The fiction debut of conservative political commentator Herschensohn (Taiwan: The Threatened Democracy
) imagines a dire near future in which coordinated sleeper-cell terrorist attacks have turned the U.S. into the Islamic Fundamentalist Republic of America. Opposing the takeover are the men and women of Sebotus—the Surviving Executive Branch of the United States—housed in a secret underground city in Virginia and led by the no-nonsense acting U.S. president, Eli Jared. While struggling to maintain morale at Sebotus, Jared argues with his liberal secretary of HUD, who wants to beat the invaders “honorably.” Even readers who share the author's politics are likely to raise an eyebrow over sentences like “Even at times of extreme importance—times of life or death; of peace or war; of the determination of whether all civilization will be victorious or defeated—there is a pretty woman.” The less than credible means by which Jared and his team plan to defeat the enemy may raise additional eyebrows. (July)
