The Ruling Impulses

William Deveux is convinced: the worst dictatorship is the one that gives you the perception of being free. But nobody is really free in the city-state of East Eden and nothing really is as it appears. A man will have to fight against a petty conspiracy to affirm his right to a normal life, in a system that hides behind the respect for the rules, and the pursuit of the “common good”, to justify any sort of abuse.


Francesco Portone was born in Naples in 1974. A graduate in Economics, he has worked in the financial sector for over fifteen years. “Impulsi Dominanti” (“The Ruling Impulses”) is his first novel.