Customer Reviews

Dark Horse

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Eddie Quinn, Commissioner of the New Jersey Turnpike, is made Presidential candidate after no one in the power bloc ruling the party can come up with another agreeable person to all factions within it, and shakes the United States from pillar to post in a refreshing populistic campaign to give all people a "fair shake" in Washington, DC.

At times dramatic, humorous, and hard-hitting, it's a book to read if you like a political thrillers.

Dark Horse by Fletcher Knebel is a tongue-in-cheek political novel from the early 1970s. Three weeks before the general election, the Republican nominee for President dies suddenly. Party leaders select an obscure Turnpike Commissioner from NJ by the name of Eddie Quinn to replace him. Their rationale is that even though Quinn has no chance of winning, his blue collar, populist appeal will help Republican down ballot office seekers even as the White House is ceded to the opposition. Much to their chagrin, Mr. Quinn exhibits an unexpected independent streak and starts running a campaign that repudiates his "fat cat" benefactors and promises the working class a fair shake. Voters find Eddie Quinn's candor and independence refreshing and the polls show his rapid ascension from dark horse to genuine contender.
Much of Dark Horse's take on Republican politics at the national level rings very true today. The one notable exception to that statement is that the novel makes no mention of the religious right and its profound influence on the party's policies.
Dark Horse is a well written, surprisingly prescient, mini-potboiler of a political novel. Highly recommended.