I really enjoyed this witty, fast paced political novel. Based in fiction, Steve Israel, a seasoned long time congressman, spins out a fantastic, entertaining series of events. This story is full of plays for power and influence, manipulating the media, and very unexpected outcomes. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the e-reader copy for my review. All opinions are my own.

"Former Long Island Congressman, Steve Israel has firsthand knowledge of the cynicism and corruption at the heart of our political system. Big Guns will make you laugh, will make you angry, and will make you think as you flip the pages faster and faster to find out what happens next.."

Unfortunately not for me - just could not get into the story, and barely made it to 20 pages. Didn't even both to skip to the end. Put it down, metaphorically speaking, and promptly forgot all about it.

BIG GUNS by former Congressman Steve Israel is a new novel which received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. Once again (his previous novel is The Global War on Morris, 2014), Israel offers astute political satire in this very funny yet also very sad exploration of dysfunctional government and the influence of lobbyists. The mayor of Chicago, fed up with gun violence, works to ban guns and a manufacturer, Otis Cogsworth, decides that the best defense is an out of the box offense: a new law requiring everyone in America to own guns. I laughed aloud at parts of this book, but also found the subject matter a little too timely, making it difficult to keep reading. School safety is not an issue we should find humorous or blithely ignore; we do need to encourage voter registration, education and voting participation. To learn more about efforts by young people, see Rock the Vote! [ https://www.rockthevote.org/ ] and other groups.
3.5 stars

Steve Israel spent 16 years in the US House of Representatives, plus being the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. To say that he is acquainted with the political process would be a gross understatement. To say that he unfamiliar with the lures of the lobby process would be equally ridiculous. To say that he has created a story promulgating the best defense is a strong, obscure offense would be to simplify the storyline of his new book, Big Guns, A Novel. Israel has chosen the very timely topic of gun violence and translated it into a civics lesson on how not to accomplish anything in all branches of our government.

A long time ago there was a subject taught in American Schools called Social Studies. That subject has been largely lost basically guaranteeing that young American students never have to take a course in the basics of their government. In place of Social Studies this books should be required reading for graduation from High School. It might just begin to explain the incredibly ridiculous and corrupt workings of our government, how things are done, how deals are made and the resultant insanity. Oh, you want to remind me that this book is a work of fiction, maybe, but probably it is closer to truth.

Funny in places, outrageous in others, Israel has political satire as a weapon in his back pocket and from the ending it appears that he will be reprising this theme.

Thank You NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC

Steve Israel served in the U.S. congress from 2001 to 2017, representing a district primarily in Long Island, New York. So he knows the ways of Washington power broking, and has a great sense of humor about the quirks and habits of lawmaking and lawmakers. His new novel Big Guns is hilarious and timely.



With gun violence in Chicago getting out of control, the mayor creates the Chicago Compact, a pledge to ban guns and ammunition and to divest from gun company stocks. Other cities pick up the theme, leading to backlash and bitter divisions around the country. How will the gun lobby respond? In the interest of Americans' safety, they get their congressional enablers to introduce a bill requiring that all Americans be armed. (One has to be impressed with his timing. Given the date of release of Big Guns, it was complete and at the printer well before the Florida school shooting and subsequent public debates.)



This national debate comes to a head in the tiny village of Asabogue, on Long Island. This is the home of Otis Cogsworth, whose family business is one of the largest gun manufacturers, Jack Steele, a movie star whose action films reflect his love of guns, and Lois Leibowitz, the spunky activist mayor who proposes that Asabogue embrace the Chicago Compact. By the way, Lois's daughter Sunny happens to be a gun lobbyist and the driving force behind the proposal to arm every American. The nation's eyes and ears focus on the mayoral election showdown between Steele and Lois. Hilarity ensues.



Israel combines his realistic descriptions of lobbying and the lawmaking process with crazy caricatures of people in government, the media, entertainment, and activism. Their madcap activities and ill-conceived plans make a larger point about the way things work in government and society. As Sunny had observed in her work as a lobbyist, partisanship isn't the driving force in Washington, but ego. Democrats and Republicans are "all members of the 'Me' Party, with love of country but greater love of self." And the vaunted ideals on which people get elected quickly take a back seat; "the world was shaped by brute power, not the power of ideals."



Israel's politics are ultimately pretty clear, but he skewers all sides of the gun debate and the political world. Big Guns is laugh-out-loud funny no matter what your political leanings. In my opinion, we need more writers like Israel, who survived in the belly of the beast and come away from his experience with enough good humor and good will left that he can share his insights, cynicism, and lessons with the rest of us.







Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Former Congressman Steve Israel takes on the gun issue in this satirical novel of American politics. Could he be any more prescient? Amusing laugh out loud moments are poignantly reflective of the current state of our country and our government. Should be required reading in all civics classes…except we really don’t have civics classes any more, do we?

