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Bobby vs. The Duke
America, 1968
English journalist James Darling is sent across the Atlantic to cover the presidential campaign being fought between Robert F. Kennedy and John Wayne.
After a very public failure in London, James plans to keep his head down, make a fresh start, and establish himself as a well-respected journalist in the United States. He doesn't plan to find himself partnered with Hal, a cool, confident, and unsettling attractive American.
While chronicling the election of the century, James finds himself caught between Hal and the outspoken Lizzie Burns, a member of Kennedy’s campaign team.
As the campaign criss-crosses the USA, James must decide what and, more importantly, who he wants in this romantic and funny debut from Sean Fallon.
English journalist James Darling is sent across the Atlantic to cover the presidential campaign being fought between Robert F. Kennedy and John Wayne.
After a very public failure in London, James plans to keep his head down, make a fresh start, and establish himself as a well-respected journalist in the United States. He doesn't plan to find himself partnered with Hal, a cool, confident, and unsettling attractive American.
While chronicling the election of the century, James finds himself caught between Hal and the outspoken Lizzie Burns, a member of Kennedy’s campaign team.
As the campaign criss-crosses the USA, James must decide what and, more importantly, who he wants in this romantic and funny debut from Sean Fallon.
348 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 23, 2024
About the author
Sean Fallon
3 books13 followersSean Fallon is a writer and film critic living in Melbourne with his wife and son. He has been published by The Big Issue, Reader's Digest, Defenestration Mag, the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, The Talk Film Society, Audience’s Everywhere, Writer Loves Movies, and Film Inquiry. He writes for Hard Times and Hard Drive.
His debut novel, Bobby vs The Duke, is about politics, friendship, America, drinking, music, Vietnam, the '60s, running away from home, writing, and falling in love, and is available now.
You can learn more about him here - seanfallonwrites.wordpress.com
His debut novel, Bobby vs The Duke, is about politics, friendship, America, drinking, music, Vietnam, the '60s, running away from home, writing, and falling in love, and is available now.
You can learn more about him here - seanfallonwrites.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 7, 2026
This is a bit of a niche gem which always helps to prove my #nonchalance because of course I read historical fiction you've never heard of
So it's based in 1968 in the US and this dude James darling is unemployed but isn't anymore thanks to nepotism, he does journalism work in the US with a coworker he #totally doesn't have a crush on. During the US elections where they're advertising their politics and all.
There was a lot of historical context in this book. Obviously. It's historical fiction. It was well researched afaik!!!
I'm js gonna say that I tend to hate American history, it's usually just war crime after war crime and voting in someone to do a war crime (hence my disinterest) so i had nearly no prior knowledge about this point in time in the US (aside from hippies and Vietnam like). It was all introduced in a natural way, so defo a good move having a foreigner be the main character and having the book through first person POV as not everyone is American (something a lot of authors miss tbh)
I liked how fast paced it was. It's a fun book - not a hugely intellectual or pretentious one, but good and so entertaining. I was reading it travelling with friends and kept laughing, because there were so many good one-liners throughout the work. I do feel that the ending was very sudden, almost rushed. I would have liked to seen an epilogue, I think. Especially as I had to Google who actually ended up president afterwards 🤫
I liked the characters. They were fleshed out nicely, and I enjoyed how Darling withholds certain "aspects" of him until a certain part of the book (look I'm tryna be spoiler free but I might half give up now, I'm sure we could all guess he's into men). Classic unreliable narrator which is a trope I ADORE, to the point that I have an unreliable narrator shelf (not kidding 🤪). I cried during the part where James came out and discusses trying and failing to repress his homosexuality. I think a lot of gay people have been through this, I know I tried to like boys for the longest time. It was very personal and I haven't really seen this specifically (trying + failing to be 'properly' into the opposite sex) done too often in modern LGBTQ+ fiction.
What I wasn't all too keen on:
I do felt that the language used wasn't giving 1968. I'm no expert like but it rang too familiar, this is a stylistic choice of the author though so it's whatever
There were minor errors in the book, a word omitted or a space before a full stop. Editor needed to lock in
The ending but I alr said that
I didn't realise Darling was his last name for a bit but I think that's just because I'm not keen on studying blurbs incase they reveal sum vital
All in all good fun and I would definitely read more from Sean Fallon 🔥
Author gave me an epub in return for a review but the views expressed aren't biased or anything trust
So it's based in 1968 in the US and this dude James darling is unemployed but isn't anymore thanks to nepotism, he does journalism work in the US with a coworker he #totally doesn't have a crush on. During the US elections where they're advertising their politics and all.
