The Reformers: A Matt Blake Novel (The Matt Blake legal thriller series Book 2)
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“Over the past four years we became accustomed to something we thought we’d never experience in our country—The Knock on the Door. In my administration that will stop, IMMEDIATELY.”
The crowd went absolutely nuts.
Knock on the Door—NO MORE - Knock on the Door—NO MORE - Knock on the Door—NO MORE.
The words “knock on the door,” obviously hit a nerve judging from the volume of the yelling.
In the crowd I noticed Jerome, the doorman for our condo. He looked at me and gave a two thumbs-up sign. I smiled and returned the gesture. I imagined that he looked forward to not allowing someone to knock on my door.
“My first day on the job will be a busy one, and my only fear is writer’s cramp. On my first day in office I shall repeal each and every one of the 1,479 executive orders that have plunged our nation into darkness. That’s right, I shall begin my administration by dialing back the clock four years and resetting it to a time of freedom that we love and cherish.”
The crowd freaked out. The air could barely hold all of the streamers and flying confetti. I didn’t think I saw a dry eye in the room. I tried to fight back my own tears. Screw it. I just took out my handkerchief and wiped my eyes. I was reacting to the crowd that was reacting to me. I noticed former Speaker of the House John Boehner standing off to the side. He was famous for crying when his emotions moved him. I looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled and returned the gesture, but immediately put his face into his hands.
The audience wanted more and I (along with my talented speechwriter/wife) gave it to them.
“In just over two months from now the sun will bathe our country in warmth, no matter what the temperature. In the words of the great President Ronald Reagan, ‘It’s morning in America.’ ”
Matt Blake—Matt Blake—Matt Blake—Matt Blake
I could get used to this. I wished that Dee, my soulmate, conscience, and reality checker would whisper a message into my ear. I would probably be something like, “Hey, dickhead, your tie’s
crooked.”
***
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I’m Britt Hume, your host for this special Election Night broadcast of Fox News. The result of the national election was hardly a surprise, given Matt Blake’s strong polling numbers leading up to Election Day. The message from the American voters couldn’t be stronger. The Blake-Benton ticket dominated the top of the scorecard, with the Heritage Party ticket trouncing President Bartholomew Martin by over 20 percentage points. The Blake ticket won the majority of electoral votes in all 50 states, and the popular vote by a wide margin. It’s the highest percentage of the popular vote for a candidate in over 75 years, since 1936. The congressional and senatorial races saw a Heritage Party sweep as well.
Only one man from the Freedom from Terror Party retained his seat in Congress. He’s Anderson Johs, a 94-year-old retired farmer from a rural district in Wyoming. Congressman Johs distinguished himself in the past four years by never once saying anything controversial, actually by never saying anything at all. A joke that widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter said, ‘Elect Johs—He’s a Friendly Old Coot.’ When asked about his opinion of the future of the Freedom from Terror Party, he replied, ‘I have no idea. I’m a Democrat, aren’t I?’
I love the job I’m doing right now, ladies and gentlemen, covering a national election. I’ve been at this for more years than I can remember, and I have to share with you folks that it’s just plain fun. Seeing those exhausted campaign workers cheering on their guy is a gift to watch.
A sharp difference between the candidates was on view this afternoon at an abandoned space at the Blake Headquarters. I’m going to roll the clip in a moment, but you’ve probably seen it a few times already today. You will see Matt Blake, who I can now call President-Elect Blake, and his wife, Diana, playing catch. That’s it, just playing hardball catch. I can tell you that the First Lady-Elect has a wicked fast ball.
But this election is different in one startling aspect, and here’s where I have to get serious.
President Bartholomew Martin has been distinguished by his absence this evening. And it’s not just this evening, he’s been nowhere to be seen at all today. His polling place in Manhattan was one of the closest watched locations in the country, and he did not appear. The only assumption, and we have nothing to base it on, is that he voted by absentee ballot. He simply has not been seen today, and that includes Martin Campaign Headquarters in New York City. We have staff on the spot at the Martin campaign, and nobody seems to know of the President’s whereabouts.
