Both mysterious and gripping, best-selling novelist, Stephen L. Carter, unveils dark secrets in his most recent work 'Palace Council,' arriving on shelves July 8, 2008.

Author of New England White and The Emperor of Ocean Park, Carter braces his audience for another riveting journey through political mayhem and racial lines.

'Palace Council' reveals the secret plan of twenty powerful men during the summer of 1952. Hidden on Martha’s Vineyard, their agenda is simple – to manipulate the President of the United States. The plot goes awry, however, after a well-known writer and Harlem’s literary son, Eddie Wesley, discovers an unsettling find, the dead body of one of the members.

Unbeknownst to him, Eddie’s involvement in this complex web eventually draws in his lover and confidant, Aurelia Treene, and takes them on a twenty year journey through the darkness of high society to uncover the truth.

Once again, Stephen L. Carter masters the thrill of exploitation in a heated political and racially sensitive era. 'Palace Council' will transform his audience into players in this entangled game, leaving them enthralled and begging for more.

So, if you would like to win one of these new books, just answer this easy question: It's the disappearance of Eddie’s sister that makes his investigation even more troublesome. But what is the name of Eddie's sister in this story?

Send us your answers and if you're correct you'll be in the running to win one of these new books! Just send us an e:mail here before August 15th with your answer and the subject title CONTEST: PALACE COUNCIL BOOKs to: exclusivemagazine@flash.net