With the satirical novel, Big Guns, former Congressman Steve Israel attempts to enter Christopher Buckley territory. When the Chicago Mayor wants to ban all guns, a sympathetic mayor of Asabogue, a Long Island summer town, chooses to join him. Unfortunately this little town is also the residence of a major gun manufacturer who is one of the NRA’s biggest proponents. Further complicating the story is a publicist with unique ties to the mayor and the gun maker. No one is going to take up a non-gun policy, without a fight. This includes local anarchists, malcontents, faded movie stars and ambitious legislators. Then there are a slew of acronym organizations on both sides championing their causes. Logic is cast aside in favor of winning….which varies according to who has the ear of a rabid media. Israel’s observations are witty, amusing and with grains of truth. But given the current situation, it is hard to satirize the satiric dramas that already surround any progress towards gun policies. Often readers will find the humor here cringe-worthy even as they laugh aloud.

The best thing I can say about Steve Israel's new novel "Big Guns" is that it's timely. Guns and gun violence plague our country. But making the gun issue into a laugh riot just doesn't happen in this book. I'm giving it three stars because Israel tries. He makes an effort, albeit one dripping sarcasm, to address the issue of gun violence and the Second Amendment. His writing is okay. His humor is predictable Liberal blah-blah. His plot is decent. His outcome was seen 100 pages in.
Basically, I believe the issue of guns in America needs to be treated with more thought, more dignity, and less type casting. Keep trying, Steve.

Big Guns by Steve Israel is big fun. Mr. Israel writes what he knows. Politics, money, deals, back-room brawls and promises, most of which are bought and paid for with taxpayer money.
Here we find a novice southern congressman in search of popularity and political currency. What better way than to legislate your way to fame by requiring that all Americans be armed? As you wend your way through this extremely funny and topical satire you cry as much as you laugh. Because Big Guns is dead on perfect. The characters are comical and believable, and the pot they stir is reflective of today’s Washington. Along the way, we meet the star of the show, a vivacious and pretty D.C. lobbyist, whose only desire is to increase her income and her reputation, by any means necessary. Throw in a leftist mayor from the Gold Coast of New York and her agenda and you end up with a tremendously funny, cogent, and marvelous read. You win my vote, Mr. Israel.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Steve Israel really wants to be friends with Christopher Buckley. He's written a very Buckley-esque political farce regarding our broken political system and the gun control debate. He knows of what he writes - Israel is a former Democratic Congressman - and he ably skewers both sides, though the reader has no doubt which garners more of his sympathy. There are laugh out loud funny lines in this book, and his characters often combine recognizable traits of real people. My only real quibble with the book is a lack of context for the motivation of a main character - why she suddenly had a change of heart. But I'm not necessarily looking for a lot of depth and complexity in a book like this. i enjoyed it, even if it painfully in parts, for what it was - an all too plausible fictional look at the dirty intersection of politics, money, ambition, greed, and "culture war" issues - served with a side of humor to make it a tad more palatable. The timeliness of this read after the Parkland, FL school shooting made it that much more urgent but discouraging.

Swiftian political satire of our nation’s obsession with guns and the NRA’s stranglehold on American politics. With characters from across the political,spectrum and from local to national politics the book skewers everyone chasing after aNRAmdllars and offers a stinging indictment of corporate politics. Israel’ congressional experience informs every page fthe book and makes for a funny, insider’s view of our dysfunctional politic.

Another thought provoking political satire from former Congressman Steve Israel. When a gun company is criticized for disturbing weapons to a Chicago full of civil unrest, D.C. lobbyist Sunny McCarthy has to put a positive spin on their image. What follows is a tongue and cheek tale of political wonders and woe. I laughed and cringed as I read this book. Israel makes light of the tangled web of law making in America, and hopefully educates a few Americans along the way.

Everyone should read this book (mostly because everyone should be exposed to opposing opinions--if only to better understand their own--and how to argue for it--as well as how to understand the other side.) We all need to do more listening and less talking (although this book will make you more angry than anything else.
A little too close to reality!

Fun concept, but so over-the-top that it wasn't fun to read.

Talk about a timely book! One city bans guns, and in reaction, a congressman introduces a bill to require all citizens to own a gun. Israel covers the absolute insanity of both sides of the gun control debate, the incredible dysfunction of our government, and the people caught in the middle. All while delivering a highly readable and enjoyable story. The novel moves along rapidly, sucking you in the whole way. I can't wait for the next installment, but I understand that the issue is still developing, and no one can yet know what strange twists and turns will be taken. This book should be required reading for all American citizens, both pro gun, anti gun, and those who have no opinion. It probably won't change anyone's core beliefs, but it would sure be helpful to be able to at least realize that there is more than one side to the story. Highly recommend!