There was a lot of historical context in this book. Obviously. It's historical fiction. It was well researched afaik!!!
I'm js gonna say that I tend to hate American history, it's usually just war crime after war crime and voting in someone to do a war crime (hence my disinterest) so i had nearly no prior knowledge about this point in time in the US (aside from hippies and Vietnam like). It was all introduced in a natural way, so defo a good move having a foreigner be the main character and having the book through first person POV as not everyone is American (something a lot of authors miss tbh)
I liked how fast paced it was. It's a fun book - not a hugely intellectual or pretentious one, but good and so entertaining. I was reading it travelling with friends and kept laughing, because there were so many good one-liners throughout the work. I do feel that the ending was very sudden, almost rushed. I would have liked to seen an epilogue, I think. Especially as I had to Google who actually ended up president afterwards 🤫
I liked the characters. They were fleshed out nicely, and I enjoyed how Darling withholds certain "aspects" of him until a certain part of the book (look I'm tryna be spoiler free but I might half give up now, I'm sure we could all guess he's into men). Classic unreliable narrator which is a trope I ADORE, to the point that I have an unreliable narrator shelf (not kidding 🤪). I cried during the part where James came out and discusses trying and failing to repress his homosexuality. I think a lot of gay people have been through this, I know I tried to like boys for the longest time. It was very personal and I haven't really seen this specifically (trying + failing to be 'properly' into the opposite sex) done too often in modern LGBTQ+ fiction.
What I wasn't all too keen on:
I do felt that the language used wasn't giving 1968. I'm no expert like but it rang too familiar, this is a stylistic choice of the author though so it's whatever
There were minor errors in the book, a word omitted or a space before a full stop. Editor needed to lock in
The ending but I alr said that
I didn't realise Darling was his last name for a bit but I think that's just because I'm not keen on studying blurbs incase they reveal sum vital
All in all good fun and I would definitely read more from Sean Fallon 🔥
Author gave me an epub in return for a review but the views expressed aren't biased or anything trust
July 1, 2024
Sean Fallon’s debut novel is a highly entertaining, fast-paced story set in 1960s America during the presidential primary season where Bobby Kennedy and John Wayne campaign to be their parties’ nominee for president. Bobby vs. The Duke is well written, with sharp dialogue and entertaining characters. Looking forward to delving into the world of the sexy, dynamic, journalist James Darling again!
September 10, 2024
An amazing story that weaves the American history we know with a quirked version as a backdrop while the main character learns more about who he is. The writing is filled with rich voice and was often laugh out loud while being deep and heartfelt.
September 14, 2025
A funny, witty and entertaining story that is a real page-turner. Thoroughly enjoyed it
June 10, 2024
I'm here for the romance. Gave me all the feels 😍
June 23, 2026
Semi-disclosure: Sean purchased my book from a writer's festival and then I purchased his for the same price so for all intents and purposes this was a free book swap with a fellow author.
This is a very promising debut novel set in an alternate version of the 1960s where John Wayne accepted instead of denied requests from Republican backers to run for office. Fallon tasks himself with recreating the mannerisms and attitudes of numerous expected (and unexpected, but in hindsight, expected) historical figures and, at least to my eye, does a very fine job. He also brings to the table a number of original characters, and the central three are well-rounded and believable while some of the others needed more time in the spotlight. Let's get to the good and the bad!
The good:
Lots of historical facts are peppered through this one and while the 60s are well before my time, more often than not I did believe the story the book was telling me and the context they existed in. Fallon is socially-aware and little bits are sprinkled throughout that show an awareness of what the time was like politically. Even knowing how history will pan out, there are fun twists on known events.
The main characters are pretty good! I have nothing bad to say about them but I would have liked to see a little more flowery writing to enrich their characterisation. I also like how some of them say terrible things and embarrass themselves. Characters open up to us at a pace that seems very reasonable and realistic and I appreciate that it takes some time for that to happen. The book starts slow but in hindsight the slow start makes heaps of sense and I wouldn't have written it any differently.
The biggest draw for me is the parallels that are drawn between our current American situation and the book's. At least to my eyes, this book is quite intentionally using John Wayne as president to comment on how ridiculous it is that the USA currently has Donald Trump as president. Numerous lines said by both Democrat and Republican characters in the book seem to speak directly to current events without breaking character, which is a great feat. I also love how the concept of John Wayne as president is mocked, and anyone who wants to empower him to do that is mocked, but the average Republican is not mocked. This is important because they're as much a victim as the rest of us!
So while the main story about a love triangle is certainly exciting, it was the background details about all the politicking that I most appreciated. If you like political commentary, this has lots of it, and it's good!
