In the summer of 1980, Carter is running for re-election against Ronald Reagan. Iran is holding Americans hostage in Tehran. Twenty-year-old Patrick is waiting tables in a French restaurant at the top of one of Washington, DC’s posh hotels. On a night out at a club, Patrick meets “David,” who claims to be a Persian prince. David really is a prince, and the two have great chemistry, but David makes it clear that he’ll one day have to do his duty, marry a woman and produce heirs. That’s not the future Patrick wants, so he plans to break up with David. Then, Patrick is approached by a man claiming to be a CIA agent. He wants Patrick to stay close to David and find out what David’s father is up to. The agent says David’s family is trying to make a deal for the hostages to get Reagan elected, so the new president will put David’s father on the throne.
“Code Name: Liberty” takes the Iranian hostage crisis, and some of the conspiracy theories around it, and weaves a suspenseful story about a fictional heir to the throne and an innocent young man drawn into a dangerous game. Although published in 2019, the book is remarkably relevant today. Many have convincingly argued that this period, and the Reagan presidency that resulted from it, put America on the course to where we find ourselves today.
The story is told almost entirely from Patrick’s point of view. The young man isn’t very interested in politics or world affairs. Patrick is more concerned with making ends meet and finding a boyfriend. That may be a bit cliché, but that’s probably because it was true of so many young gay men in the late 1970s.
Patrick is quite believable as a character. He is perhaps a little too quick to trust the man who says he is with the CIA, but then it’s also clear that Patrick isn’t always thinking with the head on his shoulders. We get to know David and the other significant characters through Patrick. They’re all very well fleshed out and believable.
I wasn’t quite prepared for how shockingly relevant this story was to today’s events. Whether intentional or not, it’s hard to read this book without thinking of Project 2025 and the Federalist Society.
“Code Name: Liberty” is available from Amazon (commissionable link).