Twenty five multi national corporations form an offshore political action group to subvert the American Constitution into a "corporate state." They fear partisanship and woeful incompetance in Washington and believe the people don't care. One powerful man organizes opposition to reverse the political decomposition and informs the people of the truth and reality versus the perceptions used to delude them.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
An author (and his publisher) with a political message debut with this massive, ponderous novel. A foreign-run business cartel is bent on buying the presidency, manipulating Congress and reshaping the Constitution, but the patriotic fervor of one American magnate, who backs his own presidential candidate, launches a counterattack. In this battle between opposing think tanks, idealistic CEO Ian MacAuliffe is wooed by fellow executive Ward Cowell to join PolacoAa group that bribes, tricks and even murders to elect candidates who will remove government regulations and all barriers to profit-making. Ian goes double agent, giving $45 million to Polaco while he secretly plays kingmaker to Adrian Daggett, patriot, businessman and ex-governor of Illinois. Daggett runs a tough love, "reality" campaign, in contrast with Polaco's "perception" agenda of smear tactics, negative ads and poll-generated reassurance. Balcar posits business acumen as the savior of the system and business greed as the main threat to freedom. Powerful women figure ubiquitously in high-level roles in the military, politics and business, giving an optimistic, if unrealistic, feminist twist to what is in reality a mostly male dominion. Every major character's love life is vigorously depicted, each enjoying a balanced spread of romance and lust. First in a proposed trilogy that claims it will stress the need to elect functional, productive government that serves the people instead of special interest groups, this book's insistent message, dense prose, painfully excessive detail and unwieldy cast of characters amount to a long harangue rather than a literary experience. 40,000 first printing. (Oct.) FYI: Olin Frederick is a new publisher whose aim is to issue books that confront the Washington political establishment with the "truth" about public issues.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"...a fascinating story involving massive amounts of money of two cleverly directed schemes... to capture the highest office in the land. As the plot unfolds, some will find themselves wondering if it isn't exactly the kind of thing that could happen. For those who enjoyed Seven Days in May and The Manchurian Candidate, Balcar's book promises to be an engaging read." -- The Honorable James C. Wright, Jr. Former Majority Leader and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Consent of the Governed is an ingenious and fast moving read. Gerry Balcar's thesis that a group of business... could work together clandestinely, backed by substantial funds, to change the present democratic system (to) establish a corporate state is believable... The characters are well drawn... with Gerry arguing through them for "reality" and against "perceptions"... The run up to the result of the Presidential election is a cliff-hanger." (Sir Keith Speed, RD, DL (Great Britain) Member of Parliament, Government Whip, Naval Minister and Chief Delegate to the Council of Europe) --
"Gerry Balcar's novel Consent of the Governed is an original blend of political thriller with a more serious study of the American political system. He achieves this savory stew by putting realistic and intersting characters into a confrontation which involves many of the key political issues of our time. I found this novel both thought provoking and entertaining. It kept me in suspense as to the outcome right to the end." -- Ralph K. Wood, Esq. Gersen, Wood and Blakeman, New York
"Consent of the Governed is an ingenious and fast moving read. Gerry Balcar's thesis that a group of business... could work together clandestinely, backed by substantial funds, to change the present democratic system (to) establish a corporate state is believable... The characters are well drawn... with Gerry arguing through them for "reality" and against "perceptions"... The run up to the result of the Presidential election is a cliff-hanger." (Sir Keith Speed, RD, DL (Great Britain) Member of Parliament, Government Whip, Naval Minister and Chief Delegate to the Council of Europe) --
"Gerry Balcar's novel Consent of the Governed is an original blend of political thriller with a more serious study of the American political system. He achieves this savory stew by putting realistic and intersting characters into a confrontation which involves many of the key political issues of our time. I found this novel both thought provoking and entertaining. It kept me in suspense as to the outcome right to the end." -- Ralph K. Wood, Esq. Gersen, Wood and Blakeman, New York
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting concept - in need of an editor,
By A Customer
This review is from: Consent of the Governed: A Political Novel of High Intrigue and Conflict (Hardcover)
Despite the heavy-handed presentation of political ideas, 700+ pages, and numerous punctuation and grammatical errors, this book will be interesting to the hard core political junkies. The story follows the Presidential campaign from behind the scenes with plenty of insights into a candidate's message development, advertising, and events planning. Character development is not the point here, it's the politics and the message that politicians and American citizens need to deal honestly and more realistically with the range of complex issues we face, from our role in the world to health care, education, and the national debt. If someone had edited this book to tone down the blatant "good guy" vs. "bad guy" presentation, the book's appeal would be much broader. As is, not many will want to bother.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating reading in 2010,
By
This review is from: Consent of the Governed: A Political Novel of High Intrigue and Conflict (Hardcover)
The most fascinating part of this book is that Gerry Balcar wrote this in 2000 and yet, ten years later in 2010, I found it to be incredibly relevant to the current political goings on in the country. It's amazing that he describes Nationalize Health Care and the way it was perceived is pretty much the same way it is perceived now. The same with many other topics. Don't be put off by the length of the book. If you are interested in politics I would strongly recommend reading it.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Worst book ever!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Consent of the Governed: A Political Novel of High Intrigue and Conflict (Hardcover)
I had high expectations, as this is just the type of book I love to read. What a terrible disappointment to find it is the most poorly written, poorly edited book I think I have ever picked up. I had a hard time making it through the prologue, but persevered thinking that maybe he had had his dog write that part. However, the first chapter was no better, and I could not bring myself to even finish that! 700+ pages of writing so disjointed and child-like that it was actually painful to try to read. I finally took it to a used book exchange, although I felt a bit guilty doing so, as I'd hate to have someone else go through the same disappointment.
I notified the seller, as a warning that they would probably get return requests for anyone else ordering this book, but I received no response from them (I did not specifically request a response). In short: do not waste your time or money!
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