Representational democracy in America is under imminent threat from the triumvirate of government, media and corporate hegemony – this is the premise of Corby Griffin’s political thriller, FREEDOM FIRST: A Novel of the Next American Revolution. Set in the near future, it tells the story of a latter-day Thomas Paine who rises from obscure slackerdom to the leadership of a political revolution that promises to change the status quo of politics, business and freedom of the press in America forever.
In a world beset by the after-effects of corrupt wars marketed by corrupt politicians, Jason Andrew McMurphy dreams of revitalizing America’s democracy. While traveling in Asia he has written a book of political essays calling for the radical restructuring of everything from America’s form of political campaigning to its criminal justice, welfare and education systems, national defense, and even freedom of the press.
The novel opens with Jason catching a flight back to the U.S. from Asia to sell his book. His plane is taken over by a group of hijackers, but Jason grittily fights back and leads the passengers in recapturing the plane. Once back on the ground, he finds himself in the media spotlight, a sudden hero, and uses the limelight at first to pitch his book of essays, and then later to start up a whole new political party.
To Jason’s surprised delight, his views find fertile soil amongst America’s cynical citizenry. As his ideas catch on, however, those in power begin to fight back – in increasingly nasty ways. Set against a backdrop of an America riven by years of political and corporate scandals, FREEDOM FIRST is a tale of a nation in crisis rising to the challenge of redefining itself. It is also a tale of individual bravery and cowardice, wisdom and naïveté, idealism and pragmatism, treachery and sacrifice. Amidst assassinations, recriminations, riots and redemptions, Jason – and the American people – learn the value of both tradition and innovation in politics. By the novel’s end, nothing and nobody in America is the same.
