Synopsis

TOBEY GRACE-A HANDSOME AND CHARISMATIC senator from Ohio—is plunged by an act of “terrorism into a fierce presidential primary battle with the favorite of the party establishment and a magnetic leader of the Christian right. A decorated Gulf War pilot, Grace insists on voting his own conscience rather than the party line, and this stubborn independence—together with his growing romance with Lexie Hart, an African-American movie star—has earned him a reputation as an unpredictable iconoclast. But Grace is still haunted by a tragic mistake buried deep in his past, and now his integrity will be put to the test in this most brutal of political contests, in which nothing in his past or present life is off-limits. A vivid and sometimes frightening depiction of contemporary power politics, The Race also takes on the most incendiary issues in American culture: racism, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, gay rights, and the rise of media monopolies with their own agendas and lust for power. As the pressure of the campaign intensifies, Grace encounters betrayal, excruciating moral choices, and secrets that can destroy lives. Ultimately, the race leads to a deadlocked party convention where Grace must resolve the conflict between his feelings for Lexie and his presidential ambitions—and decide just who and what he is willing to sacrifice. As compelling as it is timely, The Race is the best political novel in years.

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