Genre:
Political Thriller
Description:
“A Real Collusion is a David Vs. Goliath(s) story about a man who
accidentally becomes the leader of an independent political movement that
nearly takes down the two-party system in America, while exposing a conspiracy
that affects the results of the 2016 election. It explores universal and deeply
human themes of loss, and the tension between justice and power. In the opening
sentence the narrator points out that, “Ordinary people often do extraordinary
things.” The characters in the book do, and the action is driven by the
fantastic events of a unique political satire. It is also the heartfelt story
of regular people struggling with lost love, alienation and nearly universal
disaffection who find strength in enduring loyalty and friendship
This is the story of John Campbell (a regular guy from the lower east
side of Manhattan) as recounted by his friend Skip Winters. Skip becomes John’s
campaign manager and later, a congressman in his own right. He narrates the
stunning-but-plausible story of how John Campbell and The American Coalition
race to popularity, raising over a hundred million dollars from grassroots
contributors—and become a threat to the political duopoly of the Democratic and
Republican parties. The book sprinkles in references to real events from recent
history, and real political leaders including Trump, John McCain, and more.
This imbues the novel with a sense of realism, albeit one of an alternate
reality. Skip discovers a deep-seated conspiracy within our political system whose
leaders orchestrate a murder, destroy his friend and tip the scales of the
election. The novel turns out to be Skip’s exposé of the secret collaboration
between the two major political parties in our country—a cooperation to protect
the duopoly that is, in part, real.”
Author:
Stu Stumwasser wrote a book that came out more than 10 years ago that
was published by Simon and Schuster as well as spending some time as a member
of a band that had a lot of air play on college radio stations. But his biggest
focus has been spent working for Wall Street companies before founding and
running his own financial investments company. Apparently some time spent
observing and participating in politics inspired another book.
Appraisal:
The cover of this book calls it a “Novel & Exposé.” One implies
fiction and the other implies exposing the truth. Like all good fiction, there
is some truth to the story, even if what is chronicled didn’t really happen.
This should, like good fiction tends to do, get you thinking about the real
world, especially the two-party political system in the US and how it sometimes
prevents needed change. No matter where you are on the political spectrum and
no matter how much of what is laid out you believe, it should get you thinking.
(Lots of it, I’m sure is fiction, at least I hope so, but there is a lot that
we all will recognize as reality too.) I highly recommend reading this book and
pondering what it means to you.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Some adult language.
Format/Typo
Issues:
The review is based on an advance reviewer copy so I can’t gauge the
final product in this area.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words
