It’s not often that you come across a book right in the wake of a public tragedy that was published some time earlier, and yet seems perfectly suited for the times. Matthew Bracken’s first entry in his Enemies trilogy, however, provided me with one such moment of happenstance quite recently. I picked it up shortly after the Sandy Hook massacre contributed to the endless and frankly increasingly silly and shrill debate over gun rights in this country, and finished it just a few days ago.

Enemies Foreign and Domestic is a timely book. While it was written years before the Sandy Hook massacre, its message is timeless and powerful. It’s just a shame that the writing is of such uneven quality.

Let’s get a few things out of the way first. Matthew Bracken is, as far as I can tell, the genuine article- he knows what he’s talking about. He’s a former Navy SEAL, he’s operated in some of the nastiest turf in the world, and he lives a life now that is very similar to the one that one of the main characters in this book aspired to- sailing the world on his own boat, beholden to no government and answerable only to the Almighty. By his own admission, he is a strict Constitutionalist- like me, he believes that the Constitution should be interpreted exactly as it was intended at the time of its writing, not twisted and tailored to suit modern conceptions of “justice” and “equality”. And that definitely shows up in his writing. His understanding of the weapons, tactics, and methods used by various government agencies makes itself felt in every major action scene in the book. It’s very clear that he’s really been there. He’s really done the things that he describes in the book- he’s defended his country and his people against foreign threats, he’s observed the country he loves turning into a police state, and he’s done whatever it takes to escape the ever greater loss of liberty.

The story of EFAD is straightforward enough. A supposed crazed gunman opens fire on a crowd at a sports event, killing dozens by shooting and hundreds more by way of the panicked stampede to get out  of the sports stadium. The government kicks into high gear, using the horror of the massacre to impose draconian laws against private ownership of semi-automatic firearms. This goes down with the nation like a plate of cold sick, with many actively resisting the clearly un-Constitutional law and insisting on keeping their firearms with them. The story follows the lives and exploits of a few men and women who choose to actively resist the insanity around them, as well as the evils of the government agents who seek to destroy all who oppose them.

The message could not have been more timely if the book was written the day after Sandy Hook. It’s as if Bracken saw the entire thing coming and plotted out the scenario from beginning to end, operating on the premise of a “false flag” operation on the part of the government to usurp and destroy the liberties of individual citizens. And in that respect, this book is fantastically good. Having seen for myself how easily Americans are willing to give up their most fundamental freedoms in exchange for pretty pieties about “patriotic duty” and “coming together” in a time of national mourning, I tend to be deeply sceptical of the idea that Americans even understand their rights under the Constitution, and I have very little faith in their willingness to fight for any real rights, unless it be the right to sue each other for the slightest imagined infraction upon their personal space. Yet, when it comes to guns and the inviolable, absolute right to self-defence, I could very well be wrong. Deep down, Americans seem to understand, for the most part, that government is no guarantee of security, and that the ultimate defence of their freedoms rests with each and every man, woman, and child in this country.

There is a great deal to like about this book. The attention to detail with regards to the paramilitary tactics and weapons used by government agencies like the BATFE is most impressive. The manner in which national crises are used and abused to destroy the checks and balances of the Constitution is painted very nicely here. Government agents are painted in an almost uniformly negative light- no bad thing, in my opinion, given that my regard for government and its personnel is extremely poor. It becomes increasingly clear throughout the book that agents of the government were in fact plotting to overthrow and destroy the freedoms of their fellow Americans, all in the name of personal power and greed. (Sort of like what this assclown is doing.) I particularly like the way in which individual, ordinary citizens are shown struggling to carry on with a semblance of normality in the face of ever-increasing government-perpetrated insanity.

Unfortunately, there is also rather a lot to dislike. When it comes to the two main characters, Ranya and Brad, one really has to suspend disbelief to get on with the story. The character of Ranya Bardiwell, in particular, reads like an adolescent fantasy scribbled on sheets of sticky Kleenex after an all-night session of playing the latest Tomb Raider installment. Here is a woman who is not too short, very cute, with nice breasts, highly intelligent, and who knows how to shoot. This isn’t just me being a raging misogynist- by all means, do show me such a woman, because I guarantee you that any such specimen would be a rare and extremely valuable one. If you’re a single man and you find a woman like that, snatch her up right away. In all my time in this country, I think I’ve come across maybe three. One of them is Doug Giles’s daughter, Hannah. One is Sarah Palin- and whatever you think of her (personally, I’m a fan, if not of her speaking voice, which I find very grating), the woman really can shoot. And one is this lady. That’s it. Granted, I live in a very liberal part of the country, where women who know how to shoot are rather thin on the ground, but still, the characterisation of Ranya Bardiwell really takes some getting used to. Hell, I’m roughly a third of the way through the second book in the series, and I still find Ranya’s character more than a little absurd.

It doesn’t stop there. Brad Fallon’s character comes across as being a bit, well, weedy- not at all what one would expect from a former Navy SEAL trainee. Other characters in the book come across as men trying to be decent, in an indecent time, and in that respect I think Bracken succeeds in portraying them well. But overall, the lack of really believable, relatable characters is what lets the book down. There were many times during my reading of this book that I had to put it down, because I just found some of the plot points too ridiculous to believe. I’m not going to go too deeply into the plot; let’s just say that I find it mildly absurd that two of the main characters hook up after a tragedy in the manner that they do. Some of the writing is downright… well, silly. It’s clear that this is the author’s first attempt at writing fiction.

Don’t let these problems distract you from the core message, though. The basic point of the book is that the right to self-defence is worth defending. No government should ever arrogate to itself the ability to determine whether or not you can defend yourself, as this country’s government is trying to do right now. When I read EFAD, the debates around gun control had just been reignited, and it was clear that despite the very best attempts of liberal airheads everywhere, they were still losing the debate. Matthew Bracken’s book paints a very grim and desolate alternate future, in which they win that debate, and the nation imposes absurdly stupid and stringent gun laws that stop free men and women from arming and defending themselves. That future could still happen- indeed I would bet on it happening, because I’ve seen firsthand just how clueless a lot of northeastern liberals are about who and what keeps them safe and secure. If nothing else, Bracken’s book serves as a timely warning to all of us- a warning from a man who has been there on the front lines that freedom is not free at all, that it must be defended and cherished, and that good men and women must fight to preserve it for their children.

Verdict: 3/5 – promising start, interesting ideas, but very patchy and rather silly in places