The GQ Candidate

Though Huffington Post political commentator Goff's debut novel has the makings of juicy political chick lit%E2%80%94a hunky presidential candidate, his inner circle of high-profile friends, and scandal%E2%80%94it crumbles from a painfully slow pace and perfunctory prose. A wink-wink take on the political ascent of Barack Obama, Goff's tale pits Luke Cooper, the African-American and, by adoption, Jewish, governor of Michigan against Abigail Sanchez Beaman, governor of Pennsylvania, in the Democratic primary race for president. Though Luke has it all%E2%80%94a stunning wife, kids, and success%E2%80%94he begins to lose sight of his family as he reaches for the top, and all the glitz and attention pushes his wife, Laura, to reconsider her commitment to the campaign; "...as candidate for First Lady of the United States she now had a new host of aides and advisors, many of whom seemed to be under the impression that she worked for them, not the other way around." Goff's behind-the-scenes glimpse of the mechanics of a political campaign is canned, bloated, and staffed with cookie-cutter characters going through the motions of a superficial plot. Just as the title suggests, this is only skin deep. (July)