansBill Frist: U.S. senator from Tennessee; Republican majority leaderMichael Gerson: chief speechwriter to the presidentGabrielle Giffords: U.S. representative-elect (D-AZ)"Tim Gleeson": Australian contract security officer in BaghdadJim Granberry: mayor of Lubbock, Texas (1970-1972)Merv Griffin: television host and show-business entrepreneurStephen J. Hadley: national security advisorJoe Hagin: deputy White House chief of staffKent Hance: member of the House of Representatives (D-TX), 1979-1985"Fadhil Hasani": interpreter for Allison O'Connor in Baghdad"Pirnaz Hasani": infant daughter of Fadhil and Rukia Hasani"Rukia Hasani": wife and widow of Fadhil HasaniDennis Hastert: Republican speaker of the House of RepresentativesMary Hatfield: Democratic party activist Lubbock, TexasCarol Blue Hitchens: journalist; wife of Christopher HitchensChristopher Hitchens: journalistKaren Hughes: former counselor to the president; undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairsRielle Hunter: videographer and mistress of former senator John EdwardsJohn Irving: American novelistBobby Jindal: member of the House of Representatives (R-LA), 2005-2008Frederick W. Kagan: resident scholar, American Enterprise InstituteHamid Karzai: president of AfghanistanBrett Kavanaugh: White House staff secretaryKaren Keller: personal secretary to the presidentJohn Kerry: Democratic senator from Massachusetts; defeated 2004 candidate for presidentZalmay Khalilzad: U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan (November 2003-June 2005) and U.S. ambassador to Iraq (June 2005-March 2007)Larry King: host of CNN's Larry King LiveMichael Kinsley: journalist and editorHenry Kissinger: former secretary of stateJunichiro Koizumi: prime minister of Japan "Matthew Lang": archivist, George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Trent Lott: Republican senator from Mississippi John McCain: Republican senator from Arizona Scott McClellan: White House press secretary (July 2003-May 2006) Sean McCormack: assistant secretary of state for public affairs Peter MacKay: Canadian foreign minister "Anne Macmurray": babysitter and nanny for Holley Weatherall O'Connor Mary Matalin: book editor; advisor to Vice President Cheney Harriet Miers: White House legal counsel "Charles Montoya": Army private wounded in Iraq "Lucinda Montoya": Private Montoya's aunt and caregiver "Father Anthony Montrose": New Orleans parish priest "Mrs. Morris": U.S. embassy staffer in Kabul, Afghanistan Ray Nagin: mayor of New Orleans Gordon Novel: New Orleans resident with ties to assassination conspiracy theories "Allison O'Connor": staff member of the National Security Council "Holley Weatherall O'Connor": daughter of Ross Weatherall and Allison O'Connor "Patricia O'Connor": mother of Allison O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Peter Pace: chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dina Powell: deputy undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs Vladimir Putin: president of Russia Lyudmila Putina: wife of Vladimir Putin Nancy Reagan: former First Lady; widow of President Ronald Reagan William Rehnquist: sixteenth chief justice of the United States Condoleezza Rice: U.S. secretary of state Ann Richards: former governor of Texas John Roberts: seventeenth chief justice of the United States Karl Rove: White House deputy chief of staff for policy Donald Rumsfeld: U.S. secretary of defenseSalman Rushdie: Indian novelistTerri Schiavo: (1963-2005), central figure in protracted right-to-die legal battle"Rolf Schmidt": German constitutional lawyer working in Baghdad's Green ZoneBrent Scowcroft: national security advisor to President George H. W. BushCindy Sheehan: war protester; mother of soldier killed in IraqMina Sherzoy: founder of the Afghan Women's Business FederationTony Snow: White House press secretary (May 2006-September 2007)Jack Straw: British MP and foreign secretary (June 2001-May 2006)Andrew Sullivan: political journalist and bloggerMargaret Thatcher: former prime minister of the United KingdomGreta Van Susteren: television journalist, Fox News; host of On the RecordDonatella Versace: Italian fashion designerMichael G. Vickers: analyst, Center for Strategic and Budgetary AssessmentsJohn Warner: Republican senator from VirginiaGene Washington: former professional football player for the San Francisco 49ers"Carlotta Watson": resident of New Orleans' Holy Cross neighborhood"Archer Weatherall": son of Ross Weatherall"Caitlyn Weatherall": daughter of Ross Weatherall"Darryl Weatherall": attorney in Lubbock, Texas; brother of Ross Weatherall"Deborah Weatherall": university librarian; wife of Ross Weatherall"Donna Weatherall": mother of Ross Weatherall"Ross Weatherall": director, Homeland Heritage Division, National Endowment of the Arts and HumanitiesAllen Weinstein: archivist of the United StatesJim Wilkinson: senior advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza RiceTom Wolfe: American novelist and essayistPaul Wolfowitz: deputy secretary of defense and president of the World Bank