This is an interesting story full of political conspiracies and a compelling view of what could happen in America in the near future. My Rating 4.25. I had been eyeing Mr. Goodwin’s work for a while and I am glad to have listened to this. The story follows two lines of characters to present a plausible theory of government manipulation by a secret group of powerful players.
Noah and his wife, Cassie, are Christian believers living fairly normal lives. He is a teacher and she works with a newspaper while homeschooling their seven-year old daughter, Lacy. Cassie has a strong belief that freedoms are being encroached on and will only become more limited. She is a ‘prepper’ planning with food stores, guns and some investments in precious metals. The couple belong to a small group from their church and many of them are quiet preppers too.
One day Noah’s students are discussing demolition and the possibilities that the 9/11 bombings were set internally and not a terrorist attack. Another day the forbidden topic of creation is raised in Noah’s class room. Noah merely states that some people believe that creation is a sounder ‘theory” than evolution. Noah is arrested for violating the government course curriculum restrictions.
While friends step forward to help bail Noah out of jail, authorities force their way into his home in a traumatic scene, killing their dog, confiscating guns and computers and placing Lacy in the clutches of a social services officer. Some of the officers realize that the government has gone too far and they quit their positions to support Noah and Cassie. Church friends find a good lawyer to fight the criminal and parental abuse charges and they all help set up a protest against the officers who bullied Cassie.
The second line of the story follows Elliot as an Intelligence Officer with the CIA. Elliot’s job is to monitor unusual purchases of firearms, ammunition, long term food storage, tactical supplies, gold and silver and components for explosives. Elliot reports some concerns regarding cryptocurrency purchases to his supervisor, John Jones. Although Jones downplays Elliot’s concerns he soon starts meeting with Elliot in secret and telling him to prepare for drastic changes.
I have read other near future, ‘America in crisis’ stories but most did not have the extent of conspiracy theories this book presents. The author creates likeable characters and I was pulled into the good pacing of events while rooting for the protagonists. I liked the combination of the faith beliefs and the all too plausible political possibilities. I recommend this to others who are interested in erosion of American freedoms and possible events leading up to end of the world times, or at least end of the world as we know it.
Audio Notes: Kevin Pierce has become one of the “go to” narrators for sci fi and prepper stories. Pierce does a solid job narrating the characters so, after a rather slow beginning, they become real, placing the listener in the story. I enjoyed listening to this story and look forward to more in the series.