The Legacy of Haguesville

Book excerpt: The Legacy of Haguesville is a satirical look at the rough and tumble world of local government, politics and the inner workings of campaigns as seen through a mythical election for a Congressional seat in New Jersey in 2002. It is laced with historical fiction from the late 1960s and early 1970s taken from the exploits of the Hudson County Political Machine; an organization that in its heyday rivaled Cook County Chicago as the most ruthless and well oiled political operation in America. It is also the story of redemption for a fallen political figure trying to right the wrongs from his past by backing the efforts of Joe Davis, a 1,000 to a shot Rocky type candidate who finds the courage to take on the entrenched twelve term Congressman Benjamin Dover, who runs Hudson City with an iron fist. After stumbling upon an unaddressed environmental hazard (and with a bit of divine inspiration) the upstart candidate has a punchers chance to pull off a political upset for the ages. His hopes though rest in the hands of a fourteen year old protg, a Bible thumping African-American woman from the Projects, a radical left wing Councilwoman and an eighty year old mystery man.