AustLit

'John Green's novel Born to Run is styled as a political thriller with a very contemporary theme. It concerns a run at the White House by a female candidate - a Republican in this case - who is blindsided by a series of events that threaten to destroy her credibility and derail the campaign. Green's protagonist - Isabel Diaz - has the Party's nomination and is charging towards the finish line when the story opens. The presidential nominee is well-crafted as a highly intelligent super-achiever caught in complex family circumstances with a dark secret from her childhood that she desperately seeks to hide. The threats to her campaign include a rogue supporter redirecting campaign funds and a bizarre terror plot engineered by a group of ninja-like assassins operating in a high-tech shadow world.' (Introduction)