Going Dark, George H. Mehok, author
The year is 1781, the 6th year of the American Revolution. Jack Juett has been charged with an important mission to help rescue the United States of America from British control and to save the life of Governor Thomas Jefferson. King George III, however, is determined to maintain British power over the colonies he has ruled. The reader will learn about the war heroes that fought for their country, the traitors that betrayed their country to support the enemy, the battles fought, and the weapons used in order to save the newly created America. The reader will recognize many of the names as real historic figures.
There is a parallel story that is about a time in the not-too-distant future. Paul Knox, a cyber expert and implied descendant of General Henry Knox, famous for his role in the Continental Army of the American Revolution, is coupled with others in law enforcement and Homeland Security and charged with saving the United States of America from an attack by radical Islamists who are hoping to bring America to its knees. I wondered if heroism could be passed down in our DNA! Paul must also rescue his scientist daughter from the clutches of these Islamic terrorists, led by Khalid and his deputy Hassan. The prosecution of this imagined war is far different as cyberwarfare is coupled with violence and the soldiers often do not wear uniforms. Our technology and science have really advanced so that the battlefield is vastly different. Although centuries separate both stories, both conflicts arose from the need of one group to gain or maintain power over another, and although we know how one conflict ended, because it was in the past, we do not know how our future conflicts will end; so even after this one is resolved, the reader may wonder if we are doomed to repeat history again and again with different villains. As famous names and indisputable facts from American history are referenced, it seems that the more things have changed, the more they have remained the same.
There were times, as I read, that I thought that the main characters almost seemed tangential, although not incidental to the narrative, because their names, times and conflicts could well have been changed to represent others. The thread that bound them all together was the desire for freedom and independence vs the desire for power, control and money. Those desires are still often the all-consuming motivation for many of our current conflicts. In the future, perhaps a book will be written about a time in which no more terrorists are being trained by our enemies, a time in which the characters like Khalid and Hassan are no longer our enemies, but rather our friends with whom we live in peace. If not, as our weapons surpass our imaginations, and our technology completely controls us, the final outcome will be unimaginable. If our history continues to repeat itself, will we ultimately destroy ourselves and our planet as our enemies continue to seek to conquer and enslave us?
My criticism of this book is that sometimes it felt like it was written for young adults and sometimes for rocket scientists. As it went back and forth in time, with detailed descriptions of events and circumstances, I felt compelled to do some research to help me comprehend some of them. I was not as familiar with some of the information as I needed to be. In addition, interestingly enough, this book is debuting at a very timely moment. Our country is currently actively engaged in aiding the prosecution of two wars, both about fighting for control, both believing in their own end goals, and both spiraling out of control. Both are forcing us to rethink the root causes of these same kinds of conflicts. With the advanced weaponry and technology of today, it is frightening to fully understand or even contemplate the end result. Sometimes our enemies and allies are not easily recognized or easy to separate as conflict often makes strange bedfellows.
I feel invested in the fate of some of the characters, like Lia, Emma, Paul and his father, so if there is a sequel to this book I hope it will enlighten me further, and that it will also be about a time in our future that illustrates a world that has moved forward with an end to the cycle of violence, a time in which we again believe in the ideas of honor, loyalty and patriotism, and understand that there are two sides of every coin, just like the Liberty Coin used to symbolize character and loyalty in this novel and which was once used to represent the fight for freedom from British rule. Will it be possible to move past the sins of our past now that centuries have come and gone? Who knows that answer?
So, in the end, I thought, it doesn’t really matter whether the conflict takes place in June of 1781, or later on in the 21st or even the 22nd century and beyond, because if nothing changes, the players will basically be the same in different costumes, all wanting to conquer and master those they perceive as weaker and vulnerable. What will decide our ultimate path? Who will choose what is right and what is wrong? Will our history encourage us to correct our mistakes or will there always be a Benedict Arnold, a Lund Washington, a Khalid or Hassan or corrupt and treasonous politician in our future? I felt a bit hopeful and encouraged, in the end, because just as the bodily scars recurred as symbols of our past and our future, so too did the heroes always step forward to save the day.
Although this book is exciting, as well as interesting, it is also an amazing learning experience. It is a book that will raise many questions for discussion about war and peace, loyalty and betrayal, history and our future.