The Candidate

I was impressed with the detail presented on topics during fictional debates...and the daring premise of a congressman with two years of experience managing to be elected President. Family crises add to the drama of this well-written story.

This is a strange blend of a (not very thrilling) thriller and a political diatribe. Unlike many of the 1-star reviewers, I was not put off by the politics, which I generally agreed with, but I found it repetitive and boring. That said, I'd be hard pressed to write a novel about a political campaign without some passages describing the candidate's policy statements and debates, but they are caricatures of the real thing at best, the tone-deaf Democratic establishment figures' and evil Republican incumbent's statements being just silly. The "thriller" side of the story is also pretty silly, the notion of a serious candidate taking on hand-to-hand combat with various thugs while his security detail is AWOL strains credibility, as does almost every other such episode. I kept reading to the bitter end just to see how the obvious would play out, but aside from the waste of my time, I'm glad it was provided as an the store Prime rent-for-free book (I'm learning you get what you pay for!). Most of all, the basic premise of a naive first-term congressman going it alone with minimal staff and resources other than his good looks and charisma is hard to swallow!

McLeay has done it again! Another high-paced novel that will keep you enticed and wanting more. As someone who is new to this genre (political-thrillers), I must say that the experience within the pages of J. R. McLeay is nothing short of heart-racing, suspenseful adventure. J. R. McLeay has a way of giving the reader characters to admire, whilst simultaneously providing deep and twisted plots. Moving from his previous novel, Unlucky Day, to The Candidate, I have to say, there are no disappointments! J. R. McLeay is definitely an author to follow, and his work is worth the space on your bookshelf! Well-written and brilliantly thought out, I highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks a thrill in the form of literature.

Although the premise of the plot is intriguing, the book is so poorly, carelessly written/edited that every page confronts the reader with a new annoyance. Example: "After James finished his ablutions and moved to the sink to wash his hands...". Example: "tabling the vote" is used in multiple instances to mean readying a motion for debate or voting. In fact it has absolutely the opposite meaning in the US Congress. Tabling the vote means to kill a motion without debate or vote. These examples of ignorant or careless semantics and terminology coupled with one dimensional characters and unrealistic situations made this book downright painful.

A long-shot libertarian congressman gets into a presidential race,
primarily to push for legalizing recreational drugs, a position he defends
plausibly. His views are a mix of Left and Right, mostly Left, and he runs as
a Democrat.

The description of campaigning is accurate, and the tug between family and
career well presented, but the identity of the traitor in his camp comes as an
implausible surprise.

Good for a Canadian writing about American politics.
Not as bad as one might fear, nor as good as one might hope.

Mesmerizing book. ...the issues were so relevant to the current real-life political situation. The main character, James, has high morals and is trying to revise the “old fogey” “stuck in their ways” staunch Members of the House of Representatives, without back stabbing anyone. He faces incredible odds and well...u should read this...it’s eye-opening.

This book is fantastic!!! This book does something that most books do not do! The story is a thrilling page-turner and makes you wonder how as an individual can I make the world better? It also makes you think about what you can do to contribute to that and possibly make it life-affecting. This book encourages us individuals to first-hand think about this country and what really goes on. Thank you J.R. McLeay for this encouraging book that us Americans should read!!

I love this author's writing style. He knows how to weave a very engaging story that keeps the reader wanting to flip the pages. Every chapter had an interesting turn or twist that made it impossible to put down. A real political nail-biter! I'll be looking for more from this promising author.

This is a well-written and gripping thriller. After James' beautiful daughter is killed by a drug gang, he decided to run for President. He wants to decriminalize drugs so they would no longer benefit criminals selling them. He doesn't want people taking them to be labeled criminals either. This is more than the drug lords can stand. They start a dangerous campaign to stop him. The action is non-stop and you will hold your breath many times. This is a very enters book.

McLeay has done it again! Another high-paced novel that will keep you enticed and wanting more. As someone who is new to this genre (political-thrillers), I must say that the experience within the pages of J. R. McLeay is nothing short of heart-racing, suspenseful adventure. J. R. McLeay has a way of giving the reader characters to admire, whilst simultaneously providing deep and twisted plots. Moving from his previous novel, Unlucky Day, to The Candidate, I have to say, there are no disappointments! J. R. McLeay is definitely an author to follow, and his work is worth the space on your bookshelf! Well-written and brilliantly thought out, I highly recommend this book to anyone who seeks a thrill in the form of literature.

While the writing is down to earth the characters incredible liberalism is just too much to suffer. This book is perhaps better suited to countries of Venzuala, North Korea, China, or some commune living drug fueled hippies. Too much idealogical destruction of American values. What a sad state of affairs for the American people in this book. This book might be readable by democrats that believe no values are sacred and everything traditional in the USA must be turned upside down.