Review: First rate political fiction... or is it fiction?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2011
Overall: 5 starsPlot/Storyline: 5 starsJace Kingman, a drug dealer in LA, decided one day that he needed a career change. Looking down the barrels of a couple of AK-47s made that decision a no-brainer. Dan Vienna, a cop in a small California city, was seriously injured, and the city had begun the termination process to fire him. As unlikely as it would seem, the two men's paths would soon cross in a tangled web of election fraud, illegal aliens, live internet porn, computer hackers, the Russian Mafia, and white slavery, all played out against a backdrop of Los Angeles and its criminal underworld.And as improbable and farfetched as that may sound, I have little doubt that most of the fictional elements of the story have actually occurred sometime, somewhere in this country. What linked Jace and Dan in the story was a type of voting fraud using "cemetery voters," that is, having people impersonate registered voters who were dead and buried. As the story progressed, more and more people were involved, and it became almost inevitable that Jace and Dan would meet. How they reacted to each other would determine the outcome in what appeared would be a "zero sum" result in game theory; i.e., one would win at the other's expense.As convoluted as the plot might sound, the story could have gotten murky and twisted, but it didn't. The story, as involved as it was, was easy to follow, and it was very enjoyable reading as Jace and Dan's lives converged on a collision course.The story was also a revealing - and probably realistic - look at modern politics and the lengths that candidates will go to in order to win elections.Character Development: 5 starsJace and Dan were the two primary protagonists. Both were sympathetic characters, despite their flaws. But what really made the book work were the supporting characters. Vic and Tic Mercato, twin brothers who were brilliant computer hackers, were there for comic relief, but their technical skills were invaluable to Dan. El Guapo was Jace's former drug-dealing boss who still menaced Jace, and he wasn't shy about using superior firepower to get what he wanted (and sometimes all he wanted were some tasty ribs!). But perhaps the most memorable character was the mysterious beauty named Copa, who had dreams of being an internet porn queen. Was Copa her real name, and was she really a southern belle, or was she someone else entirely?Writing style: 5 starsThe third-person narration was appropriate and effective for a story with two protagonists - Jace and Dan. Dialogues were well written and were interspersed with just the right amount of humor to balance the grittier parts. Descriptions of people and places were good enough to give a vivid look at modern-day southern California, although the story itself could have been set in just about any large metropolitan area in the U.S.The Cemetery Vote is a novel with 4,742 Kindle locations. Lending and text-to-speech are enabled. I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.