Enemies Foreign and Domestic [Perfect Paperback]

Matthew Bracken (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

Enemies Foreign And Domestic is a domestic terrorism thriller set in the near future. The novel begins on opening day of the NFL season, when bullets begin to rain down upon the upper deck of a packed football stadium. A panic stampede ensues, leading to mass casualties. The alleged sniper is found holding a smoking assault rifle, and is killed by a police marksman.

One week later, congress bans the private possession of all semi-automatic assault rifles. Gun owners are given one week to turn in their semi-automatic rifles, or face a five year mandatory sentence.

The plot revolves around the true identity of the actual sniper. The alleged sniper killed at the scene may be a patsy, and many Americans refuse to turn in their banned weapons, leading to a civil crisis in the nation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Enemies Foreign And Domestic review in GUNS Magazine, November 2005 A stadium massacre leads to the banning of all semi-automatic rifles, the teaser on the jacket reads. But who really fired the fatal shots, and why? The answer, we learn, involves nothing less than a modern day Reichstag fire, engineered and instigated by an evil and ambitious ATF supervisor and his squad of violent agency misfits. The political fallout of the stadium shooting is a national ban on assault weapons. With free rein to create more domestic terror incidents, and with unprincipled politicians and a complicit media, gun owners are easily demonized as a manipulated public demands more security. All Brad Fallon wanted to do was restore his vintage sailboat, Guajira, take his savings from three years of working the ANWR oil fields, and cruise the world. He hadn't counted on his interest and proficiency in shooting being used to entrap him, or being ultimately forced into covert rebellion against rogue federal agents. But back a man into a corner with other men -- all proficient in modern weaponry, and all unbending believers in liberty -- make it clear that you mean to destroy them, and a most dangerous type of resistance is born: a competent one. Author Matthew Bracken has written a thrilling first novel (did I mention this is also a passionate love story?), one that engages, grips and doesn t let up. He avoids the proselytizing that can plague the liberty genre, and delivers a solid, exciting tale with deep and believable characters. Bracken's background with UDT and SEAL Teams, and as the designer/builder of a cutter that he soloed from Panama to Guam, adds credibility to the technical and tactical details he weaves into the plot. I can't wait for the sequel, scheduled for release early in 2006. David Codrea, GUNS Magazine --GUNS Magazine, November 2005

John Ross' review of Enemies Foreign And Domestic I have several complaints about most thriller novelists. First, their protagonists are too often 100% virtuous with no humanizing flaws. Second, the protagonists let their enemies live when you KNOW the bad guys are going to come back and murder their kids etc. Third, everything the government does (hi-tech weapons, military & police tactics, criminal investigations, etc.) functions flawlessly. Fourth, too many stories have all the brilliant thinking and brave actions done by government employees (Special Forces, policemen, Intelligence operatives, etc.) Lastly, some novels have a basic premise that is just not believable. (Clancy's RAINBOW SIX is a prime example.) Novelist Matthew Bracken has avoided these sins almost entirely in his excellent debut novel ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. It is a challenge for any writer to come up with a plot that is at once plausible enough to have the reader accept it but also unlikely enough that it has not actually happened yet in real life. EFAD's dramatic concept is this: Wally Malvone, a lone mid-level ATF executive, engineers (with one accomplice) a long-range shooting into a football stadium and successfully arranges for an addled, destitute veteran to take the blame and be killed in the process. Malvone does this because he needs an emergency that will encourage the President to embrace a plan he has put together: Forming a secret "hit squad" comprised of overaggressive ATF agents with disciplinary problems. This squad's duty is to be proactive: identify domestic terrorists ("militia members") and kill them during raids. The trial is in the media, when the cameras see the (planted) contraband retrieved from the slain terrorist's dwelling. Malvone wants to have this hit squad for the obvious reasons: funding, power, and prestige. Naturally, some of the victims drawn into Malvone's web of treachery decide they have no choice but to fight back. At each point in the storyline, as the good guys and bad guys acted and reacted, I kept asking myself if what was happening was plausible. How would *I* rewrite it to make it more believable? In some cases I thought that I would have had the parties react a bit differently, but I had to admit my alternate scenario was not necessarily more likely. The fact is that when you get into the realm of serious, institutionalized government abuse of power in an environment with lots of resourceful, angry, well-armed people and the near-instant information flow of the Internet, you're in uncharted waters. One critic said the female lead was an adolescent fantasy (21 years old, beautiful, motorcycle rider, expert shot, virgin) and I would have given her more edginess, but hey, a lot of readers like their heroes untainted. Anyway, EFAD is an action-packed read, with most of the skill and creativity being demonstrated by the private sector, which is IMO 100% realistic. Send a copy to your favorite Senator or Congressman... EFAD is also good inspiration for me to get back to work on DETOUR, the sequel to UC. No promises, except there should be something in it to offend just about everyone. John Ross, author of "Unintended Consequences" January 2004 --John Ross, author of "Unintended Consequences" January 2004

About the Author

Matt Bracken was born in 1957 in Baltimore Maryland, and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1979 with a degree in Russian Studies. He was commissioned as a Naval officer, and served on east coast SEAL teams during the 1980s as a Special Warfare officer, including leading a SEAL detachment to Beruit Lebanon in 1983. He has worked as a boat builder, welder, and charter boat skipper, and holds a Coast Guard captain's license. He is also the author of "Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista" (2006) and "Foreign Enemies And Traitors," (2009)

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Steelcutter Publishing (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972831010
• ISBN-13: 978-0972831017
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (339 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matthew J. Bracken was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1957, and graduated from the University of Virginia and UDT/SEAL Training in 1979. Besides writing novels, he has also built a steel sailboat and has made several major ocean voyages. He lives in Florida with his wife and two children.

