Rao's Solution

Rao’s Solution is a fast-paced contemporary story about the struggle to end wage inequality—all told in the context of a tale of political intrigue, espionage, love triangles and the struggles of a father, mother and son to resolve their many differences. Paul Earl, a T.V producer, who has establishment roots, struggles to salvage his career. He creates a new feel–good television show that is based on a simple fair game of chance. It is designed to help the poor during the Holiday Season. In doing so, however, his world turns upside down when he finds comfort in the arms of one of his contestants, Maria, who unbeknownst to Paul, is already involved in a love triangle with a rogue fugitive CIA agent, Pete Sanchez whose political loyalties are highly questioned. Sanchez, while on assignment in South America, is thought to be involved in a plot to assassinate, Karamchand Rao, the President of his country who has instituted new and controversial laws designed to help the poor and eliminate income disparity amongst his country’s citizens. Sanchez is now thought to be in New York where he is being pursued by both the FBI and Nadi Rood, the head of Rao’s intelligence service. Rising ocean levels eventually threaten America’s vital security interests when Rao begins negotiating with the Chinese to repair an unstable seawall protecting his country’s capital. Rao does so in exchange for the possibility of permitting the Chinese to build a naval base near the Panama canal, thus alarming Washington. Meanwhile, on Paul’s T.V show, poor contestants do not fare well, and it is only the rich guest stars who benefit even though the game provides a mathematically provable equal opportunity for the guest stars and the poor contestant to win. Attempts to improve the show to help the poor contestants take unexpected turns and are unsuccessful. Network executives finally realize the reason the poor contestants are losing. However, behind Paul’s back, they scheme to improve ratings by secretly inserting “ringer” wealthier contestants to bargain against even richer guest stars. The results predictably make the show more entertaining and improve ratings but totally defeat the show’s original purpose of helping the poor. To add to Paul’s challenges, he is at odds with both his estranged wife, Alexa, and with his son, Chris, a failing college student who is a member of an enigmatic Omegas whose activities appear to go beyond traditional fraternity partying and appear to further a decidedly aggressive and leftist political agenda. Paul and Alexa are thrown together when their son’s life is threatened. Paul discovers that the Omegas have tentacles that have ensnarled not only the life of his son, but his own as well. The result is a story of intrigue and personal and political transformation.