ELECTION NIGHT

MacDonald’s political romance asks: Can a progressive musician love a hard-right Republican—and without getting framed for murder?

Sam Maripol, the frontman of a rock band in Palm Beach, Florida, is bummed out at the election of a very Trump-like politician for president. His despond lifts when he meets gorgeous, blue-eyed nurse Ashley Beck, only to return when he finds out that she’s a Christian Republican; they have heated exchanges on abortion and other hot-button issues, but sizzling sexual chemistry keeps them interested in each other. (Ashley’s resolve to not have sex before marriage poses little obstacle, as she interprets this rule as only restricting intercourse.) A bigger obstacle is Ashley’s dad, Adam, a wealthy Christian nationalist who dislikes Sam, offers him $100,000 to dump Ashley, and brings in a rival suitor to woo her away. Sam discovers that Adam is surveilling Ashley’s apartment, and retaliates by bugging Adam’s mansion, which reveals a plot to assassinate the new president—he’s too loose a cannon, apparently, even for the far right—and frame Sam as the left-wing killer. Now, the rocker faces the dismaying task of trying to save a president whom he despises, while also wondering if Ashley set him up. MacDonald’s lurid portrait of a Republican-dominated America is full of rabid bigots and fascist militias, as well as vehement left-leaning polemics: “Fux News told them to blame immigrants, people of color, liberals, and elitists, whatever that means; and we know the White working class has more prejudice than economic sense,” says Sam’s best friend, discussing the president’s base. Despite some distracting soapboxing, MacDonald is a talented and perceptive writer, especially during the assassination subplot, which combines suspense with shrewd psychological nuance and punchy, evocative prose: “He’s in love with the crowd,” one conspirator tells a would-be assassin, describing the president’s rallies, adding that “After a while, he’ll get a little tired, lean against the podium, rest on his elbow, and go silent for a moment while he listens to them cheer…. That’s when he’s motionless. Wait for it.”

An entertaining and sharply written, if sometimes over-the-top, tale of an ideologically divided America.