Election Dance
Joseph Hart
Matthew Bartels, a brilliant, idealistic 37-year-old math teacher, is asked to participate as a keynote speaker in a seminar on sustainable growth to achieve better governance after the upcoming elections. This leads to his joining a political party to realize his vision. He discovers that politics and crime are closely linked and concentrated in the evil genius of’ ’The Voice’, who is building a drug empire. As the pressure of work, politics and character assassination builds, Matthew relives his childhood horrors via his nightmares and the reader learns about his traumatic youth. Throughout the novel the love relationship and the …
Matthew Bartels, a brilliant, idealistic 37-year-old math teacher, is asked to participate as a keynote speaker in a seminar on sustainable growth to achieve better governance after the upcoming elections. This leads to his joining a political party to realize his vision. He discovers that politics and crime are closely linked and concentrated in the evil genius of’ ’The Voice’, who is building a drug empire. As the pressure of work, politics and character assassination builds, Matthew relives his childhood horrors via his nightmares and the reader learns about his traumatic youth. Throughout the novel the love relationship and the political & criminal plot lines are inextricably linked, and contribute to Matthew’s unraveling. The characters are all in the grip of the upcoming elections and dance to its rhythm, each in his own way, weaving an intricate and spellbinding choreography of human desires, ambitions, greed, love, passion, sacrifice and idealism. ‘Election Dance’ is a realistic, literary narco thriller, as well as an erotic and psychological novel, depicting real life situations and taboos within the context of Curaçao’s social-historical and cultural setting and holds up a mirror to modern society. But Matthew learns there is a price to pay when entering politics. His background is attacked by the media and demons of his past are resurrected. The attacks are instigated by Manny Contreras, 'The Voice,' whose goal is to turn Curaçao into an import-export hub of Colombian drugs for Europe and the U.S. The political campaign becomes ugly and ruins his love relationship. His private life and politics are inextricably linked, contributing to Matthew’s unraveling. As 'The Voice' does all he can to neutralize Matthew’s popularity, Matthew works with the police to end Manny’s drug career, even at great personal cost. Almost in the manner of Balzac, Joseph Hart presents a cross-section of Curaçao, from the most wretched and impoverished of its citizens to the most powerful and corrupt of its politicians. He is unflinching in his description whether of love
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