Edward "Eddie" Wesley Jr. is an award winning author and journalist who is trying to uncover the inner workings of a secret society, locate his missing sister, and win the heart of the woman he loves. Eddie arrives in Harlem in May 1954. His roots are in Boston. He is the son of a minister who is involved in the civil rights movement of the day. Edward Wesley Sr. possesses the dreaded "voice" that Eddie and his sister Junie hates to hear. Junie and Eddie's girlfriend, Aurelia, both have an equal piece of his heart. The sudden disappearance of Junie sends Eddie's life into turmoil. Prior to Eddie arriving in Harlem or Junie's disappearance there was a meeting held on Martha's Vineyard that would affect all their lives forever.

Essentially there is a secret society whose ultimate goal is to set certain people in place and make events happen to change the country. They want control. This is an integrated group of twenty men. They are some of the richest and most influencial men in the country. Suddenly, they are turning up dead one by one. Due to Eddie's commitment issues, Aurelia married one of these men, Kevin Garland. The Garlands are known as one of the richest families in the country. Eddie and Aurelia both had ties to the Council that they never asked for. These ties haunted them and threaten their very lives.

Stephen Carter spared no celebrity in Palace Council. Eddie often takes counsel from Langston Hughes. They have a lasting friendship. Eddie’s father is a friend of the Kennedy’s. Eddie later works as speech writer for the JFK presidential campaign and continues as JFK enters the White House. Richard Nixon is weaved into the narrative right until the very end. How can one have the Kennedy’s and Nixon without the infamous J. Edgar Hoover. Carter makes them so casual that they don't overpower the storyline. The Vietnam war is also a backdrop.

This was one of the most concise, detail laden novels I have read in a while. You get the feel that Carter spares no detail because he wants the story to be as realistic as possible. Honestly, I can really see these events taking place if they haven't already. The story developed over the years. Carter was genius in the way that he allowed everyone's life to happen yet never losing the central theme of the narrative. This is a long novel but it had to be for all the details it incorporated. There was no shock value. The details just accumalated until the end. Upon arriving at the "jewel" of the story, I was not excited just simply tired. Palace Council was a suspenseful novel but not intense.