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More Timely Now Than Ever Before! See Note At Right. This is the first novel or book that actually thinks through what would happen if the U.S.A. ever invokes Article V of the U.S. Constitution and holds a Second Constitutional Disaster (oops, Convention). It would truly be *Autumn of the Republic* or call it *Nightfall Forever USA*. See note at top right.
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= CON2: The Generals of October =
Constitution Thriller—Second Constitutional Convention
CON2: The Generals of October (Autumn of the Republic) About twenty-five years ago, when I set out to write my first 'big' mainstream novel, I came across a theme worthy of my efforts. In the U.S. Constitution, I spotted Article V, which deals with amending the Constitution. If you read it carefully, you'll find that we can either amend it one little amendment at a time, which means sending the amendment around to each of the fifty states for them to separately approve it (by a 2/3 majority, very difficult to achieve); or,we could theoretically also hold a convention and have all the states approve that one amendment. My novel is a warning: don't do it. Let's never have that CON2.
Seven Days in May Inspiration. CON2 was my first major foray into the big novel. One of my all time favorites that inspired this novel was Seven Days in May (1962) by Fletcher Knebel and & Charles W. Bailey II. It was a bestseller, and made in to a successful movie by the same title (Seven Days in May) in 1964. An interesting fact is that the screenplay was written by our SFFH hero Rod Serling. Interestingly also, Rod Serling's screenplay was resurrected in 1994 as a television movie titled The Enemy Within, starring Forest Whitaker and other top stars.
Other Inspirations. I wrote the first of five major drafts (each a total overhaul, so I really labored on CON2) in 1992. I've already mentioned Seven Days in May as a predecessor. At the time, I thought Seven Days in May was a bit far-fetched, sort of 1950s Red Scare paranoia, although today (2017) the Russian hack as a subplot to the Donald Trump nightmare should have resurrected Seven Days in May as it did George Orwell's 1984 and other political nightmares. Other dark political tales I greatly enjoyed, and recalled in launching CON2, included 1974's all-star (Warren Beatty et al) The Parallax View and James Grady's 1974 Six Days of the Condor which became the award-winning 1975 Robert Redford flick Three Days of the Condor. A funny story about Grady's book is that allegedly, his original manuscript was titled Sixteen Days of the Condor, but publisher W.W. Norton, aware of modern folks' short attention spans, decided a thriller couldn't take sixteen days so they shortened it to six. Film makers (Dino DeLaurentiis, Sydney Pollack) registered postively A.D.D. and shortened the film again to Three Days of the Condor.
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Read Half Free/Try-Buy at Galley City
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Visit Galley City's Classics Page to read half free/try-buy most of my novels. The Classics page features most of the 1990s first HTML novels I published on Neon Blue Fiction or The Haunted Village (see Clocktower Books Museum pages for more info).
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More Timely Now Than Ever—Since 6 Jan 2021
CON2: Washington Under Siege NOTE: New title *CON2: Washington Under Siege* same novel in a new edition released immediately after the attempted coup on 6 January 2021 at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Previous titles (same story, different editions since the 1990s) include *CON2* (meaning Second Constitutional Convention), *The Generals of October*, and *Autumn of the Republic*.
This novel, originally written and published in the 1990s, clearly shows why a Second Constitutional Convention, based on Article V in the U.S. Constitution, must never happen. It is a ticking time bomb setting the stage for a real overthrow of the U.S. Government. The novel is a serious political analysis under cover of a suspenseful, romantic thriller. Primary models included *Seven Days in May*, *The Parallax View*, *Three Days of the Condor*, and *The Manchurian Candidate* among others. More timely and apropos after 6 Jan 2021 than ever before. Ignore at your peril. |
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Browse or Buy at Amazon
The book linked at left is an e-book
edition to browse; or buy & download from Amazon for your Kindle reader.
The middle link is for the corresponding print edition. Most of these are standard 6x9"; a few have added trim sizes available (5x8"). More info at Amazon.com.
Most print editions are also available at Barnes & Noble online; or call/visit your local bookstore to order.
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