Beck Rikki is a reporter.
Considering the kinds of trouble he seems to get involved in routinely, it is surprising that he has managed to stay alive because Rikki likes to look deeper into the shadows of D.C. politics than the people who work there would like and he does so at the behest of a major newspaper in that city, one that has the respect, fear, and loathing of a lot of big wigs there.
We learn pretty early two important facts about Rikki which will play a huge role in what transpires after our first meeting. One, he is a seasoned veteran of the Washington, D.C. political scene having written a good deal over a considerable number of years about the ins and outs of the system of government practiced there. He's made a few good friends and a fair number of bad enemies in doing so. Two, he has undergone a dry spell which has lasted long enough to have himself, and likely his bosses, worried. As a result of that concern, he is quite eager to leap when he might have wanted to look first.
One very interesting aspect about Rikki is that he is far from perfect (as are we all) and his foibles will get him into trouble just as his ambition will and these make following his adventures a lot of fun even if once in a while you grimace and tell yourself "bad move!".
[more when I have finished the books]