Blog Tour - The Election

I'd like to introduce you to Jerome Teel. He is a self-described political junkie, a lawyer in Tennessee, and now a first-time novelist. This week's blog tour highlights the release of his new novel, The Election.

His tale is ambitious: It involves a Southern attorney defending a murder suspect, a mysterious romance, and a presidential election between Vice President Ed Burke and Republican Senator Mac Foster.

He shows some real promise. The book keeps the pace moving, and there was rarely a time where I wasn't reluctant to put it down. He keeps up the setting well while keeping the action on high gear.

There are a couple of issues that kept me from fully enjoying the book. The characters tend to be stock: The tall, handsome attorney, the bad guy with a goatee manipulating the action behind the scenes. Except for the main character, Jake Reed, the characters all serve the plot and have no growth at all.

The overall plot structure could be taken from what I felt was a standard Christian end-times scenario: A secretive group of businessmen fund the corrupt VP in his presidential bid over the noble Republican opponent so they can take over the world, Illuminati-style. I appreciate that the Republican good guy is very pro-life, but the character is perfect. On the other hand, the VP's wife is Hillary Clinton thinly veiled. I happen to share the author's convictions, but they are dealt with on a very simplistic, surface level. Had depth been added to these ideas, this could have really spoken into contemporary society and politics.

Overall, I do feel it is a solid first effort. If I could write a book that kept readers hooked like The Election, that would be a wonderful start. There is room to grow, so I will keep an eye out for Jerome Teel in the future. If you like political/legal thrillers, he will be an option.