Francis Quinlan

The Politics of POF and POOF Francis Quinlan

Prepare yourself for an investigation that takes twists and turns right up to the last page. Postal Inspector Emmet Keene investigates the POOF heist, a crime in which a large haul of foreign currencies are stolen from a US Post office. The presence of foreign currencies in a US post office arouses the interest of an investigative reporter. Senator Thornbill calls for a congressional investigation. Keene finds himself conducting a politicized investigation in which mistakes, miscalculations and just pain bad luck become headlines. Having survived attempts to fire him, Keene goes on to solve the crime. He then comes to a realization: he has solved only one crime! A second crime comes into view, then a third and a fourth. Keene goes on to expose postal employee embezzlement and a money laundering scheme that involves Beltway insiders. But he never loses sight of his nemesis: the criminal geniuses who made off with the POOF loot, who outsmarted the FBI's computer, duped other criminals, and whose "disinformation project" made the name Keene an object of derision. Keene's pursuit of the secret society that stole the POOF loot is an attempt to vanquish what he perceives to be America's (and his own) demon. A number of characters enter into the story, each with his or her vanity, sense of guilt, ambition, grudge or cockeyed idea. In dealing with all this, Keene discovers his genius: an ability to make the vanities of these various people serve his purposes.