Conceiving a Capitol Crime
Member Peter Stone explains how his experiences as a Washington intern informed his debut political thriller.
What do you do if you’re a starry-eyed politics junkie interning for a powerful Washington congressman and your colleague ends up dead? If you’re Cameron Carter, the protagonist of Peter Stone’s The Perfect Candidate, you start digging feverishly.
The Perfect Candidate is an adroitly paced young adult thriller with several intriguing plot twists. While separated from a guided tour of the Capitol building, Carter is buttonholed in an elevator by a mysterious man who insists that Ariel Lancaster was murdered, adding enigmatically, “Sunlight kills mold.” Things get murkier when it’s reported that Lancaster was romantically entangled with Congressman Billy Beck, tipped as the next house speaker.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because similar events occurred in 2001. Intern Chandra Levy disappeared shortly before returning to California for graduation. Following allegations that she was having an affair with Democratic Congressman Gary Condit, her remains were found in Rock Creek Park in 2002. MS-13 gang member Ingmar Guandique was convicted of the murder in 2010 but was later granted a new trial, only to be deported to El Salvador in 2017.
Stone, 37, has a strong connection to the story. Both he and Levy grew up in Modesto, California, and had friends in common. He also interned in Gary Condit’s office in 1998. The politician allegedly admitted the affair but denied any part in Levy’s murder. He lost the Democratic primary in 2002.
“The scandal taught me an early lesson about the fallibility of heroes and the duplicity of power,” says Stone, who speaks at the Club this month. “Like many young interns on Capitol Hill, I had an idealistic and maybe unrealistic view of how things worked.”
The scandal didn’t sour Stone’s interest in DC, however, and he worked as a Spanish tutor to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2002. A career in film and TV marketing brought him to Tokyo this year.
“Writing this book was totally unexpected and very gratifying—it’s a new chapter in my life, no pun intended,” says Stone of his debut novel. “The longest things I’d written before were e-mails and term papers in college.”
While Stone has long been a fan of John Grisham and other thriller writers, it was family friend Margaret Stohl, coauthor of the bestselling novel Beautiful Creatures, who cajoled him into writing.
Following the old adage “write what you know,” Stone reflected on his time with Condit. After drawing up a plot outline, he took about five months to finish a draft. A round of matchmaking with literary agents followed, then Simon & Schuster agreed to publish the book.
“The book is basically a love letter to Washington, DC, which is a main character,” says Stone. “It was my first big US city and it’s still my favorite US city. It’s an industry town dedicated to trying to change the world, and I love it.”
Meet the Author: Peter Stone
Oct 24 | 7–8pm
Words: Tim Hornyak