FAMILYFANS Books & Comics

DARK HORSE: A Political Thriller

by Ralph Reed

(Howard Fiction / Simon & Schuster)

Reader Appeal: Young Adult to Adult

Genre: Suspense / Thriller

Now that Barak Obama is actually getting down to the business of being president for the next four years, things will hopefully settle down a bit. Among the political fallout of the historic, and bitterly fought, 2008 election is something we’ll still be working our way through for the next year or two: political novels.

Ralph Reed’s novel in that category, Dark Horse, is unique in two ways. First, it’s written from a Christian perspective; and second, it’s written by an actual politician.

Dark Horse is the story of a “dark horse” presidential candidate, California governor Robert Long, whose own chance at the democratic nomination was snatched out from under him at the last moment in an act of political subterfuge. Things get complex pretty fast as Robert Long undergoes a religious conversion and decides to run as an independent presidential candidate. Then the process is thrown into chaos on the Republican side (I won’t reveal how), creating a situation where the party alienates a lot of its members, giving Long an actual chance to capture the Christian swing vote. As things go on, scandals get raked into the public view, all the big political players and manipulators pull out all the stops to try and influence the race, and it all comes down to a major showdown at the capitol.

I’ve read a few political thrillers in my day. Not a lot, but a decent amount, but I’ve never read a political thriller that was this political. Reed writes his story with all the real-world details about political campaigning you would expect from someone who has himself worked on seven different political campaigns. The plot has all the usual intrigues of spying, lying, seduction, epiphanies, falls, and struggling against unbeatable odds. The characters are interesting, if not amazing. The female characters tend to be a little weak, and, beyond the central conceit that the hero is a democrat, there are a lot of political stereotypes. But overall it’s an intriguing glimpse into a world that many people, myself included, are clueless about.

To be honest, though, I didn’t really like seeing the insider’s view of politics. A lot of people might find it exciting. For me, it was a little horrifying, but I suppose it’s good to see what politics is really like (even in a far-fetched political novel). As for Reed’s writing style, it gets where it needs to go without slowing down too much and builds a world with a surprising amount of credibility. I did find myself getting bogged down in the little details every now and then, though, and the story could have had a bit more momentum if it had tighter prose. If you like digging into the tangled underbelly of politics, though, you’ll probably find this book to be all you could want.

One of the elements that stands out as a major selling point for some (and a major deal breaker for others) is definitely the Christian aspect. Reed doesn’t pull any punches. This is a fantasy for the religious right, and, like I said, beyond its central conceit of having a converted democrat as the hero, gives you pretty much what you would expect in terms of political stereotypes. Personally, I did find it refreshing to see Reed break with both the Democratic and Republican parties and remind Christians that what’s most important to them is their faith, not their party, or someone else’s party. There are also some lessons to be learned from looking at this book and the actual results of the 2008 election, though maybe not exactly the ones Reed had in mind. Lots of Republicans did jump ship this election, but it didn’t bring down the two-party system, and they didn’t go in the direction Reed would have hoped. To be honest, democrats might see more parallels in this book to the fight between Clinton and Obama, but I’m not sure they would enjoy the light they’re painted in.

As a first novel, Dark Horse is definitely an impressive accomplishment. As a treat for political junkies and an “if only” situation for the religious right, it’s a resounding success. I wouldn’t let younger kids read it (and I’m not sure they would want to), but for an older teen with an interest in politics and thrillers it could be very exciting and informative. People with a more liberal bent probably won’t enjoy it (what do you expect of a book endorsed by Sean Hannity and Karl Rove). But for the average Christian with an interest in politics and good reading, it’s a winner.

FAMILYFANS RATING: B+

AFTER THE STORY (optional)

--MV

Note: All book or comics-related graphics in this column are standard publicity/promotional shots and are owned by their respective publisher.