He is currently working on a the second Dan Kilmer novel, about a former Marine sniper trying to live as a free man in an unfree world. About a hundred pages of each novel may be read on his website at www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com.

Matt has just published The Bracken Anthology, a collection of his recent non-fiction essays and short stories, including The Civil War 2 Cube, What I Saw at the Coup, Trapping Feral Pigs, and a dozen others.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 108 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A review from John Ross January 17, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I have several complaints about most thriller novelists. First, their protagonists are too often 100% virtuous with no humanizing flaws. Second, the protagonists let their enemies live when you KNOW the bad guys are going to come back and murder their kids etc. Third, everything the government does (hi-tech weapons, military & police tactics, criminal investigations, etc.) functions flawlessly. Fourth, too many stories have all the brilliant thinking and brave actions done by government employees (Special Forces, policemen, Intelligence operatives, etc.) Lastly, some novels have a basic premise that is just not believable. (Clancy's RAINBOW SIX is a prime example.)

Novelist Matthew Bracken has avoided these sins almost entirely in his excellent debut novel ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.

It is a challenge for any writer to come up with a plot that is at once plausible enough to have the reader accept it but also unlikely enough that it has not actually happened yet in real life. EFAD's dramatic concept is this: A lone mid-level ATF executive engineers (with one accomplice) a tragic mass shooting incident and successfully arranges for an addled, destitute veteran to take the blame and be killed in the process.

He does this to create an emergency that will encourage the President to embrace a plan he has put together: Forming a secret "hit squad" comprised of overaggressive ATF agents with disciplinary problems. This squad's duty is to be proactive: identify domestic terrorists ("militia members") and kill them during raids. The trial is in the media, when the cameras see the (planted) contraband retrieved from the slain terrorist's dwelling. The antagonist wants to have this hit squad for the obvious reasons: funding, power, and prestige.

Naturally, some of the victims drawn into the web of treachery decide they have no choice but to fight back.

At each point in the storyline, as the good guys and bad guys acted and reacted, I kept asking myself if what was happening was plausible. How would *I* rewrite it to make it more believable? In some cases I thought that I would have had the parties react a bit differently, but I had to admit my alternate scenario was not necessarily more likely.

The fact is that when you get into the realm of serious, institutionalized government abuse of power in an environment with lots of resourceful, angry, well-armed people and the near-instant information flow of the Internet, you're in uncharted waters.

One critic said the female lead was an adolescent fantasy (21 yo, beautiful, motorcycle rider, expert shot, virgin) and I would have given her more edginess, but hey, a lot of readers like their heroes untainted.

Anyway, EFAD is an action-packed read, with most of the skill and creativity being demonstrated by the private sector, which is IMO 100% realistic.

Send a copy to your favorite Senator or Congressman...

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An unsetling and instructional text October 5, 2003

By Ward Dorrity

Format:Paperback

I began reading "Enemies Foreign and Domestic" over the weekend and I still feel unsettled after finishing it in the wee hours of Saturday. I feel unsettled because this book pulls no punches. It is realistic in terms of its portrayal the cold-blooded murderousness of some of the thugs that the government employs. It's dead bang on in terms of its assessment of those politicians who would cheerfully dance in the blood of innocents in order to advance their agenda. It's a clear-eyed picture of the unholy alliance between those who live to kill and those who seek to rule the living.

What this book is not about are comic-book, unstoppable heroes. The author imbues his characters with the flaws that all of us posess to one degree or another - fear, doubt, uncertainty, the pull of the path of least resistance and the comfortable life versus the hard and often unrewarding road of the correct moral choice. Bracken uses his characters to explore some of the very real moral dilemmas that many of us will face when the lines between good and evil are not as clearly drawn as we'd like. Those moral choices become even more difficult with the realization that some of those who swore an oath to protect us against "all enemies, foreign and domestic" have in fact become those very same enemies.

Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of this book is the authors unflinching take on the price that many of us will pay when civil disobedience turns to armed resistance. Freedom isn't cheap. In fact, if history's any indicator, it's going to get damned expensive.

53 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner! April 9, 2004

By James R. Mckinley

Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the aftermath of a massacre at a football stadium, Congress passes emergency legilation banning all semi-automatic "assault weapons". American gun owners are instant pariahs, but respond to this violation of the constitution. This book accurately portrays what could happen if the portion of American society that desires to see all firearms registered, confiscated and eventually banned gets their way. This book shows how the "gun grabbers" could manipulate and shape events to spark a backlash against gun owners. In fact, it is not too differnet from the gun grabbers using tragedies such as school shootings to further their own political ends. The book also shows one possible response of the American gun owning public. American gun owners have been like a sleeping giant for far to long. Hopefully books such as this well help to awaken that sleeping giant before it is too late, and we become a nation of "sheeple" (to use one of the author's terms). The book is well written, the characters are believable, and likeable, and the book was very hard to put down.