LIBERTYLAND
by Peter Sacks
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Pub Date 28 Feb 2024 | Archive Date 1 Apr 2024
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Description
January 6 meets Ayn Rand when former Navy Seal Carson McCready finds himself the prime suspect of the worst domestic terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. His investigation to clear his name leads to a secret society of Libertarian billionaires who will stop at nothing in order to create a brutal society of pure capitalism.
Suzanne Dreyfus and Garrick Cripps had a passionate romance during their undergraduate years at MIT. On a lark, Suzanne writes The Liberation Manifesto, a wicked satire of right-wing libertarian philosophy. However, Garrick's enormous ego fools him into thinking that Suzanne's parody should be taken seriously. He believes it could serve as a blueprint for how, many years later, to overthrow American democracy in favor of the 1%. But for the revolution to begin, Garrick and his cronies know that an inciting event, like a Stateside terrorist attack, is needed to convince the public that drastic change in leadership is necessary. The plot to bring terror to US soil involves many individuals, some who will be collateral damage and some who will avenge the fallen. Suzanne, along with Carson McCready, a former Navy SEAL, and Laura Cavendish, a cyber weapons expert, are all that stand between Cripps and leadership of the country. Culminating in a violent denouement, LIBERTYLAND shows what could happen if the ideas of a madman go unchecked.
LIBERTYLAND is a departure from most thrillers of its ilk. The main protagonist, formerly a highly decorated SEAL platoon leader, breaks the predictable stereotype of the flag-waving uber-patriot. A student of the human condition, Carson McCready thinks deeply about freedom and individualism, and in the end, he has no choice but to uphold his oath of honor and battle a violent conspiracy that is fueled by the blood of innocents. The themes are timeless. But LIBERTYLAND is also timely–a work of fiction that is unique to the here and now.
COMING IN FEBRUARY 2024
Advance Praise
International Review of Books:
Libertyland is a gripping political thriller that ensnares readers with its relentless suspense and immersive narrative.
This well crafted novel takes you on quite a journey. Each page is full of twists and turns, so you can never tell what awaits in the next chapter, keeping you on your toes till the very end. The narrative is a rollercoaster of political intrigue and action-packed sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat.
The multifaceted characters and their intricate connections further add to the story's complexity and realism, making it impossible to put down until the riveting conclusion.
However, what makes the story truly chilling is its unsettling plausibility. As you read it you come to realize that these events could easily happen in our world.
A must-read for anyone who enjoys suspenseful storytelling and thought-provoking scenarios, Libertyland is a tour de force, leaving you breathless and wonderfully disturbed.
Libertyland is a masterfully crafted political thriller, an intense book that is a joy to read.
U.S. Review of Books:
10/15/23, 11:13 AM
Book Reviews - The US Review of Books: Professional Book Reviews
Libertyland
by Peter Sacks AIA Publishing
book review by Mihir Shah
""Those who can’t afford life have just two choices: become a slave to the highest bidder, or die. That, my friend, is liberty.""
Suzanne Dreyfus is a brilliant MIT mind who has reached the pinnacle of an inspiring career with her work at the Pentagon. However, it is her heart that sets in motion a collision course with chaos. In Sacks’ narrative, a seemingly harmless romance between Dreyfus and another MIT alum, Garrick Cripps, evolves into a full-fledged plot to eradicate the government and redefine the meaning of liberty. When Dreyfus gifts Garrick the Liberation Manifesto, a satirization of freedom, for his fortieth
birthday, an intended joke becomes the catalyst to a so-called movement that threatens the fabric of democracy.
Though Dreyfus is perceived to be the victim of Garrick’s decrepit mind and sinister actions, the narrative regularly allows readers into her mind. What emerges is a conflicted woman whose intelligence is handcuffed by unrequited love, and the tug-of-war that ensues between love and rationale directly shows her waffling back and forth in her allegiance to Garrick. When she finally realizes that Garrick is not going to settle for anything but his delusional dream of a libertarian paradise, the ship has sailed.
There are countless themes that run concurrently throughout the novel, whether that is the extent one will go for love, how humanity can be so fickle that it can be bought for a price, or what makes a killer. At a deeper level, the question of what liberty means to the individual is even more magnified through Garrick’s callous outlook. In a nutshell, he believes that the capitalists are the victims, and the perpetrators are the underserved, disadvantaged communities and minorities who prevent the rich from getting richer.
Ironically, while Suzy Dreyfus fell for Garrick’s charm, Laura Cavendish was unfazed. With Garrick as Laura’s professor and mentor, much of her fate depended on pleasing him, yet in many ways, Laura was the anti-Suzy. Her incredible self-confidence was not contingent on anyone else. As the story progresses and her high school sweetheart turned Navy Seal, Carson McCready, enters the fold, it becomes easy to see how the two are the yin to Suzanne and the yang to Garrick. Laura and McCready are determined to thwart Suzanne and Garrick on a cyber battlefield. Unsurprisingly, one would expect genius masterminds to stray away from brute force, but if their plan fails, do they risk the collapse of their dream or employ a whatever-
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10/15/23, 11:13 AM Book Reviews - The US Review of Books: Professional Book Reviews
it-takes attitude? The cliche of the wounded lion striking the hardest is applicable to Garrick’s ego as the plot continues to unfold and life-altering decisions are made.
