The Mirror Maze is James Hogan’s latest novel. Hogan began his writing career in science fiction, but this and his last novel (Endgame Enigma) are Cold War suspense stories set in the near future, based on High Frontier (space stations and SDI) technology.

The cover of this Bantam paperback shows a missile heading towards the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. But Washington faces something more unsettling than a nuclear device. It is November, 2000, and a Libertarian has been elected U.S. president!

James Hogan calls his victorious third party the "Constitutionals," but is unmistakable—they are us. The Constitutional Party stands for a completely free market, no taxation, full civil liberties, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Hogan’s book is delightful. Not only did he write a story with Libertarians in it, but our adversaries are there too, and he gives them a richly deserved thrashing. His characters are scientists, entrepreneurs, and idealist lawyers. They are constantly battling slothful bureaucrats, fanatical regulators, and pseudo-science demagogues. And in the end, the libertarians win on every front.

We watch Hogan’s heroes (sorry) in college and afterwards as they discover the Constitutional Party. Their dialogues and experiences introduce the reader to libertarianism in a natural and engaging way. I recommend this book for political outreach as much as for entertainment.

The main plot covers the events from the 1999 election until the inauguration in January. The Constitutionals have won the election, and the statists are desperate. The prospects of deregulation and scientific progress (fusion, etc.) threaten the ruling elite, and they plan to do something drastic about it. Keep your eyes on that missile.

Hogan’s intrigues have unending twists and turns that keep his readers guessing. He successfully weaved together subplots that I thought could never be connected. His characters are well drawn and likeable.

But most enjoyable is his portrait of the Constitutionals and their fight for liberty.

--Steven J. Alexander

This review was first published in American Libertarian, 21715 Park Brook Drive, Katy, TX 77450 ($20/year)