A Thriller of Thought-Provoking What-Ifs – 5 stars
The Declaration is a political thriller novel based in a not-quite-our-US in a not-quite-our-world. There are many parallels and similarities between our US and the one in this novel that make this a thought-provoking book full of what-ifs, why-nots, and could-happens. It’s also a very chilling political thriller that provides page-turning entertainment even if you don’t wish to be drawn into its brand of political thought and possibilities.
The start of the story’s setting is a presidential election between incumbent Carlos Sanchez and Senator Wes Robinson. The country is in the middle of a deep economic depression and has many economic and social problems similar to what we are currently facing today in the real world.
An attempted assassination of the president while campaigning in Miami is part of a conspiracy, but not a conspiracy coming from the opposition camp. It’s all a setup by the president’s men to ensure his election by casting doubt on the other party and its proponents. Toss in some help from a computer geek to insert some damning false information about the squeaky clean Robinson, and the re-election is all but guaranteed.
After the election, the split between the right and left widens further. The worst hit states want relief from the burden of the federal government’s regulations and mandates that make it even more difficult for them to pull out of the downward spiral. The situation is getting more desperate with each passing month.
Texas governor Brewster Steele thinks he’s found the answer to turn his state’s fortunes around and begins to implement his plan. Once begun, he begins to recruit other states’ governors as well into cooperative actions between individual states with similar interests, problems, and concerns. The plan? To exercise their state’s rights to the letter of the US Constitution, and as some believe, even beyond. Is the stage set for a second Civil War?
Highly recommended.