Redemption Day
Nick James worked for a US government contractor as an intelligence analyst. An expert in terrorism, he believed that there would always be work for him to do … until the contract he was working on was canceled and he found himself out of a job. Strange, but not highly unusual in a politically charged environment where it takes more than quality work alone to stay in business. A day later he is contacted by a West Virginia sheriff he met at a conference a year earlier who wants to consult with him on a perplexing case. They agree to meet at Nick’s place, but he arrives to find that the sheriff has been shot in the head with Nick’s gun. And a wallet belonging to a kidnapped Supreme Court justice is lying in the back of his car.
Suddenly Nick discovers that he is the most wanted man in America! Not only is the FBI hot on his trail, so are the terrorists. As the clock ticks down toward “Redemption Day,” he must unravel what is going on, clear his name, and unmask the bad guys. It’s a challenge worthy of Bond or Bourne, yet James is just an ordinary guy. He does, however, have a few resources on his side. The first is his extensive knowledge of foreign and domestic terror groups. The second is his ex-girlfriend, Kate Buchanan. A Justice Department official assigned to the taskforce, she might be inclined to believe that he is innocent.
Like all good thrillers, the story line is pulled from the headlines. While Posse Comitatus is real, a “sovereign citizen” movement whose members believe that laws passed by the government do not apply to them, the plot is a work of fiction. It is, however, a well-crafted and highly plausible account of a home-grown terror attack spawned by anti-government extremists. It begins with the brazen daytime kidnapping of Supreme Court Judge Silvio Caprelli, who is subsequently tortured and forced to “rule” against government officials on video, with a kidnapped Kate Buchanan amongst them. At pulse-pounding speed, the plot races toward a catastrophic, coordinated terror strike in the nation’s capital.
Steve O’Brien, is an attorney who works in Washington DC. His earlier works, Elijah’s Coin and Bullet Work, both won multiple literary awards, including Best Fiction, National Best Books Awards, and Best Novella, Next Generation Indie Book Awards. A testament to the quality of his writing, Elijah’s Coin is on reading lists in several secondary schools and has also been incorporated in a university ethics course. This, his third book, is easily on par with the other two. It’s well-written, realistic, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Reviewed by
Lawrence Kane
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