A State of Disobedience

by Tom Kratman

Book Overview

It's Time to Remember the Alamo All Over Again-Here Comes the Second Texan Revolution!

In the long war against terrorism, the US Government had taken on extraordinary powers. And now that the war was won, powerful forces in the government had no intention of relinquishing those powers. As in 1860, the country was on the verge of civil war. And as in 1860, a leader arose to save the country-but it was not the President this time...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743499204
• ISBN13: 9780743499200
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.5" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Whether or not I can recommend this book will depend greatly on your political views.

I don't ask much from the books I read. Give me a couple characters I like, make some things happen that interest me, throw in a little suspense or tension, and I will probably like it. This book has all of these, plus a very interesting idea. I don't read books to analyze the prose, I read to be told a good story. As long as the author's writing doesn't get in the way of the narrative, I don't care how he writes, nor do I care how literarily acceptable his writing is. As for this book, I can't tell you how good the writing was or was not, as I didn't pay attention because I don't care. All I can say is that it didn't bother me, or in other words, it didn't get in the way of the story. However, if you are a liberal or perhaps even just a moderate democrat, you probably won't like the protagonists, hence you probably won't like the book. If you are more conservative, and you like the military genre, and you are more interested in hearing a good story rather than reading perfect prose, then you probably will like this book, and I highly recommend it. I, at least, thought it was a pretty fun read.

hysterical

My, my, my but we have a bunch of self righteous, judgmental "critics" here. I don't know if Kratman intended to create a camp classic, but IMO he managed just that. I LOVE the book precisely because it IS so bad. That Hillary would be a power happy Lesbian is so predictable I can't imagine anyone not foreseeing it. The stereotypes are set in stone, the the dialogs are horrid (and, as always) predictable, etc, etc, etc. And, of course, in the end "justice" is served. BUT, the book, like the 1950's Sc Fi classic movies is so bad it's wonderful. I've purchased and given away at least five copies to those who I knew would "understand." The lesson, I suppose, is that individuals have very different perceptions. Some are more willing to be contemptuous and judgmental that others. Personally, I find it rather incredible that someone would revile Kratman, then recommend John Ringo with his trashy his pseudo intellectual pornography.

Texas Secedes from the Union . . . Again

A State of Disobedience (2003) is a standalone near future SF novel. The USA had become steadily more polarized between the two national parties until a balance of sorts was reached. Yet this equilibrium was very unstable, threatening to collapse at any time. Then a Democratic Presidential candidate won the election. In this novel, Wilhelmina Rottemeyer, President-Elect of the United States of America, glories in the Democratic control of the White House and Congress. Now the rich individuals and corporations will be taxed to the limit to provide for the poor. Medical care, education and most other services will be taken away from state control and provided to all through the federal government. Federal police forces will be greatly expanded and charged with the elimination of organized and disorganized crime. Juanita Montoya-Serasin de Seguin is the Democratic governor of the state of Texas. Although in the same party as Willy Rottemeyer, Juanita is rather more conservative than the President. As the mother of four strong boys, she had been elected, at least partly, on her image of maternal warmth. John Lewis Schmidt is a Major General in the Texas National Guard. As Adjutant-General, he is the commander of all Army National Guard units within the state. His commander is the state governor, Juanita Seguin. Father Jorge Montoya is priest of the Dei Gloria Mission in Waco, Texas. He is also the older brother of the governor of Texas and a very close friend of Jack Schmidt. During the Vietnam War, Sergeant Montoya had saved the life of Lieutenant Schmidt. When an anti-abortion group torches a clinic in Dallas, federal agents assault the main offices of Catholics for Children and kill the staff. Father Flores witnesses the attack on his organization and flees to the Dei Gloria Mission. He is not very welcome these, but Father Jorge cannot send him back to the federal killers. When the shooting starts at Father Jorge's Mission, all the dead are federal agents, shot by young Elpida and Julio after the SAC starts to draw his sidearm. Unfortunately, one special agent gets away and the mission is soon surrounded with federal police and armored vehicles. Happily, the US Army is sitting this one out, but FBI, BATF and even the Surgeon General's Police are waiting to assault the facility. The Hostage Rescue Team has snipers ready to take out any armed perps. In this story, Jack Schmidt sends a National Guard helicopter with a double load of arms and ammunition into the mission courtyard. The HRT snipers shoot several of Father Jorge's older kids. Finally, Army attack choppers blanket the compound with rockets and gatling gun rounds. The Feds kill everybody in the mission except for Elpida, the mother of Pedro. The death toll includes twenty-five young children and the baby Pedro. These children all burn to death in the fire set by incendiary rockets, so their funeral is closed casket. The state of Texas secedes from the Union.

A Voice Crying Out in the (Texas) Wilderness

Tom brings a deep understanding of both Constitutional Law and the nature of war to animate a dark vision not his own. (Not to say he doesn't have dark visions, mind you; just that this one didn't come from Tom!) Far from convincing the convicted, it will nonetheless provide those with an open mind with food for thought, thought about about the darkness of governmental abuses past, future and imagined. The federal leaders here seem as parodies of themselves, much as Hitler and Mugabe become in the extremes of their courruption. If the vision is too much, then history is indeed to much. More politics than thrills, more angst than anger, and more insight than diplomacy, this is a short, dark novel to be considered.

Very gripping page-turner. Didn't want to put it down.

I'm *very* fortunate to have a wife who understands why my motto is "Reading is life, the rest is just maintenance." I got the book on a Thursday, and finished it on Saturday at 1AM. The seven hours it took me to read this were seriously interrupted by maintenance. We tend to forget, living in what we call "The Land of the Free", that George Orwell, in 1984, summed up most of human history with the words "The object of power is power," and that freedom, historically, is a very rare, and usually short-lived, phenomenon. Kratman hasn't forgotten, and he sets forth on a gripping cautionary tale clearly based on real-world events. We get the story in small, bite-sized chunks, hopping from POV to POV so we get to see a major historical turning point from *all* the sides involved. I was especially taken with two things about the characters: One, the "good guys" represent a breed whose successful extermination by Political Correctness will mean the end of the country. Two, the "bad guys", all clearly based on real-world models, represent the ugly outcome when people insist on being judged by their (magnificent, shining, etc. etc.) *intentions* and NOT by the results. The result is a story as gripping as watching an avalance, and hoping like hell that what is good will survive it. My reading time is at a premium these days, but this book amply rewarded my investment. Thank you, Tom Kratman. I'm *VERY* much looking forward to "Watch on the Rhine" later this year.