Description
A gripping, intricately plotted political thriller set on the campaign trail of the USA’s next—and because of crucial flaws in the electoral system—its last election; from former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and author Stephen Marche
“In former presidential candidate Yang’s first novel, doomsday looms for American democracy in the months leading up to the 2024 election . . . zinging broadsides make for lively and unsettling reading.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Last Election is a unique political thriller about an outlandish yet frighteningly possible—even probable—scenario in America’s near future, during the crucial 2024 presidential election. Though it is fiction, it is informed by Andrew Yang’s insider’s view from his run deep into the Democratic primaries in 2020. It is also a wake-up call to an America tearing itself apart.
The story focuses on two characters: Mikey Ricci, a political operative who has lost faith in the system, and Martha Kass, a journalist for the New York Times. In 2023, Ricci becomes the campaign manager of a third-party candidate who runs on a popular, centrist platform and whose frank and honest manner begins to gain ground. As it begins to appear that Ricci’s candidate might win enough electoral votes to upset the delicate balance of America’s two-party system, Kass stumbles upon a plot by the current Joint Chiefs of Staff to seize power in the anticipated chaos of the coming election.
Events unfold at the frenetic pace of the campaign trail, and as the electoral totals are tallied, it becomes more and more evident that no one will accrue the coveted majority of 270 electoral votes. If this happens, who wins? Will the electoral system collapse? What is Congress’s role in certification, and how will congressional leaders behave with their unprecedented individual power?
Will the American experiment end?
About the Author
ANDREW YANG is the cofounder of the Forward Party, a new independent political movement dedicated to restoring the promise of American democracy. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 whose campaign outlasted over a dozen mainstream political officeholders and raised $40 million from hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, dubbed "the Yang Gang." His New York Times best-selling book The War on Normal People helped introduce the idea of universal basic income into the political mainstream, and his most recent book, Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy, became a national bestseller. Named by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship, he is the founder of Humanity Forward and Venture for America. He lives with his family in New York. The Last Election is his most recent work.
STEPHEN MARCHE is a novelist and essayist. He is the author of half a dozen books, including The Next Civil War, The Unmade Bed: The Messy Truth about Men and Women in the Twenty-First Century, and The Hunger of the Wolf. He has written opinion pieces and essays for the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Esquire, and many others. The Last Election is his most recent work.
Praise For…
Former Democratic presidential candidate Yang (The War on Normal People) teams up with novelist Marche (The Hunger of the Wolf) to craft a frighteningly plausible “what-if” scenario in this taut political thriller. Billionaire and Maverick Party presidential candidate Cooper Sherman is running on a platform that emphasizes universal basic income and ranked-choice voting. But as his insurgent campaign gains momentum, the entire system of American governance may be under threat: an anonymous source has shared audio on a New York Times tip line suggesting that high-ranking military leaders are planning a coup. The conspirators believe that the next presidential election could lead to chaos, with the Republican candidate winning an electoral college victory despite losing the popular vote by millions, and only the armed forces can avert bedlam. As Times reporter Martha Kass fights to get her editors to publish the story, and Cooper’s campaign manager, Mikey, wrestles with his boss’s potential complicity in the ensuing disorder, Yang and Marche masterfully ratchet the tension to near-unbearable levels. The outcome, in this worthy 21st-century update of the 1962 classic Seven Days in May, is just possible enough to give readers nightmares.
— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
The Last Election . . . makes a compelling argument that American democracy is in a perilous state and an urgent appeal that attention be paid and action be taken while there is still time.
— Reviewing the Evidence
The Last Election is really good. It provides a kind of backstage look at pieces of a political campaign and provides enough drama, danger and intrigue to keep you interested.
— BVS reviews
Andrew Yang and Stephen Marche have written a pulse-pounding, page turning thriller, but they’ve also crafted an excellent, elegant novel.
— Narrative Species
Andrew Yang is one of the most forward-thinking leaders in American politics. The Last Election is a high-stakes drama about a nation on the brink—and an explosive reminder that freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction. If life imitates art, then we should pay attention to Yang and Marche’s prophecy.
— Miles Taylor, New York Times best-selling author of A Warning
The Last Election is a turbo-charged page-turner that will have you on the edge of your seat—but it’s also a searing critique of our electoral system by someone who knows how the sausage is made.
— Amy Chua, author of Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations