When the U.S. is threatened from within, help comes from within in David Thomas Roberts’ political thriller featuring the Texas Rangers and their leader Pops Younger in a pitched war against the establishment.
In a generation or so from now, the U.S. has its first female president, Annabelle Bartlett, a politically savvy left-winger who has come to the office after the attempted impeachment of her predecessor, Tyrell Johnson. The impeachment proceedings and the dirty tricks that provoked it, cause a mighty stir in Texas. When several stalwart Texas heroes are murdered, a battle between the feds and the Texas Rangers heats up. The Rangers win. Secession is in the air, and it’s clear that President Bartlett will only make matters worse.
As Texas Ranger Commandant Pops Younger, a grizzled die-hard known for his Stetson hat, Wrangler denims, and handlebar mustache, often repeats, “Texans may forgive, but they don’t forget.” And sometimes, as in this case, if things go too far, they may not forgive either. In league with ex-Navy Seal and former CIA operative Zach Turner, Younger will trace the corruption he is sure he smells in the U.S. body politic all the way to the top.
Suspicious election tactics aside, President Bartlett is an intelligent adversary who chooses political gain over democratic functioning. When a conservative Supreme Court justice mysteriously drowns while on vacation to be replaced by a corrupt Bartlett appointee, straight talkers and straight shooter Younger and Turner have had enough. The ground will shift under Bartlett’s feet, and a significant defector from her ranks will make Younger’s case unshakeable.
Describing himself as a “serial entrepreneur,” Roberts offers a highly complicated plot that begins at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, D.C. and ends there, amidst the carnage that began in earnest when Bartlett took on the Texans.
Roberts’ twisted tale is filled with motifs that seem almost like the new normal in the current American political life: rumors of rigged elections, Russian involvement, a power-hungry leadership, and the failure of moderates to act for a just cause ─ all for the sake of staying in office.
Purge on the Potomac is the third book in The Patriot series by David Thomas Roberts, focusing on the grit and ethics of men like Younger and highlighting the dogged sense of independence that Texans, in general, seem to exude. A few glimpses of the characters’ private lives and tenderer feelings give emotional tone to this hard-edged and sometimes violent saga.
