Snark & Sensibility

PLEASE WELCOME

H.L. WEGLEY

TO

FICTION FRIDAY

ZACH TANNER TELLS HIS STORY

An excerpt from Riven

Riven is the first book in Riven Republic, a series that explores the nature, the causes, and the repercussions of the deep divisions in America. It also predicts the trajectory of the republic because of those divisions.

To make this more than an exercise in philosophy or theology, I have taken Oregon as a microcosm of America. Politically, Oregon is split down the Cascade Mountains, though there are a few anomalies. Setting the story here enabled me to bring the readers into it on a personal level by using a cast of heroes and heroines from five of my previous novels, couples who lived in Eastern Oregon. This provided readers with a close-up view of what a de facto secession might look and feel like in a 21st-Century version of an American civil war.

Rather than explain more about the story, let’s let the hero, Zach Tanner, tell you himself, which he does in the prologue of Riven:

Zach Tanner drew a long breath as he sat in his chair in the Rogue Valley’s KROG-AM studio. The clock said only two minutes remained in his network program, Zach’s Facts. He leaned toward the mixing console, placing his mouth an inch from the mic, and began his closing remarks in a low, unrelenting voice.

"America may not be where it was on March 4, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. But many of the divisions that led to that terrible Civil War exist today—divided views of our national history, divided views of our founding documents, of our monuments, of most of our symbols, of what it means to be a patriot, and what it means to be an American.”

Propelled by the driving rhythm of his heart, the words pulsated from his lips.

"We are in a cold civil war, but one that will grow hot given the slightest provocation. I believe many provocations are coming, and the incompatible political ideologies on the right and the left prevent any resolution but a violent one, a rending of our nation. It will not play out as it did in 1861, but every American will know that we are at war when one group crosses the line, a point of no return, leaving a riven republic. And as the nation fragments in a de facto secession and struggles against itself, the question on each true American heart is, can we ever recover what we once had?

"The courts cannot save us from ourselves. No part of the federal government can. Maybe if enough pulpits echo the call to revival, God will move as He has in the past. Maybe the hearts and minds of millions will be changed, and we will find unity once again.

“At this critical juncture in American history, it appears that only an act of God can save this nation. May God have mercy on the United States of America."

Zach hit the button that played the closing theme for his show.

How much longer could he endure painting gut-wrenching pictures of the state of our severance to the citizens of the nation he loved, a nation barreling headlong into a tunnel of total darkness?

And how much longer until I’m arrested for doing this?

MORE ABOUT RIVEN

America Holds Its Collective Breath Awaiting A Twenty-First-Century Fort Sumpter

As America fractures along geopolitical boundaries—left against right, blue against red—the nation has become a powder keg. The tiniest spark might light the fuse detonating Civil War 2. Zach Tanner, Constitutionalist and radio host, has a growing radio network until Oregon’s progressive governor, Sandra Harper, shuts him down. Zach encourages Oregonian Constitutionalists to flee with him to Eastern Oregon to defend families and friends from the coming war. He envisions a powerful radio station broadcasting hope to America.

Kate Alexander, a new Christian and a fan of Zach’s radio show, wants to escape to Eastern Oregon, leaving lawless Salem, where her aunt, Governor Sandra Harper, has declared martial law, activated the State Guard, and ordered the police and military to find her beloved niece so Sandra can “fix” Kate and restore her to the most powerful political family in the state.

When Zach begins his broadcasts, progressive president, Wendell Walker, wants Zach and Kate dead. Governor Harper wants Kate returned and rehabilitated. The Constitutionalist’s militia wants to keep the two alive. When the three factions collide, can anyone win? If Zach and Kate survive, can they overcome the pain from their past and find a future together in the Divided States of America?

Riven, book 1 of the Riven Republic series, set in Oregon and DC, features a supporting cast comprising several dynamic characters who starred in H. L. Wegley’s previous novels.

ABOUT H.L. WEGLEY

H. L. Wegley served in the US Air Force as an Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. He is a Meteorologist who, while working as a forecaster and a Research Scientist in Atmospheric Physics, published extensively in the scientific literature. After earning an MS in Computer Science, he worked more than two decades as a Systems Programmer at Boeing before retiring in the Seattle area, where he and his wife enjoy small-group ministry, their grandchildren, beach hiking, and where he writes wholesome, inspirational thrillers and high-action, romantic suspense novels. His Against All Enemies Series won Gold and Silver in the 2017 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and Virtuality won Bronze in Readers’ Favorite 2019.

Purchase Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Riven-Republic-Book-1-ebook/dp/B085NBQ3WL/

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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/H-L-Wegley/e/B00B1XMR56/