The Army of the Republic: A Novel

by Stuart Archer Cohen

Overview

"One of the first works of art with the courage to live up to our historical moment. Brilliant, terrifying, and much too close for comfort."—Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo

In a revolutionary America at the edge of our imagination, two men face off in a struggle for the future. On one side is Lando, a twenty-something urban guerilla whose obsession with saving the country drives his Army of the Republic deeper into a violent campaign of bombing and assassination. On the other side is James Sands, a billionaire entrepreneur so determined to preserve his privileges that he unwittingly hires death squads to hunt down and murder his own family. Against the backdrop of mass demonstrations and corporate armies, this thrilling kaleidoscopic novel explores the deeper issues of love, family, and lethal rebellion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312429058
Publisher:	Picador
Publication date:	09/29/2009
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

STUART ARCHER COHEN's two previous novels, Invisible World and 17 Stone Angels, have been translated into ten languages. He lives in Juneau, Alaska.

Editorial Reviews

That these 400-plus pages fly by so quickly is a credit to Cohen's plotting and his insight into the paranoid mind. . . . just try resisting the thrilling sequences where tech-savy insurgents plot audacious attacks with a sophistication that Robert Redford would have envied in Three Days of the Condor.” —USA Today

“This timely, well-written, and very dark novel is a winner.” —Library Journal

“A white-knuckle thrill ride that goes from zero to ninety-nine in the first paragraph and never slows down: Thomas Paine meets Rage Against the Machine.” —David Maine, author of The Preservationish and Monster, 1959

“Chilling vision of a not-too-distant future . . . Mr. Cohen writes with conviction.” —New York Times

“[An] extrapolation of trends and events in the very recent history of the country: wars of choice, the politics of fear, deregulation, oil shock, torture, and on and on. A few people will call [Stuart Archer Cohen's] polemical page-turner treasonous, but it should find plenty of supporters among those who think the country is moving in the wrong direction.” —Booklist

“Cohen has captured an America...that is awakening, an America that is a long time coming, and an America that defies the old ways of thinking about change and politics.” —Lew Rockwell

“I give my highest recommendation for The Army of the Republic. ... This was one that I could barely put down ... Not only is it educational & thought provoking, it is a fast paced thriller.” —Michael Nystrom, Daily Paul, Ron Paul's unofficial site

From the Publisher

Politically liberal readers will probably best appreciate Cohen's near-future thriller, in which corporate oligarchs run America and the middle classes acquiesce through fear of the displaced underclass, composed of those generally left behind by globalization. A coalition of trade unionists, environmentalists, religious groups and civil libertarians opposes the oligarchs. When the administration hacks electronic voting to rig elections, a general strike is called that's put down with Blackwater-style mercenaries. This leads a small group of activists to launch a campaign of assassinations and sabotage to force the government into allowing elections, but this triggers even more repression. While Cohen (Invisible World) vividly describes the dynamics of a demonstration as it evolves into a riot, even those in sympathy with the author's message may find this paranoid fantasy too heavy-handed and strident for their taste. (Sept.)

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Publishers Weekly

Cohen's (The Stone Angel) provocative new novel describes an America in the near future alarmingly like today's could become. And what a horrifying place it is! The mortgage crisis has gotten worse, more Americans have lost their jobs, and the economy is down the tubes. The plutocrats are doing fine: they take lavish government subsidies and privatize public resources: water, energy, highways, the postal service. Ordinary people pay inflated rates for diminished service. The government is solidly in bed with the fat cats. Television trivializes the issues, promoting whatever the government says it should say. Voters are clueless about what's really causing their discontent. An alliance of protest groups, some underground and some not, unites behind an initiative to reinstate paper ballots. (Internet voting opened the floodgates to voter fraud.) When their alliance is successful, the government moves rapidly to violence to suppress dissent. Corporate mercenaries subvert, intimidate, and kill their opponents. In this disturbingly real world, the bad guys have much too much firepower for the good guys ever to come out on top. Told from shifting perspectives on both sides of the battle, this timely, well-written, and very dark novel is a winner. Enthusiastically recommended for all public collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ5/15/08.]
—David Keymer

Library Journal