Enemies Foreign and Domestic

Today we are talking about a launching pad called Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matt Bracken. I absolutely loved this novel and could not put it down. The reason that I consider it a launching pad was it combined my love for the political action thriller and my beliefs.

I have loved the political, military, action novel for at least 20 years. The one thing that got old was that the police, military, or random government guy was the hero and always comes through in the end. I have read probably well over 500 different books and they all seem to have the same ending.

Shouldn’t one time that hero die? No disrespect to the police, military, and random government guy. I have immediate family that served and can trace ancestors back to the War of Northern Aggression and even the Revolutionary War. In fact one ancestor paid the ultimate price protesting the crown before the Tea Party.

I have a healthy respect and admiration for any that serve. The reality is that sometimes they do not come through. There is nothing wrong with that as it is life on a precarious wall. Matt Bracken shattered that model with his first book.

While I was reading the book he certainly appealed to my growing distrust in the Federal Government. The fact that a Federal Agency could attack citizens in order for their own gain is not far fetched. He does a brilliant job of character development and story line.

The characters that were running around rural Virginia reminded me of people that I met there. I could even see flashbacks to the areas that I had traveled in Virginia. I hate to give away the plot of any novel, but suffice it to say that in the political action thriller genre Enemies Foreign and Domestic knocked it out of the park.

The heroes are not employed by the Federal Government and in fact are harassed by them. They have help from local officials and Patriots to overcome the atrocities a rogue government agency inflicts. There is heartbreak which I think adds to the reality.

I eagerly jumped into later books by Matt Bracken and say that he is certainly in my top three of authors that I will read. It is amazing that he does it without the traditional publishing model, but then again it is the new way. Now for the first time in a long time the cream is allowed to rise to the top.

I hope that the trade winds are kind to Matt so that he rewards us with more novels to read. I strongly encourage anyone to give this author a read.