Political Fiction

Political fiction describes an “exciting and provocative” new novel, Black Sheep, from author Robert Covelli.

What happens when progressives, businessmen and politicians confront established criminals over ideals? This novel, Black Sheep, tells that story, following a change of power in the Rust Belt city, Buffalo NY. An agent called it “exciting and provocative”. One editor said it’s “expert”; another opined, “Black Sheep is one of the strongest manuscripts I’ve seen.”

From the author: In this new political fiction novel, I started writing a mystery but soon wearied of the lowlifes in whose activities I'd immersed myself. Then I wondered why they were so unattractive, whether their lives didn't reflect American history in ways that weren't attractive, either. At that point, I had to integrate two stories. Let me summarize the action and themes of my novel.

Black Sheep follows a change of power in the Rust Belt city of Buffalo NY. Visionaries start a manufacturing venture, building hybrid cars, precisely when the Democratic Party nominates a progressive as its candidate for mayor. The local crime family takes a spirited interest in new money town at the very moment that a younger crew of criminals decides to unseat that particularly established family.

My hero is the son of the first member of that family to abandon the life of crime. My hero's dad foresaw how much corporations would change America, and he pursued economics at the university (now SUNY Buffalo) in the 60s. There, he met my hero's mom, a black woman, social psychologist and comrade in the struggles of that wild hour. As a result, my hero understands the general contours of what's happening in Buffalo in the present; he seeks to discover the specifics, somehow curb what's bad and support and profit from what's good. At the same time, the younger crew of criminals is fresh out of prison, the products of economic policies of the 80s that left cities like Buffalo forsaken and jobless. Their appearance hardly shocks my hero. Indeed, my hero reads quite a bit and listens to a lot of Bach.

Excerpts from the new political fiction novel, Black Sheep:

“Which part of this escapes you, Mallory? We’re destroying what protects us. Forests and oceans. The air we breathe! We’re destroying ourselves. What we’re proposing to you is your future.” He grew solemn. “Why is this amusing? Buffalo was beautiful, once,” he said … and Mallory listened.

“These men?” Carlo said, gesturing at the mobsters in the room. “They know the life. I love these guys. They suffered together and stuck together.” Then he smiled. “Well, most o’ the time. Til something rotted. This country changed,” he muttered, absorbing sunlight. “We was thieved by television.”

“Government cut aid to cities,” Andrew said “Corporations abandoned us. Steel glutted the market, and service co-opted labor. So what?” Sincere all of a sudden, his tone scared him. He was plaintive and open, therefore vulnerable. Was this Andrew Ross talking? Years of hurt were escaping his guard. Three decades of despair were slipping past him, which confused him. Then he cried, “I want to take back my city!”

Keywords: urban romance, romantic drama, class struggle, racial drama, people power, integrating politics, solving crime, better cities, progressive change, economic impact, economic drama, progressive fiction, urban story, literary fiction

Read the sample: Chapter One - 200 KB PDF file - requires

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