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Content Warning: This section of the guide describes the novel’s treatment of terrorist attacks, which includes the graphic deaths of civilians. The novel also features some racist and sexist language.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Wayne Grissom, sits before the president in the Oval Office where they discuss the deaths of more than 300 Americans in domestic terror attacks. The attacks range from poisoned water to shootings to pipe bombs. The unrelated, home-grown terror attacks are part of a larger, organized terror scheme meant to disrupt the economy and American sense of security.

General Grissom explains that what seemed like random fury amid a wasp-like swarm of discontent is coordinated terrorism funded by America’s enemies: “Iran, China, Russia, and some Mexican cartels” (8). Web chatter suggests an attack in DC is imminent. The president makes Grissom the chair of a task force to address the attacks. Grissom suggests that the president temporarily suspend Posse Comitatus, the rule banning the military from participating in civilian law. He further suggests the “[r]estriction of civilian movement, control and oversight of the internet to prevent the spread of misinformation and fake news” and the declaration of martial law (9).