THE NUCLEAR SWORD OF DAMOCLES

In Faber’s thriller, an officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security uncovers a nuclear plot involving foreign powers.

A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words, as the protagonist of this apocalyptic adventure learns in short order. After Jordan, a middle-aged woman with degrees in anthropology and national security, strikes out repeatedly while trying to get a job at a think tank, she unexpectedly lands a plum gig with Homeland Security, where she’s appointed to a special task force. Her mission soon comes into focus after the surprising reelection of President Ruthven, a megalomaniac whose overreach knows no bounds, as her supervisor, Barrett, grimly details: “If those sadistic pricks get back in power, Jordan? This place becomes Dante’s ninth circle. And we’ll be the demons.” Aided by conscience-stricken defector Zhao Minsheng, a former assistant director in China’s Ministry of State Security, Jordan uncovers a conspiracy that includes nuclear weapons and multiple foreign powers, and a deadly plan involving targets within U.S. borders. What follows is a dizzying tale of the collapse of American democracy, driven by Ruthven’s foreign partners and roving attacks by his personal militia of “Venophiles.” The resulting events push Jordan and her loved ones—including her husband, a U.S. Coast Guardsman—to their limits, even as they refuse to give up on the humane ideals that define them. It’s a moral lesson that seems ripped from today’s headlines, and one that should prove inspiring for readers troubled by current debates about the perils of governmental overreach. A lot of action happens, but it unfolds with the villainous president, Ruthven, deep in the background. Aside from periodic references to his moral bankruptcy, readers find out little else about him; he glides through the narrative largely unseen and unheard, which may strike some readers as unsatisfying—like a Bond movie without Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Perhaps the author will remedy this oversight in a potential sequel. That said, the novel’s greater message, about the urgency of preserving democratic ideals, will likely make a strong impression.

A harrowing political thriller that follows a struggle for survival as the world falls apart.