The experiences of every character seem tailor-made for the moment that brings about a perfect storm of calamitous events. Even characters like FBI Agent Cunningham, who forsakes his duty for a payday from Garrick, is a somewhat sympathetic player. Despite being entrusted with capturing top- priority criminals, Cunningham is still saddled with crippling debt that affects his personal life. More or less, a high-stakes game of chess is taking place, and the board is cyberspace. Garrick and his friend/crony Eurynomos have taken their billionaire status and manipulated everyone in authority, from judges to agents. In short, the survival of the government has the odds stacked against it. The end result is an electrifying and delightful experience for readers, yet one that is highly thought-provoking as they come to recognize that what is being shown to them is not necessarily reality.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
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This review was written by a professional book reviewer with no guarantee that it would receive a positive rating. Some authors pay a small fee to have a book reviewed, while others do not. All reviews are approximately half summary and half criticism. The US Review of Books is dedicated to providing fair and honest coverage to all books.
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Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781922329578 |
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Featured Reviews
Steven P, Reviewer
As a Brit seeing what happens in USA can seem baffling most of the time. If you read this and do not feel your blood boil then you may wish to chaek your pulse to make sure you are still alive. What starts of as a joke for a boirthday gift (some form of manifesto) becomes a blueprint for a libertarian movement who want to overthrow the governernment and take/steal all of the assets that previously belonged to the governemt. The hijack of what it means to be free is shown as being a balance where all need to pay their way.
In our day and age where the uber rich contuie to amass wealth beyond belief this is a timely take that illustrates that things probably are not always as bad as they seem. Thankfully our heroes (two of them) refuse to lie down and combine together to defeat the aims of the shadowy libetrian movement.
When you read this, as with many decent stories, please suspend your disbelief and enjoy the story through to a, thankfully, encouraging ending. However, some passages made me incredibly sad as to what human kind might be capable of.
3.5/5 rounded up to 4.
Eddy W, Media/Journalist
Libertyland is a Political Conspiracy thriller by Pete Sacks and is rated as my best book of the year.
Carson McCready a former Navy SEAL is under financial pressure from Alimony, banks and the Navy. He needs a normal honest job and a chance meeting on the beach leads Carson to apply for a job working with inmates at SanDiego County Jail.
Carson puts all his energy into the new project, building an inmates team for telemarketing but Carson receives an anonymous tip off about a cyber war and then his prison boss tells him their computers are to have a surprise upgrade.
Carson also learns his telemarketing computers are the gateway for a cyber attack and he's fall guy for the Freedom Society’s home grown terrorist plot.
The terrorists plan to launch a military grade cyber network killer AI which will overcome Government cyber systems. The killer cyber bot's launch needs Liberation Day to be a bloody catalyst, build panic and Carson to be blamed
Their contingency plan is foiled as Carson McCready uses all his experience, skill and help from an ally from his past.
The end game for Cripps is to take charge whilst lining their pockets from cyber security disasters and chaos.
But, as the country remain immobile or impotent following Liberation Day, it is Carson alone who must end this evil power play and rescue his country.
Libertyland’s well blended characters work well in creating the picture of financial blackmail, intrigue and back room politics and where fake news and social media assist the terrorists to lull and coerce the population.
Libertyland is a very well crafted, realistic, absorbing and enjoyable political thriller, written in and for the political climate of today. It's fast moving and thought provoking in today's climate of media warning on data lost or cyber security breaches in large corporations or at National level.
The terrifying scenario of military grade cyber network killer AI bots being used by greedy unscrupulous megalomaniacs to destabilize Government is no longer unbelievable. We should all be disturbed by that.
Libertyland illuminates moral disconnect between decision makers and those delegated to act on their decisions. This appears a common factor in many . Corporate and Government actions today, indicating a growing lack of moral compass in individuals.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read and provide a fair review of Libertyland and introducing me to author Pete Sacks - Eddy Weatherill 19.02.24
john L, Reviewer
I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This is not your normal Political thriller. It is about the steps that a group of individuals who want to destroy the existing government and replace it with one that favor the wealthy. They have started by placing individuals in places of employment that will benefit them as well as providing monetary favors (bribes) to high placed political officials. Their latest placement Carson McCready, a former Seal, into a prison where he is supposed to train prisoners to perform telemarketing. The plan is for him to take a fall as being involved with a terrorism plot. Things do not go as well as planned so a new plan is made to place a bomb at a charity game played between Carson's prison team and a semi-pro team. As a result of the bomb, Carson sets out to make them pay for the large amount of people killed as well as one he was fond of.
To find out what the organization plans were, what Carson's role was, who the individual Carson was fond of and how it all ended you must read this book.
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