CNN anchor Jake Tapper follows up his 2018 novel, THE HELLFIRE CLUB, with a sequel, THE DEVIL MAY DANCE. This delicious thriller is set in the early 1960s, when movie stars, singers, the Mafia and politicians hung out together in Hollywood, Las Vegas and sometimes New York.

Congressman Charlie Marder and his smart zoologist wife, Margaret, are persuaded to spend time in LA so that Charlie, a war hero, can advise the director of The Manchurian Candidate on military protocol. But in reality he’s there because Robert Kennedy, Jack’s brother and the U.S. Attorney General, needs to find out what Frank Sinatra, the star of the movie, and Sam Giancana, the Mafia don, are up to. By arresting his father on questionable charges, the AG has found a way to force the reluctant Republican congressman to play along.

"Tapper's thorough research doesn’t get in the way of an outlandish plot that --- many will be amazed, even horrified to find --- closely adheres to history."

In the process of befriending Sinatra and his Rat Pack --- including Peter Lawford, Jack’s brother-in-law, and Sammy Davis Jr. --- Charlie and Margaret uncover countless scandals, along with several dead bodies. L. Ron Hubbard and his Church of Scientology play a sinister role in the events, as do some studio heads. Such boldface names as Natalie Wood, Janet Leigh and John Wayne also make cameo appearances, along with “Judy Campbell,” better known as Judith Exner, JFK’s and Giancana’s mistress.

Tapper has done his research, and he’s unsentimental about Sinatra and his friends, while conceding that it was a different era when powerful men answered to no one. Margaret is at times a stand-in for a modern-day distrust of these stars’ outrageous behavior towards women and social norms.

Real events bookend the novel, including Sinatra and Dean Martin performing at the Sands Hotel, the 1962 Academy Awards ceremony, and Kennedy’s 45th birthday party where Marilyn Monroe sang. Tapper's thorough research doesn’t get in the way of an outlandish plot that --- many will be amazed, even horrified to find --- closely adheres to history.