American Mirage

A bold reimagining of The Great Gatsby for our digital age—where power, politics, and manipulation collide
When former investigative journalist Noah Cohen reluctantly joins his cousin's high-profile presidential campaign as a speechwriter, he's drawn into a world where truth is malleable and loyalty is currency. But what begins as a compromise becomes a dangerous game of power when he discovers the campaign's connection to enigmatic data kingpin Julian Graves.
Behind his Georgetown mansion and calculated charm, Graves has built something far more sinister than a consulting firm—a sophisticated psychological operation designed to manipulate voters by exploiting their deepest fears. As Noah unravels the web of foreign money, intelligence connections, and technological manipulation, he finds himself caught between family loyalty and journalistic integrity.
Like Nick Carraway before him, Noah becomes both observer and participant in a tragic story of ambition and obsession. Julian Graves—once James Gatz from struggling Ashton, Pennsylvania—has reinvented himself and built an empire, all to recapture what he lost years ago. His green light isn't across the bay but across the Potomac—a security beacon that symbolizes everything just beyond his reach.
When a campaign staffer dies in a suspicious "accident" and federal agents start circling, Noah must decide how much he's willing to risk to expose a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of power. The American Dream has evolved into the American Mirage—a shimmering illusion of democracy that masks a darker reality.
AMERICAN MIRAGE is a haunting political thriller and masterful reimagining of Fitzgerald's classic, exploring the corruption of ideals and the price of truth in a world where democracy itself has become a commodity to be bought, sold, and manipulated.

Daniel Pelfrey graduated in 2014 from Black Hills State University with a Bachelor of Science in history. Currently, Daniel lives in Medora, North Dakota.