There is a particular kind of novel that does not simply tell a story but drops a match into the dry brush of your assumptions about how the world works. A Real Collusion by Stu Strumwasser is precisely that kind of book. Set against the backdrop of a deeply fractured American political landscape, this novel follows the improbable rise of John Campbell, a regular guy from the Lower East Side of Manhattan who accidentally ignites a grassroots political movement that threatens to upend the entire two-party system. What begins as a squabble at a community board meeting evolves into one of the most gripping fictional political narratives in recent memory, complete with conspiracy, murder, and the kind of enduring friendship that keeps you turning pages long past midnight.
Strumwasser, whose previous novel The Organ Broker was shortlisted for the prestigious Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing and earned praise from bestselling author Lee Child, proves once again that he has a rare gift for weaving suspense into the fabric of deeply human stories. With A Real Collusion, he goes bigger, bolder, and more politically charged, delivering a narrative that reads like a thriller but resonates like a warning.
The Accidental Revolutionary and His Reluctant Campaign Manager
The novel is narrated by Skip Winters, John Campbell’s college friend turned campaign manager turned congressman in his own right. Skip’s voice is what anchors the entire book. He is self-aware, occasionally self-deprecating, and achingly honest about his own motivations. When he admits early on that he wanted to matter more than he wanted to change the world, Strumwasser establishes a narrator who earns your trust through vulnerability rather than virtue.
John Campbell himself is one of the most compelling protagonists in contemporary political fiction. He is not a polished politician or a billionaire maverick. He is a man carrying grief, shaped by the loss of his twin brother in childhood and the devastating death of his wife Catherine. When he stands up at that fateful community board meeting and says, “I object to you… to this committee… to this whole process,” you understand immediately that this is not performance. It is a man who has simply had enough. The American Coalition that grows from this moment, swelling from two members to over a million, feels both fantastical and entirely plausible, which is the genius of Strumwasser’s storytelling.
A Conspiracy That Operates in the Silence Between Parties
The thriller dimension of A Real Collusion by Stu Strumwasser emerges through the shadowy presence of the Bi-Partisan Committee on Logistics, an organization that officially does not exist. The BCL represents the novel’s most provocative idea: that the real collusion in American politics is not between a party and a foreign power but between the two major parties themselves, working in secret coordination to preserve their shared grip on the system.
What makes this conspiracy so effective as a narrative device is its restraint. Strumwasser does not paint the BCL as a cartoonish cabal. Instead, its operatives are lobbyists, attorneys, and political fixers who meet in basement bars where cellphone signals cannot penetrate. They commission smear campaigns. They manipulate media narratives. And when softer tactics fail, the consequences become far more sinister. The novel builds this tension masterfully, revealing the conspiracy layer by layer through Skip’s dogged investigation and his haunting visits to a convicted shooter imprisoned at Sing Sing.
What Makes the BCL Concept Work So Well
- It mirrors real structural advantages the two-party system has codified, such as debate access thresholds and ballot access barriers
- The conspirators are not ideologues but pragmatists protecting institutional power, making them feel disturbingly realistic
- The gradual revelation through multiple unreliable sources, from a jailed fanatic to a cynical private investigator, keeps the reader questioning what is true alongside the narrator
- It functions as both a literal plot mechanism and a metaphor for the systemic forces that resist political reform
Satire With a Beating Heart
One of the most impressive achievements of A Real Collusion by Stu Strumwasser is its tonal balance. The novel operates simultaneously as a political satire, a conspiracy thriller, and a deeply felt story about friendship and loss. John Campbell’s speeches are laced with humor and warmth. His observation that Congress members have forgotten they are all on the same team, likening them to a football offense and defense trying to kill each other in practice, is both funny and devastating. The novel sprinkles in references to real political figures and events, from Trump’s party switches to John McCain’s open letter joining the Coalition, creating an alternate reality that feels like it is happening just one degree removed from our own.
Strumwasser also displays remarkable skill with supporting characters. Tess, the woman who helps bring John back to life after years of grief, is written with intelligence and independence. Al Harmon, the disheveled New York Times reporter who becomes the movement’s unlikely defender, provides some of the novel’s most satisfying moments of journalistic integrity cutting through political noise.
Craft and Structure: A Narrator Telling His Own Story
The novel is structured as Skip’s written account of the American Coalition’s rise and fall, essentially a memoir within a fiction, and this framing device works beautifully. It allows Strumwasser to shift between timeframes with natural ease, pulling the reader from the movement’s scrappy beginnings through to its collision with forces far more powerful than anyone anticipated. Skip’s occasional direct addresses to the reader feel conversational rather than gimmicky.
Core Themes Explored Through the Narrative
- The tension between idealism and institutional power — John’s belief that nobility alone should be motivation enough for change is tested repeatedly against a system designed to crush exactly that kind of thinking
- Grief as both paralysis and catalyst — The losses that shaped John, from his brother to his wife, are not merely backstory but active forces driving his choices and his eventual withdrawal
- Loyalty and its costs — Skip’s unwavering commitment to John and the movement costs him personally and professionally, raising questions about where duty ends and self-preservation begins
- The fragility of democratic ideals — The novel argues that democracy is not a permanent state but something that requires active defense against those who would quietly hollow it out from within
Where This Book Sits in the Literary Landscape
Strumwasser’s novel joins a tradition of political fiction that uses speculative scenarios to illuminate present realities. Readers who appreciated the institutional intrigue of Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent, the conspiratorial depth of John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, or the satirical edge of Christopher Buckley’s Thank You for Smoking will find much to admire here. The novel also shares DNA with Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men in its exploration of how ordinary people become swept up in extraordinary circumstances.
Similar Books Readers May Enjoy
- The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon — for its blend of political conspiracy and psychological tension
- Primary Colors by Anonymous (Joe Klein) — for its insider portrait of an American political campaign
- The Plot Against America by Philip Roth — for its alternate political history rooted in recognizable reality
- All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward — for its investigative unraveling of political corruption
- The Organ Broker by Stu Strumwasser — the author’s Hammett Prize-shortlisted debut, for readers wanting more of his distinctive voice
- Dark Money by Jane Mayer — non-fiction, for readers wanting to explore the real-world dynamics of money and political influence
Final Verdict: A Thriller That Trusts Its Readers
What elevates A Real Collusion by Stu Strumwasser above standard political thrillers is its refusal to simplify. The novel does not offer easy heroes or clean resolutions. John Campbell is inspiring but also wounded, and his departure from the movement is heartbreaking precisely because it makes sense. Skip Winters is loyal and brave but also driven by ego and guilt in equal measure. The conspiracy at the novel’s center is terrifying not because it is fantastical but because it feels like the logical extension of systems we already tolerate.
A Real Collusion is a novel that respects its readers enough to leave them unsettled. It asks you to consider whether the political dysfunction you see every day might be not a bug but a feature, maintained by people who benefit from the chaos they publicly decry. And it wraps that provocation inside a story about two friends from New York who, for a brief and blazing moment, made the powerful afraid. That combination of big ideas and intimate storytelling makes this book not just a compelling read but an important one.
