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Hi, I'm the author of this book, and I hope you liked it. As a former journalist, I wanted a reporter protagonist who could solve problems. Mac came into being, based on my reporting experiences as well as others, coupled with the military experiences of a former student turned journalist. This is the fourth book in the series. You can find the first books, Trust No One, In God’s Name and Serve and Protect at your usual e-retailer.
During President Obama’s administration, some friends from my younger religious days hated him. I thought it was odd. Why would devout evangelical Christians be so hateful toward him? They called him a Muslim, questioned his nationality. And the things they said about Michele Obama were outrageous. (Still say. Far-right Twitter still talks about how grateful they were to Melania Trump for restoring beauty and grace to the White House after that ____. Fill in the blank with a racist or misogynistic slur. You can guess my response — no I don’t actually post it. Not anymore, at least.) There was a bumper sticker that you could see on a car in almost any church parking lot with the scriptural reference — Psalms 109:8 — mentioned in this book.
When I was researching this book, I discovered that wasn’t just anecdotal. It was a wide-spread trend among the religious right and it has played into the rise of white Christian nationalism in this country. As one religious commentator put it, they could forgive Trump for his many flaws, but they weren’t able to forgive Obama for being Black.
One of my favorite columnists said it better than I could:
“How did we get here?
“President Barack Obama.
“Because the election of a young, dynamic, smart, educated, articulate, kind, compassionate, and funny liberal black man galvanized the foul racist mean underbelly of this country like nothing else ever had.
“Those who attacked the Capitol a year ago today. They are in almost every regard, the antithesis of Barack Obama, mean, crude, uneducated, ill spoken, filled with rage and blind ignorant loud blustering false patriotism. “
—Jim Wright, Stonekettle Nation, Jan. 6, one year later.
So if this book seems outrageous? The Washington Post just did a study of the police who are repeat offenders — whose behavior results in civil settlements, not once but repeatedly. (Some as many as 40 settlements.) In Seattle, three cops were found to have three or more settlements each. One of the settlements was for nearly $2 million — in 2013, Mac’s era. And the newspaper article Mac refers to about Black men committing suicide by hanging in a public place exists — and it didn’t get the attention it deserved. And the Seattle police union just sued the ACLU. Think about that.
So, in true thriller fashion, this is over the top — it’s not really a thriller if someone doesn’t blow shit up. Especially a Mac Davis thriller. But the scariest part is the real world headlines the story builds on.
So what’s next for Mac? Shorty decides Mac needs a DNA test to settle Mac’s angst over what he is. He’s tired of Mac’s joke about not even his mother knows for sure. But the answer, and Mac’s foray onto Ancestry.com, opens up more questions than it provides answers. And Toby? His cousin? He’s calling in that favor Mac owes him. Coming in May 2023. Pre-order it now at the upcoming link.
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I have more books! Look for them at your favorite e-book retailer, or sign up for my newsletter, Telling Stories, and you will get the first announcement of future books, and a few other things. Claim your free short story as a signing bonus.
You can visit my website, ljbreedlove.com where I blog about my books, but also about the books I like to read and the writing process. I hope you'll join me there. You can also find me at @ljbreedlove on Twitter, where I focus mostly on politics, and on Facebook at LJBreedlove.
Thanks again for reading.
L.J. Breedlove
