Nelligan's Legacy

About the Book

Nelligan’s Legacy is a story of big time New Jersey politics and vicious treachery. The novel is written with such a firm grip on the way things really are in this hotbed of ambition and intrigue that it could only have been written by someone who has spent a great deal of time in those trenches. Tom Kistner is that man.

Richard V. Nelligan, a retiring corporate big-shot,  is asked to take the reins of the powerful, formerly boss controlled, Middlesex County Democratic Organization. He teams up with  a young local political phenom, Thomas Jefferson Hobbs, who he hires as his executive director and right hand man and together they not only maintain the organization’s strength but take it to new heights. The reader is given unfiltered access to a big time political headquarters and its daily workings. All communications go through Democratic headquarters or they go nowhere  — like  personal checks big or small must go through a Federal Reserve clearing house, or they are not redeemed. These communications take many forms and are usually cryptic, slanted, vague and occasionally sinister but always obscure and ambiguous.

                                                                 ***

“I just want you and Dick to know I’m not available for that Senate spot on the ticket next year. I’d love to help you guys out but my law practice has just gotten too busy, I don’t have the time.”

“Don’t worry, Ed, we won’t call you.”

                                                                          ***

“Hobbs, who is this Musso guy from your town?  he keeps sending me resumes and pictures of his wife and kids. Wants to be an Assemblyman or Freeholder. Shouldn’t he be going through the organization?"

“Yes, George, he should. Just throw the shit away.”

                                                                          ***

“You know, we haven’t had a Freeholder from this end of the county for almost thirty years.”

“It’s been about that long since you gave us a Democratic plurality.”

                     ***

“Look, all I’m saying is it would help if he wasn’t Jewish, too many Hebes on the board now.”

                                                                          ***

“Listen, it’s your town. We don’t give a shit what you do................but some of the guys think it would be smart if you got rid of him  — he’s trouble! that’s off the record  — unofficial  — it’s your town — you do what’s best for your people.......”

                      ***

“We’d like you to come speak to our group. They need a lift  — to feel like they matter. We.......they sometimes feel left out.”

“When and where?”

“Pulaski Hall next Tuesday at eight.”

“You got it   — I’ll be there.”

About the Author

between stays at the Charleston, South Carolina V.A. Hospital where he underwent seven surgical procedures to remedy a severe case of diverticulitis. Still recovering, he has nothing but praise for the hospital and his surgeon, Dr. Derya Tagge. He writes about what he knows. He was a “spy” during the cold war, a professional politician serving five years as Executive Director of one of the most powerful county organizations in the East, as well as Director of Administrative Law for the State of New Jersey. Tom also spent two years in Denmark working as a ships rigger at a drydock in Copenhagen. He thinks of The Drydock and the Mermaid as his ode to Danmark and her people.