The Last Election

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. Agents: (for Yang) David Larabell, CAA; (for Marche) P.J. Mark, Janklow, Nesbit & Assoc. (Sept.)