All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

 This classic, published in1946, is a portrayal of political corruption, in this case that of Willie Stark, a rural lawyer who rose to become the governor of his Southern state.  Stark is modeled on Huey Long who had similar beginnings and political transcendency and the time period, that of the 1920s and 1930s is the same.  

But the real story is that of Jack Burden, a man who works for Stark.  Jack is a former journalist, a man who studies history.  He works as a fixer for Stark, a man who helps write the bills that Stark wants passed and then shepherds them through the legislature.  He works behind the scenes to eliminate potential issues and bend men to Stark's will.  

Burden grew up in wealth.  His childhood friends were the children of the governor at that time, who lived just down the street.  Ann was his first love and he assumed they would marry but once they both went off to college the romance seemed to die.  Burden's parent's divorced early in his childhood, his father disappearing and his mother caught up in a series of love affairs, the men getting younger and younger as she gets older.  Burden has a hard time finishing things.  He leaves the university without his degree when the thesis for his graduation led him to discover things about his ancestors he couldn't live with.  His own marriage lasts only a few years.  He spends his life learning that men can be easily bought and that the evil that they do will never disappear but remain hidden until someone comes along and unearths it.  It is a novel of betrayal and hard realizations.

This novel won the Pulitzer Prize.  It is an indictment of power and politics where the realization comes that decisions have consequences and that they will inevitably have to be paid.  It is a novel of hidden secrets and betrayals.  Jack learns that everything has a price and that you must be willing to pay the price for the decisions and deeds you do.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.