Is McCain adviser Mark Salter the author of 'O: A Presidential Novel'?

Washington, Jan 28 (ANI): The identity of the anonymous author behind 'O: A Presidential Novel' has been confirmed by Time magazine.

It's Mark Salter, a longtime speechwriter and adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), reported Time magazine's Mark Halperin.

Halperin said that the authorship's been "confirmed by sources, but there were lots of in-plain-sight clues" pointing to Salter, reports the Politico.

In a marketing ploy that worked - it got political insiders across the country talking about a book that got mediocre reviews - Simon and Schuster described the author only as someone who "has been in the room with Barack Obama and wishes to remain anonymous."

The New York Post speculated last week that Salter was behind the book.

"[W]e're hearing buzz that Mark Salter ... is the ghostwriter," Page Six said.

And the puzzle pieces began to fit together. Salter's adjective-heavy style, used in speeches and in books he co-wrote with McCain, is similar to the style in "O." (ANI)