Warning: The Candidates: Based on a True Country is not for the faint of heart.

It is a political satire of epic disproportion. The story centers on Skip LaDouche and Harry Pinko, the two front-runners campaigning for the presidency of the United States, who have managed to claw, bribe, and scam their way up the political ladder. They are what we’ve come to expect from our leaders: self-serving and unqualified.

When Kimmy Faimwhorre, the reality television star that they are both having an affair with, turns up murdered, the candidates take campaigning to its most primal form . . . complete and total destruction of the opposition. 

Nothing is sacred in this violently comic short novel from Matthew S. Hiley. His wit is sharp and quick, and this story is dark, cynical, and hilarious. Politics-as-usual and pop-culture are thoroughly skewered in one of the most absurd and entertaining stories ever told.