VOTER BEWARE LUCKY BASTARD By Charles McCarry Random House 385pp $24.95 Let's see, now. Jack Adams, the principal character in Charles McCarry's ninth novel, is an updated Manchurian Candidate. No, he's a venal version of Jack Stanton, the flawed but well-meaning Southern governor in Primary Colors. Or perhaps he's the immoral, manipulative guy that Bill Clinton-haters think is currently occupying the White House. It's impossible to escape the intended parallels in McCarry's far-fetched tale about a charismatic, sex-obsessed, draft-dodging rogue who believes that it's his destiny to become President--and is guided toward that goal by a maverick KGB general who dreams of planting the ultimate mole at the heart of the U.S. government. John Fitzgerald Adams, who is convinced he's the bastard son of John F. Kennedy, is a cynic's dream politician. A man of ordinary roots, he has no core values that might interfere with his pandering to voters. He has a dazzling smile that many strangers--especially women--find alluring. He's such a good liar that people don't seem to mind when they know he's being dishonest. And he radiates charm in a constant search for acceptance: ''This was his extraordinary gift for making people like him--for insisting that they like him because he simply could not live with disapproval.'' McCarry takes us on Jack's 20-year political quest--from college graduation to rising political stardom to governor of Ohio to Presidential candidate. His KGB handler, Marxist-feminist Morgan Weatherby, a beautiful and brilliant fanatic, avoids suspicion by becoming Jack's wife and would-be First Lady. McCarry is a superb writer, and his plot line makes for fun summertime reading, even though it comes at the expense of realism: Adams finances his political campaigns with drug money provided by the KGB general, ''Peter,'' who is running a rogue operation kept secret from his Moscow bosses. In the end, Adams' cash-starved White House bid receives $27 million in campaign funds from the Chinese military, which hopes to buy a friendly U.S. President who'll be willing to do business deals with Beijing. (Where do they get these plot lines?) Although most of the story stretches credulity, McCarry's portrait of Adams captures only too well today's narcissistic political candidates: Telegenic politicians who manage to be articulate without saying anything are proliferating. More disturbing is McCarry's description of American voters. They are smitten by Jack's charm and fall for his lies. When Morgan worries that the true source of his campaign funds will be exposed, Jack nonchalantly shrugs off the potential danger. Not to worry, he concludes. No one's going to believe that he's a KGB or Beijing dupe who got this far by spending drug lords' profits. It's too preposterous. That's a troubling conclusion. Are Americans so detached from the system that they have lost the ability to size up the true character of their political leaders? Or are they so cynical they don't care so long as the pols tell them what they want to hear? McCarry thinks the answer to both questions is ''yes.'' That's a sadder indictment of our political system than the politician Jack Adams represents. BY OWEN ULLMANN RELATED ITEMS PHOTO: Cover, ``Lucky Bastard'' BOOK EXCERPT: Chapter One of ``Lucky Bastard'' Return to top of story

Updated Aug. 13, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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