'The word zouk means party or festival; if zouk is the party, kizomba is what’s going on in the back bedroom among the muffled beats of the party raging up front.'

'Make your way past the nasty-tempered, long-haired doorman, through the barroom of clacking pool balls, past the crowded bar topped with tepid and free raw oysters and into a smoky room lit only by multi-colored Christmas lights.'

Erickson is a simple beat cop, no gold stars weighing down his shirt pockets; just a regular guy working swing shifts. But he has been identified by the GOP as one of its 18 young rising stars.