The bad:
As I said at the beginning, some characters seem like they want to be important but they show up only a handful of times, or have appearances that are extremely spaced apart, which numbs their impact and storytelling potential. I'm thinking about Ronnie and Max specifically - these are fairly minor characters but I know for a fact they could have been utilised more to convey meaning to the reader more effectively.
The book just ends. To its credit, it leaves lots and lots of things hanging in the air that does make a person want to read the next book but it does feel like a bigger manuscript was chopped in half and then the first half wasn't edited to have its own ending. I don't necessarily love or hate this but it did strike me as unusual.
The physical copy I got had some weird formatting errors, like lines stopping before they should and leaving excessive white space or symbols not loading properly and being displayed as black rectangles.
Finally, the book is told in first-person but I think this choice goes underutilised. We do get a good idea of the main character's personality but I would have liked more of it in the narration. Sometimes it feels like entire conversations happen without us being let into his headspace. Additionally, and maybe this is just a 'me' problem, but in the first chapter two similes were a little too close together and I could not stop noticing similes all book. There were too many similes! Once I started noticing them I could not stop noticing them and while this did become a fun game it was a little distracting.
Overall this book has its problems like anybody's first anything but it also has a lot to enjoy about it. There's meat on the bone even if the seasoning could be better and there aren't enough sides, but it was a good meal. Best of luck to Sean and, as a wise man once told me (it was Sean) keep questioning everything!
This is a very promising debut novel set in an alternate version of the 1960s where John Wayne accepted instead of denied requests from Republican backers to run for office. Fallon tasks himself with recreating the mannerisms and attitudes of numerous expected (and unexpected, but in hindsight, expected) historical figures and, at least to my eye, does a very fine job. He also brings to the table a number of original characters, and the central three are well-rounded and believable while some of the others needed more time in the spotlight. Let's get to the good and the bad!
The good:
Lots of historical facts are peppered through this one and while the 60s are well before my time, more often than not I did believe the story the book was telling me and the context they existed in. Fallon is socially-aware and little bits are sprinkled throughout that show an awareness of what the time was like politically. Even knowing how history will pan out, there are fun twists on known events.
The main characters are pretty good! I have nothing bad to say about them but I would have liked to see a little more flowery writing to enrich their characterisation. I also like how some of them say terrible things and embarrass themselves. Characters open up to us at a pace that seems very reasonable and realistic and I appreciate that it takes some time for that to happen. The book starts slow but in hindsight the slow start makes heaps of sense and I wouldn't have written it any differently.
The biggest draw for me is the parallels that are drawn between our current American situation and the book's. At least to my eyes, this book is quite intentionally using John Wayne as president to comment on how ridiculous it is that the USA currently has Donald Trump as president. Numerous lines said by both Democrat and Republican characters in the book seem to speak directly to current events without breaking character, which is a great feat. I also love how the concept of John Wayne as president is mocked, and anyone who wants to empower him to do that is mocked, but the average Republican is not mocked. This is important because they're as much a victim as the rest of us!
So while the main story about a love triangle is certainly exciting, it was the background details about all the politicking that I most appreciated. If you like political commentary, this has lots of it, and it's good!
The bad:
As I said at the beginning, some characters seem like they want to be important but they show up only a handful of times, or have appearances that are extremely spaced apart, which numbs their impact and storytelling potential. I'm thinking about Ronnie and Max specifically - these are fairly minor characters but I know for a fact they could have been utilised more to convey meaning to the reader more effectively.
The book just ends. To its credit, it leaves lots and lots of things hanging in the air that does make a person want to read the next book but it does feel like a bigger manuscript was chopped in half and then the first half wasn't edited to have its own ending. I don't necessarily love or hate this but it did strike me as unusual.
The physical copy I got had some weird formatting errors, like lines stopping before they should and leaving excessive white space or symbols not loading properly and being displayed as black rectangles.
Finally, the book is told in first-person but I think this choice goes underutilised. We do get a good idea of the main character's personality but I would have liked more of it in the narration. Sometimes it feels like entire conversations happen without us being let into his headspace. Additionally, and maybe this is just a 'me' problem, but in the first chapter two similes were a little too close together and I could not stop noticing similes all book. There were too many similes! Once I started noticing them I could not stop noticing them and while this did become a fun game it was a little distracting.
Overall this book has its problems like anybody's first anything but it also has a lot to enjoy about it. There's meat on the bone even if the seasoning could be better and there aren't enough sides, but it was a good meal. Best of luck to Sean and, as a wise man once told me (it was Sean) keep questioning everything!
March 16, 2026
Great pacing, genuinely funny, and very tightly researched. Definitely recommended
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews