The Alliance and the Promise were born in a novel titled We the Enemy.
Originally inspired by a remarkable book about how the historical relationship between men and woman has been master/serf rather than partners, The Chalice and the Blade, I wrote a novel to explore ideas on how to use the idea of partnership in society to address social ills such as gun violence, a broken justice system, and our fragmentation into divisive groups. That was in, roughly, 1995.
Then Columbine happened
The spark that lit my literary fuse was the Columbine shootings in 1999. That incident pushed me into self-publishing a primitive early version titled The Enemy in 2000. I've withdrawn it because it wasn't ready for prime time. But the need didn't go away, and the dream didn't die.
Today, it's a powerful novel
Now in the process of publication, We the Enemy will be available in paperback and e-book formats, including a free edition.
We the Enemy is a story of vision and scope told in the style of a thriller, and it delivers on a premise that touches each of us—how can we prosper in this troubled world?
Jake Black is an ex Secret Service agent who has turned mercenary. He's trapped in an emotionless fugue since the deaths of his wife and daughter. Jake is purposeless, adrift—and a deadly gun for hire.
America is equally ill—in Chicago, gangbangers swagger on downtown sidewalks at noontime, guns on display. A cop openly sells a killer drug.
In this troubled America, a single mother, Jewel Washington, struggles for dignity and safety—and doesn’t get either.
In Washington, the President fears losing an upcoming election because his support in the Pacific Northwest has been weakened by reforms led by a citizen group called The Alliance. Besides getting rid of lethal firearms (although more citizens are armed for self-defense than in any other state), Alliance-led initiatives have closed the Fifth-Amendment loophole crooks use to escape testifying, and the crime rate is plunging. It’s no longer business as usual for the violent, corrupt and crooked.
When the President initiates a secret, private attack to stop the Alliance leader, Jake Black gets the job. The lives of Jake and Jewel intertwine when violence erupts and Jake is shot at a rally led by the Alliance’s leader.
In the Alliance's headquarters town in Oregon, Jake and Jewel collide with mores and laws that challenge everything they are, and are not. After Jake saves the Alliance leader with a banned weapon, he lands in a hellhole prison where he must surrender to mind-altering surgery or die. Jewel wrestles with personal demons that threaten to destroy the new life she’s making for her daughter.
Then the President’s men strike to destroy the movement that could be the hope of America. And its only chance to survive lies with Jake Black.
