Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
The Fox and the Election Fraud is yet another phenomenal addition to the Francis the Fox series by Tuula Pere! This series has solidified itself as perhaps our favorite in all our contests. There's just something undeniable about this mischievous Machiavellian fox and all of his plots and schemes! In terms of continuity, The Fox and the Election Fraud comes right on the heels of The Fox's New Channel, which seemed to follow the events of The Fox's Tower and The Fox's Palace. We love that each of these books maintains a consistent continuity and builds upon the events of the previous books. In other words, this isn't a slice-of-life/monster-of-the-week series in which events happen once, then everything returns to the status quo and isn't mentioned again. No, the story of Francis the Fox is full of ups and downs that compound and build on top of each other. In other words, things have consequence. The plots and characters have consequence. Most of all, Francis the Fox's actions and decisions have consequences. Going into The Fox and the Election Fraud, there was a real sense among our judges that this may be the last rodeo for Francis. In other words, we thought that this might be the final installment in a wonderful series. Thankfully, it appears we were wrong about that finality (we really don't want this series to end); however, that feeling highlights how high the stakes have gotten in the fox's story. In this book, Francis the Fox has just barely dodged serving jail time for his transgressions in the last book. However, his media company, the Fox's Channel, goes into bankruptcy after losing all its credibility (and possibly paying off a settlement). However, in true Francis the Fox fashion, the fox isn't willing to take personal responsibility for his failures and instead blames his old mentor, William the Wolf, for his fall from grace. Readers of the series know that William the Wolf isn't the antagonist that Francis makes him out to be. In fact, William frequently forgave and even supported Francis. He only stood up to Francis had him arrested and prosecuted when his actions became dangerous, destructive, and criminal. In other words, he took the actions that any responsible leader or citizen would take on someone who was causing mayhem at the expense of the populace. However, Francis has deluded himself into believing that William is the cause of his problems. It actually seems like he's displacing his own issues onto the old wolf. It's poetic in a sense. William is the perfect foil for Francis while also being his former mentor and frequent opponent. William is old, experienced, wise, humble, unselfish, and self-sacrificing (such as when he gave his power away in book one). In contrast, Francis is younger, inexperienced, pigheaded, selfish, and willing to use, manipulate, and throw others under the bus for his own personal gain/ambition. With that said, this book—more so than any of the other books—really highlights that Francis has changed in a few ways. Most of all, Francis is older now. He's not the young, sprite, tireless little fox that he was in books one and two. Furthermore, he isn't cute anymore. We know that might sound weird, but some of Francis's previous transgressions and misdeeds could be written off as him just being young and inexperienced. Plus, his cuteness still endeared him to the audience despite his bad actions and decisions. That's not to say he isn't still an immensely compelling character, but his loss of youthful cuteness is noteworthy. Throughout the book, you can also tell that Francis's age is catching up to him. He can't tirelessly campaign and work days and nights without sleep anymore. He is constantly being dragged from thing to thing by his campaign manager and associates because he lacks the zest and energy that he had in his younger years. We almost felt that this might be social commentary or allegorical to actual real-life leaders like President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. These guys aren't spring chickens anymore, and neither are William the Wolf and Francis the Fox. Anyway, as the title suggests, this is a book about the scheming fox trying to win an election (for city mayor) in an underhanded and fraudulent way. His methods for winning the election include bribing people and taking bribes from unscrupulous individuals (like contractors, lobbyists, and special interests), and outright breaking in to steal and destroy votes for his opposition. He also lies, exaggerates, and overpromises. You know, typical political stuff. Oh, yeah, he also hires coyotes to act as his red guard and go out to intimidate voters. Believe it or not, Francis the Fox—one of the greatest characters to ever come through our contests—may not be the most interesting character in this book. That honor might actually go to Flurry, the seemingly unscrupulous female fox we met in The Fox's New Channel. In regard to the previous book, we perhaps oversimplified Flurry by calling her a “Jezebel” and a “temptress.” We placed a lot of blame on her shoulders for the outcome of the previous book, particularly that she went forward with the final plan (to slander William the Wolf) without Francis's approval. However, this book reveals several more layers to Flurry that we didn't realize before. Similar to Francis, Flurry isn't pure evil. She's a very ambitious person just like him. In fact, you could almost argue that she would make a good love interest and romantic partner for him. Perhaps the next book could explore how the two of them fall in love and work together to get prisoners in prison to produce goods for the community? Just an idea. Maybe they make each other better and help each other to realize that there's more to life than gaining power, fame, and financial gain. Flurry actually starts the book out not being so gung ho about Francis's bid for the mayorship. We're told that talking her into it “was not easy.” Interestingly, she even seems to try to talk some sense into Francis, basically telling him that he's upset too many people and that it would be an uphill battle. This is an interesting twist since, in the previous book, it seemed like Flurry was the one egging Francis on and trying to get him to escalate situations. The panel is also interesting because it shows Flurry in a different light from the previous book. In the previous book, Flurry was often overdressed and seemed to have a paparazzi following her around. She had glitz and glamour, perhaps representing the tantalizing nature of fame and fortune. This panel (and other illustrations in the book) show her in casual attire. Her hair, clothing, and accessories are simpler and more upper-middle-class rather than posh and flashy. She seems more human and down-to-earth in this book than in the previous one in which she seemed to be a devil on Francis's shoulder. Yes, she does sorta continue that role, but it's much more dynamic and less black-and-white. Again, Flurry isn't the devil. She isn't pure evil. She's a person—a character with thoughts, feelings, emotions, dreams, drives, and motivations of her own. And that's what makes her so interesting. There is an interesting plot thread that plays throughout this book in which Francis takes bribes from special interests and lobbyists, promising that he will not forget them when he is elected. However, that seems to be a plot thread that doesn't really have a payoff. We're a bit relieved because we definitely didn't want to see Francis get pummeled by gangsters, assassins, or something severe and life-threatening like that. It needs to be said that this book's ending is incredibly swift and abrupt. We turned to the last page hoping that something else would happen, then realized that it was the last page. This book, similar to The Only Blue Crow and The Fox's Tower, ends on a very abrupt cliffhanger. Some readers may find that bothersome. However, it does make you want to read the next book. One last thing that needs to be noted is that Francis is gradually changing and developing, though very slowly. A lot of that seems to be due to the aforementioned age and experience. In probably the most interesting line, Francis confides in Flurry: “For the first time in my life, I've started to question my capabilities.” It's incredible to think that, despite all the bad things we've seen Francis do, we still hope that he can learn, grow, and redeem himself. Check it out on Amazon!
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