Candidate capers A captivating novel unmasks the unsavoury and intrigue-filled side of presidential politics

BY CHITRA SUDARSHAN

American Presidential campaigns have been the subject of several novels, movies and TV shows over the years. There is something alluring about the power and glory that the office commands – in that, it is like no other. Vinay Kolhatkar has weighed in to the genre with his debut novel, The Frankenstein Candidate, (self published in the US), which is a kind of fictional Presidential campaign trail set in 2020.

Olivia Allen is a brilliant senator – and a basically decent human being - who has been invited to join as a Vice Presidential candidate by a Congressman running for President. She is one of the major candidates along with the incumbent Vice President, and the billionaire Frank Kenneth Stein a.k.a. “The Frankenstein Candidate”, who is running as a self-funded independent. The reader realises quite early on that things are not as hunky dory as they seem: Allen suffers from the ‘Imposter Syndrome’, a psychological feeling that her success has been more on account of good fortune than any inherent skill or hard work; and her husband fancies another woman. Not very far into the campaign, Olivia realizes that things are not what she thought they would be. On discovering some horrifying truths about some of her fellow travellers, she makes some earth-shaking decisions that affect every major player in the race.

By the end of the book, we are privy to an assassination, enough scandals, as a result of which a candidate struggles to clear his name in court, while another is forced to withdraw from the race.

For someone who lives in NSW, Australia, Kolhatkar captures the ambience and aura of a US presidential campaign rather well: the candidates and the politics that drive them; the minders and the media; their primaries, the numerous states, their cities, the intra-American differences; even particular football teams - are described with attention to detail and sound quite authentic. He teases out the lives of the main protagonists in ways that are quite engaging; so is his highly well-informed and fine-tuned description of the financial world and its shenanigans. The reader is driven to read on to find out how they all unravel. Kolhatkar has a Master’s degree in finance in addition to experience in the inner workings of Wall Street, and he is able to draw on that experience and his ‘insiders knowledge’ to his advantage.

Kolhatkar has said elsewhere that he was quite uninterested in politics – indeed was quite disillusioned at the way campaigns are run – that he decided to do something about it: write a novel that would throw light on the whole process and show how it was blighted and tainted by money and machine politics – something that would be an eye opener. The reader must judge for themselves if he succeeds in doing that! In the meanwhile, they will not be disappointed by this novel and the rollercoaster ride that is the American Presidential campaign trail.

The Frankenstein Candidate: The Book that Could Alter the Course of the Next Presidential Election is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.

Kolhatkar has a Master’s degree in finance in addition to experience in the inner workings of Wall Street, and he is able to draw on that experience and his ‘insiders knowledge’ to his advantage.