In 2032 Arizona, Alex Moray is a research scientist employed by the Solarium Complex to make the long-standing dream of nuclear fusion a reality. He is aided by the unfailing support of his Chinese manager, Sue Song. His wife Fiona, a professor at the local university, is intensely involved with a political action committee and militia, in an attempt to free the nation from the stranglehold exerted by an insidious body, self-titled The Council. This body, a small group of individuals owning ninety-nine percent of the nation's wealth, and led by Samson Klenk, has protection of its wealth and power, by whatever means, as its guiding policy. Its members believe they share a way of life too ancient, too precious and fragile to allow the common horde to trample on it. Keeping everyone in check does not occur without resistance and ruthless measures are often necessary. Various threats insure the three branches of government comply with The Council's policies and demands, and it uses a despotic president and vice president to push through changes to the Constitution through Congress: changes extending the presidential term of office and weakening or eliminating the 4th Amendment and portions of the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Despotism needs enforcement and this is achieved by replacing the FBI with an armed Federal Security Service. People seen as obstacles to The Council's policies, vanish, often permanently. Fiona constantly urges Alex to join her PAC colleagues in their efforts to thwart and destroy The Council, but he feels too overwhelmed by his work to oblige the woman he loves. Elena and Harry Sandford, formerly married but now separated, are the Morays' closest friends, but the friendship between Alex and Harry sours when the latter drunkenly announces an affair between Alex and Sue Wong. Although determined to be loyal to Fiona, Alex is ashamed to find he increasingly lusts over Elena Sandford, a sensuous and seductive Hispanic beauty who appears intent on distracting him with sexual enticement. Marital tension erupts between Fiona and Alex. Jack Campbell, an ex-marine master sergeant and member of Fiona's PAC, befriends Alex but places certain demands on him. Alex's situation becomes precarious and thrilling. When he succumbs to Elena's sexual entrapment and people close to him begin to die, he questions his priorities and calls on Fiona's sister-in-law, Rebecca, to help him. The road he must follow to achieve nuclear fusion and social justice is fraught with hazards. He persuades Jack Campbell to accompany him through strife-torn Mexico for a final and dramatic confrontation with Elena.
About the Author: ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael E. Sedgwick was born just before the outbreak of World War II in Hampshire, England, home of Jane Austen-one of his literary heroines. From the age of three in the early war years, he remembers spending many nights in a cold, damp backyard air-raid shelter, listening to bombs falling all around as the German Luftwaffe tried to destroy Britain's most important naval dockyard in his home town of Portsmouth. Those memories are contained in one of his short stories, "The Shelter." At age twelve, reading Daphne du Maurier's romantic suspense novel, "My Cousin Rachel," created a lifelong desire to write his own romantic suspense story. In 1961, Mike joined a multinational manufacturing company and spent thirty-seven years in a technical capacity, living and working in Wales, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and The United States. His writing experience during those years was in the form of technical reports and international communications. In 1981, he moved permanently to Saint Paul, Minnesota and made business visits to most countries except those behind the Iron Curtain at that time. During the 1970s and 80s his reading preferences included works by John Le Carré, Jane Austen, P. D. James, John Updike, Scott Turow, and Len Deighton among many others. His interest was particularly sparked by Len Deighton's "The Bomber," which he believes is the finest novel he has ever read. In the 1980s, Mike began to write short stories, some of which were eventually published under the titles "Of Heaven & Earth" and "Report from Mars." His early desire to write romance was finally satisfied during a 2005 return to Hampshire, England when he visited Jane Austen's home in Chawton. Twelve miles away in the village of Bramdean, he discovered the small church of Saints Simon & Jude, built in 1170 A.D. While seated on an ancient wooden pew, he sensed around him the spirits of thirty generations of parishioners baptized, married, and buried there. This experience inspired him to write his first novel, "Bramdean," a late 18th Century romance, which won first prize from Arizona Authors' Association in 2010. The author's writings span a wide range of fictional subject matter with novels focused on political intrigue, action and romance while his short stories cover humor, drama, murder, adventure, and horror.