Tom Jennings' simple request is that his son be allowed to take one less class during his upcoming senior year in high school. A simple denial of his request with no supporting reason causes Tom's natural investigative instincts to take hold, and the more he discovers about the schoolboard in his small suburban town, the more dangerous life becomes for him and his family.
Even as he champions what he feels is the right thing, Tom is haunted at every turn by the death of his young daughter. His journey brings him face-to-face with his own morality, and he finds himself questioning his commitment to his own faith. Eventually, his rage is the only thing that fuels him as he embarks on a trail of wickedness he could never have imagined uncovering.
Meanwhile, Matt Daniels' best friend-a precocious, counter-culture, twenty-year-old sociology student, Jovie Brenner, investigates clues related to Matt's mysterious suicide. As the bright, inquisitive son of the Maple, Illinois, schoolboard chairman, Matt had been investigating the depths of the mysteries and corruption in his hometown just prior to his death. When the authorities refuse to pursue the inquiry, Jovie sets out to follow the clues Matt left behind, and in the process, engulfs herself in her own increasing peril.
Tom and Jovie independently discover a conspiracy between members of the municipal government, the schoolboard, and a conglomerate of fracking companies that are tightly-woven within the clutches the communist government of China. Desperate to find a way out and stay alive as they pursue their investigations, Tom and Jovie decide to team up and collect enough evidence to destroy the forces that have launched against them. A dangerous pursuit ensues, and Tom and Jovie find themselves hiding from various unknown agents who mean them harm.
From the author of Everlene's Sky comes a novel of intrigue, corruption, and murderous betrayal.
Russo, Michael: - Mike Russo is a twenty-one-year veteran of the United States Navy. After enlisting in the navy in 1981, he began his career as an F-14 Tomcat mechanic. From 1983 to 1984, he deployed on board the USS John F. Kennedy for eight months and participated in UN operations off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon. In 1990, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science and was commissioned as an ensign. In 1993, he made another six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Bosnia on board the USS Saratoga and from 1997 to 1998 on board theUSS George Washington, where his team participated in Operation Southern Watch off the coast of Iraq. He was awarded the US Navy's prestigious F-14 Tomcat Maintenance Officer of the Year Award for 1998. He has had the pleasure of working with so many great Americans throughout his career. He retired from the navy as a lieutenant commander in 2002 and began a career in private industry.Mike has a master's degree in management and continues to write technical proposals and public relations articles for both private and public defense issues. He has two grown sons who are awesome-and he became a grandpa last year. He lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he enjoys the company and love of so many friends and family members.
