Statistically, the most dangerous job in the United States is held by the occupant of the White House. Eight of the forty-two U.S. presidents have died in office, four of them by assassination. The timing of these presidential deaths suggests an unusual pattern--the presidents elected every twenty years from 1840 through 1960 died in office.

Did The 20-Year Jinx end when Ronald Reagan barely survived an assassination attempt in 1981? In THE JINX, a novel by Atlanta attorney Larry Kahn, young estate lawyer Benjamin Franklin Kravner discovers that The Jinx is real. This gripping tale of murder, politics, conspiracy and passion combines an original plot, a diverse cast of real and compelling characters, some fine literary moments and an extra helping of heart. The conspiratorial explanation for the 20-Year Jinx is fascinating and timely, but even more unnerving is the exploration of two frightening social themes—the dark side of the Internet and increasingly hostile race relations in America—through the eyes of three memorable young characters and a bevy of high-powered, computer savvy conspirators.

The story begins with the murder of Adams Thompson, the publisher of The New York Herald Times, on the eve of a protest inspired by his racist editorial. Ben Kravner lands the Thompson estate when his aging mentor, Fritz Fox, an island of civility in the heartless, money-driven world of corporate law, is suddenly taken ill. Ben questions whether he has sacrificed his ideals and his dreams for a career urged upon him by his parents, but his interest is piqued after he innocently, but illegally, opens a sealed envelope among his murdered client’s possessions.

Ben becomes convinced that Thompson was a member of a powerful group of conspirators who are poised to claim the presidency and plunge the nation into a racially charged civil war to avenge their ancestor’s death. He methodically searches for clues to the conspirators’ identities with the assistance of Debby Barnett (his paralegal and the "present object of his infatuation"), but becomes their target after they learn that he knows their dark secret.

Presidential politics, the Internet, sex, love, hate and race relations come into play as Ben eludes his pursuers and races to warn the White House before the conspirators can set their plan into motion.

Our window into the world of racial unrest contrived by the conspirators is reporter Christy Kirk, a wisp of a woman with the heart of a pit bull and the "political agility of a buffalo." Christy’s initial inquiries suggest that the white supremacy groups are too fragmented to mount a serious threat, but the leaders of the National Organization for Mutual African-American Defense, the NOMAADs ("Martin Luther King with a stick"), convince her that hostilities may be imminent.

Christy’s interviews with white supremacist and NOMAAD leaders are frighteningly real, particularly given the spate of hate crimes dotting recent headlines. The ease with which the leaders of these groups are swayed to follow the conspirators into battle is haunting, yet rings true.

While the conspirators hunt Ben and incite rebellion, their leader takes unprecedented measures to assure his rise to the presidency. We observe the Machiavellian twists and turns through LaRosa Smith, a beautiful African-American who is Vice President Tony Fabrizio’s chief advisor and campaign strategist. LaRosa plays a pivotal role in resolving the national crisis brought on by the conspirators, lifting her political career to surprising heights.

The characters that inhabit THE JINX are not bigger than life—they make mistakes, crack wise and fall in and out of love—but they are infused with a passion for life, and as one states, "ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary deeds when inspired by passion." Kahn is at his best putting words into the mouths of the politicians. Their impassioned speeches appear heartfelt and are at times inspirational, effectively urging Americans to mark the millennium by setting aside partisan politics to make the eradication of racism the national priority.

The message that lies at the heart of The Jinx is that this goal can only be achieved by overcoming the powerful emotional legacies that shape our lives. Like the vendetta perpetuated by the conspirators across seven generations, racism is passed down "one father to one son," the President tells us in his State of the Union address, then admonishes that "racism will only end when parents, black and white, find the intellectual strength to quiet their racist impulses or strong-minded children overcome the urge to submit to their parents’ bigotry."

There is a lot going on in THE JINX on many levels, but the author does an outstanding job of weaving a myriad of loose threads into a tightly woven fabric that is sure to please.