One Hell of a Candidate traces the fate of Republican Congressman T. Claude "Buzzer" LeBrand who hails from the Sixth--an imaginary Southern district that has fallen on hard economic times. Poor Buzzer has barely survived his last election when videotape of him frolicking with bikini-clad bimbos in St. Kitts ends up on the evening news. And just as his political career lacks any sort of pulse, Buzzer has a heart attack in a D.C. Metro station, hits his head on the escalator, and falls into a coma. As Buzzer's life hangs in the balance, the machinations to fill his seat in Congress begin. A slew of politically hopeless characters emerge in the battle for Buzzer's seat. Among them are Bobby Diddie Ricky, a handsome black Democrat who is a former pro football star running on the largely inane "Team Concept." "Holy Joe" Wholey who believes the Ten Commandments should be amended into the Constitution. Bo Beaumont, owner/tyrant of Big Bo Stores and Republican kingpin. Susan Weinstein, a Jewish lebsian Marxist down from New York to teach the ignorant people of the Sixth what's best for them. And of course, Buzzer's wife Georgie, who if she can put down the bottle and remember the message, would make one hell of a candidate. If politics makes for strange bedfellows, then there's enough campaign craziness rolling around the steamy political Posturepedic of the South's Sixth District to suit even the most avid policy wonk and pundit. Buzzer LeBrand, the district's self-aggrandizing, do-nothing, know-it-all congressman, is scrambling for his political and personal life when a heart attack sends him collapsing to the street. When the subsequent knock to his noggin' renders him comatose, all the two-bit charlatans, holier-than-thou conservatives, and good ol' boys come crawling out of the woodwork to fill the void--including Buzzer's long-suffering wife, Georgie. For those who like their candidates crude and their politics pork barrel, Gavin, a former speechwriter for presidents Nixon and Reagan, bipartisanly lampoons both the right-wing religious and bleeding-heart liberal laughingstocks as politicians who are consistently on the take, on the make, and, most decidedly, fake. Gavin's on-the-mark observations, however, raise this political satire beyond stereotypical cliches to reveal "one helluva" colorful commentary on the state of the state. Carol Haggas Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved " One Hell of a Candidate is one heck of a fun read." -Christopher Buckley "One Hell of a Candidate is one heck of a fun read." (Christopher Buckley) Politics is always about something else... "Bill Gavin is one of America's shrewdest and funniest political observers. His novel is a work of comic genius and originality. Brilliantly conceived, maliciously observed and masterfully written, his story will by turns instruct, amuse, and above all, delight you. Think Machiavelli meets the Marx Brothers. Don't wait for the blockbuster movie. Read it now." -Richard J. Whalen, author of The Founding Father: The Story of Joseph P. Kennedy William F. Gavin is a former speechwriter for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. For eighteen years he was a senior aide to former House Minority Leader Robert Michel. He lives in McLean, Virginia. One Hell of a Candidate is his first novel.