I purchased this book some time ago, but neglected to review it although it left a strong impression on me. At the time, I was uncomfortable with expressing what I thought, and then still thought the subject was a little too, may I say, edgy? The deeper theme of the book is pretty frightening: call it the threat of the deep state, not too mention potential power of even more frightening dimensions. The plot concerns the amoral behavior of an ATF (alcohol, tobacco, and firearms) federal agent who in order to develop his career decides to build a little empire, manufactures a mass shooting incident and targets the local gun nuts as the likely source of the incident. All of which leads to an array of Federal resources, cars, airplanes (!) etc. being thrown to him for for his group's use. With only a couple knowing accomplices, he is able to parlay this terrorist incident into a little fiefdom of devoted followers who are largely sealed off from oversight by anyone. Most of his people sincerely believe they are serving the interest of the government and people of the United States. After this incident the group starts a pogrom of local gun aficionados who are not inclined, once they realize they are being targeted by the Feds, to be limp targets, which leads to a series of strikes and counter-strikes very much in the vein of David vs. Goliath. One reviewer who found the plot apparently implausible, wrote: "the villains, always a tricky thing to write, are a bit... over the top." Really?
Turning to reality and not the book, after BATF gun running to the Mexican cartels (all in the name of a good cause, gun control); IRS special scrutiny--talk about "deep vetting"--of tax exempt applicants with a conservative taint; use of private email addresses and servers by high level federal agencies to avoid public disclosure of their knowledge, decisions, or actions; an EPA agency that obscenely polluted a Western river after ignoring the warnings of a local engineer that their mining remediation work would breach the river barrier, not to mention the apparent passing of years (?!) before publicly warning Flint, Michigan residents that they and their children were being poisoned by the drinking water; Benghazi, which apparently among many other unknown machinations again involved some undisclosed purpose relating to guns or perhaps their recovery; no knock warrants on the wrong address terrorizing innocent families where it seems like almost always, the family dog is the first to go down. Permanently.... And now we appear to have the CIA and NSA wire tapping (intercepting would appear to be the more modern and more broad definition of what was done) US citizens up to and including the President and his agency heads without their knowledge or permission, and apparently by selectively leaking this information, pull down a senior government appointee (General Flynn) in what a mainstream magazine article writer calls "political assignation." "Over the top," huh?
If I had first read this book in 2003, I might have dismissed it as ridiculous. Now, I worry that someone can read this book and dismiss it as implausible or unbelievable. I wish it were so.
I am not a gun owner and I admit not appreciating some of the finer points of the weapons discussed in the book. But the story also kept me on the edge of my seat. More, please, Mr. Bracken.
Enemies Foreign and Domestic
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