First published 2024
General Jack Morrison stands in the Pentagon briefing room, studying satellite images of a conflict zone where American forces face an impossible choice. The mission parameters demand swift action, but the political constraints make victory nearly unattainable. Morrison has spent three decades climbing the military hierarchy, believing in clear objectives and decisive leadership. Now he discovers that the wars America fights reflect deeper fractures within the nation itself. His own officers question orders that seem to shift with each news cycle. Allies become adversaries overnight. The enemy adapts faster than bureaucracy can respond. As Morrison navigates between congressional hearings and combat operations, he realizes the greatest battle is not against foreign adversaries but against the internal divisions that paralyze American power. The general who once saw warfare in terms of tactics and strategy now faces a conflict where the rules change daily and success becomes harder to define.
Genres: american-fiction, american, war, military-fiction, 21st-century, political-thriller
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Pentagon
Period: 21st-century
368 pages · Hardcover · Harper
Content warnings: violence