Washington, A&N Publishing, 2011
300 pages Fiction
Conspiracy theories, terrorist threats, plots against the
government—these are the bread and butter of fictional thrillers, and all of
these are active in Steve O’Brien’s newest book, Redemption Day. A government
contractor and terrorism analyst, Nick James, is accused of being complicit in
the kidnapping of a Supreme Court justice, but because he is familiar with a
homegrown terrorism group, Posse Comitatus, he is sure that they are involved
in the crime. He sets out to prove his theory, convince the FBI that his judgment
is correct, and rescue the justice.
Redemption Day is very fast paced and angry. The
protagonist, James, is angry because he has been fired from his job; the Posse
Comitatus is angry because the “redemption day” they seek is not coming fast
enough; an FBI agent is angry because James is getting all the attention; and a
former co-worker of James is just angry in general. All of this anger feeds
into the plot along with the flickering romance James is having with a female FBI
agent. A final warning lets the reader know that the battle against home-grown
terrorism is not over when the Supreme Court justice is finally rescued. The
conclusion is satisfying and complete.
This s a serviceable thriller and it serves as a reminder that there
are a lot of fringe groups in our country—terrorism is just as scary when it is
homegrown as when it comes from a foreign group. On our vacation, we drove up US
highway 219 in West Virginia. Shortly before we drove up that gloriously
beautiful but unpopulated road, I had eaten at Smitty’s Best Dang BBQ spot on
Interstate 81 in Virginia close to the border of West Virginia. (BTW, Smitty’s
BBQ was reviewed on the Down Home Foodie blog.
and
truly it was “dang” good.) It wouldn’t have been a stretch to say that
some
of the guys I said hello to at Smitty’s Truck Stop could have been part
of the
Posse group hiding out on that very lonesome, mountainous highway. West
Virginia is the perfect setting for homegrown terrorism, and it
proved to be a perfect setting for the Posse Comitatus in Redemption Day.
Several years ago when we had just gotten our first GPS for
the car, my husband and I went for a drive down country roads near our cottage
in Michigan. We were trying to see just how far into the wilderness the GPS
would take us. As we traveled down a dirt road that ran parallel to the
highway, we discovered ourselves at the end of the road. A wooden gate closed
off any further progress. The gate was emblazoned with a No Trespassing sign
with two crossed rifles across the center and a small Michigan Militia logo in
the corner. We realized, then, that the possibility of homegrown terrorism is
ever present.
Redemption Day is self-published by the author’s publishing
company and came to me from the publicist. I would consider it good airplane
reading or a good beach read since it is face-paced, fun, and satisfying
without being too taxing on the brain. You can find a review for another of O’Brien’s
books, Bullet Work, here.
Steve O’Brien’s website: http://www.aandnpublishing.com/
An interesting blog review: http://bookhimdanno.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-review-redemption-day-steve-obrien.html
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