DIVIDED WE FALL

In the first installment of a trilogy set in the near future, 17-year-old Pfc. Daniel Christopher Wright fires the shot that may spell the end of the United States.

When Danny’s Idaho National Guard unit is called to police a protest in Boise, Danny is hit by a rock and accidentally discharges his weapon, causing other Guardsmen to open fire, killing several protestors. When President Rodriguez demands that Gov. Montaine turn over the names of the soldiers involved and begin enforcing the new federal ID-card law, a standoff ensues. The conservative governor vows to resist a federal government grown too big and will nullify the new law. Since nullification means insurrection according to Article VI, Clause 2 of the Constitution, federal troops are called in, and the crisis escalates. Danny’s story is threaded between frequent and lengthy italicized news reports that keep readers abreast of the political situation. Given the dramatic battle scene depicted on the cover, readers may be disappointed to find that the action in Volume 1 is intermittent, as the political and military pieces are set in place for the sure-to-be-dramatic concluding volumes. Projecting 19th-century nullification crises into a not-so-distant future, Reedy creates a credible military thriller. (Thriller. 14 & up)