The Coyotes of Carthage

A Novel

By: Steven Wright

Narrated by: Glenn Davis

“With this splendid debut, Steven Wright announces his arrival as a major new voice in the world of political thrillers. I enjoyed it immensely.” —John Grisham

A blistering and thrilling debut—a biting exploration of American politics, set in a small South Carolina town, about a political operative running a dark money campaign for his corporate clients

Dre Ross has one more shot. Despite being a successful political consultant, his aggressive tactics have put him on thin ice with his boss, Mrs. Fitz, who plucked him from juvenile incarceration and mentored his career. She exiles him to the backwoods of South Carolina with $250,000 of dark money to introduce a ballot initiative on behalf of a mining company. The goal: to manipulate the locals into voting to sell their pristine public land to the highest bidder.

Dre arrives in God-fearing, flag-waving Carthage County, with only Mrs. Fitz’s well-meaning yet naïve grandson Brendan as his team. Dre, an African-American outsider, can’t be the one to collect the signatures needed to get on the ballot. So he hires a blue-collar couple, Tyler Lee and his pious wife, Chalene, to act as the initiative’s public face.

Under Dre’s cynical direction, a land grab is disguised as a righteous fight for faith and liberty. As lines are crossed and lives ruined, Dre’s increasingly cutthroat campaign threatens the very soul of Carthage County and perhaps the last remnants of his own humanity.

A piercing portrait of our fragile democracy and one man’s unraveling, The Coyotes of Carthage paints a disturbingly real portrait of the American experiment in action.

The Dirty Underbelly of Dark Money and Astroturf Politics

We wonder all the time “why do so many Americans vote against their own best interests?” Well, read this book and get some insight into the answers to that question.

Dirty politics 101 & its psychotic players

This fictionalized narrative presents interesting characters and an intelligent but very confused protagonist who seems trapped in a nefarious role with a moral conundrum. I sadly hoped a person with his talent would have found a way to balance the need for success and self esteem.

Superb.

Hard edged. Cynical and funny and sad. In its way a satire about Washington, and ultimately a satire about democracy as such. At the same time the author does not condescend, even to those in the story who are clearly ill informed or are patsies.

Fake Democracy Wins

The Relevence to Black Lives Matter position on Confederate statues and memorials is eerie. The search for life's meaning and purpose striking. The fact that our Democracy is bought and sold to highest bidding Capitalist depicts the truth and shouts at us: In Greed we Trust. Racism, Greed, and the POWER OF THE Purse, age old themes, still dominate AMERIKA.

Pulling back the dark curtain of democracy

This novel gives drama, excitement and a real life journey into the shaping of local government and the isolation of man burdened by a lifetime of trauma.
I’ve listened to it three times. Steven Wright is wonderfully witty and cynical. Can’t wait for the next one.