A story of triumph and betrayal. Bowe fashions a mystery surrounded by believable characters and an entertaining plot. ( )

Relationships and ambition are the focus of this novel - a group of friends who meet each other in college and who build their lives and livelihoods together. Pete Dalton is an average suburban kid, who dreams of becoming a writer, heading to a college because his favorite author went there. His roommate Danny was a star high school athlete, whose knee was ruined causing his football scholarships to D1 colleges to be revoked, but who works diligently to get back on the team. Pete becomes best buddies with Ben Matthews, who wants to make the world a better place, and his wealthy girlfriend Tyler, who is the most ambitious of all. A local kid, Ben and Pete, write a story advocating for a student center that astonishes all, and gets them onto the staff of the college newspaper, run by Stan. Ben wants to make things better in the California town of Cavanaugh, as he and Pete leave college to start a free paper to develop the community, which becomes successful, while Tyler goes onto become anchor at the local TV station. Ben's meteoric rise in the city allows him to get into politics, attracting the right friends and the ire of the incumbent, but dirty mayor. Ever the reporter, Pete starts pulling on a string, eventually unravelling all. At times this book was 5 stars no doubt, but I was disappointed in how things turned out for all. ( )