As anyone who has been watching tonight’s campaign results knows, President Martin never made the traditional congratulary phone call to his opponent, nor did he give a public concession speech in front of his supporters. It’s unprecedented, in a landslide election such as this one, to see a sitting incumbent not have the grace to call and congratulate his rival.
Named sources have told me that, out of frustration, Retired General Wilcox Cummings, Chairman of the Heritage Party, actually called Martin Headquarters to advise them that President-Elect Blake was about to make a victory speech, and asked if President Martin would like to comment before he did. I was told that President Martin was not available to answer Cummings’ phone call.
I hate to use exaggerated words in discussing politics, but this development can only be described as bizarre. President Martin not only insulted President-Elect Blake, he insulted the American people, who want to call it a night and go to bed. The Martin campaign had no comment for me when I called them personally. It’s over two months until Matthew Blake will be inaugurated on January 20. We’ll just have to see if President Martin will take some time from his waning days in office to do the right thing.”
***
At one a.m. the crowd finally began to thin. Dee and I stood off to the side of the room, holding hands, streamers and confetti adorning our hair.
“Well, you did it, baby,” Dee said.
“Correction, we did it.”
“Hey, Matt, we always shoot straight with each other and that’s not about to stop, agreed?”
“Of course, honey. I’d as soon as lie to myself as lie to you. So what’s up?”
“I’m worried about something, Matt, and I think it’s the same thing you’re worried about. We have over two months remaining before the inauguration with that fucking nutjob as our president. He’s been completely silent. That worries me, you?”
“Hey, Dee. Not much can happen in two months, right? Well, answer me, babe—right?”
Cast of Characters – The Reformers
Abdalla, Omar — see Bertone, Phillip
Ahmadi, Youseff —Terror camp trainer
Ahsan, Aadhil — Muslim youth leader
Aleppi, Muhammed — Imam of a mosque in Michigan
Almeth, Mustafa — Accused bomber
Altgeld, Jesse — Committee on Public Safety
Alumina, Fatah — Nurse
Ahmadi, Youseff — Terrorist camp leader
Andreotti, Grace — Assistant to Rick Bellamy
Baxter, Sam —Chairman of the Democratic Party
Bellamy, Rick — Secretary of Homeland Security
Benton, Roland — Retired Admiral and Vice Presidential Nominee
Bertone, Phillip — Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University
Blackwell, Jerome — Criminal defense attorney
Blashton, Sam — Committee on Public Safety
Boudri, Jamal – Terror Camp assistant
Boyle, Gary — Recruiter
Blake, Diana — University professor and wife of Matt Blake
Blake, James — Senior partner at Blake & Randolph and Matt’s father
Blake, Matt — Attorney, Blake & Randolph
Cambry, Felix — Fox News Pentagon Reporter
Chudori, Anwar — Physician
Clark, Wanda — Heritage Party Press Secretary
Cohen, Suzie—Literary agent
Cooper, Don
ald — Political campaign manager
Cummings, Wilcox— Retired General, Head of Heritage Party
Cunliffe, William —Top advisor to Bartholomew Martin
Doolittle, Phil – Mall security guard
Drucker, Tony — Reporter for the Wall Street Journal
Faisal, Abdullah — Professor, University of Michigan
Farooq, Abaid — Mosque manager
Feingold, Harry —Literary agent
Fenster, Joel – NYPD Chief of Police
Fleischman, Ronald — Deputy Chief of Staff to Bartholomew Martin
Fleming Max — Chairman of the Republican Party
Grasso, Jeremy — Republican nominee for vice-president.
Ishak, Abdul — Radical Imam
Islama, Muhammed — Professor, University of Cairo
Jamison, William — Attorney for Phillip Bertone
Jerome—A doorman
Karam, Gamal —Saudi oil billionaire
Logan, Bonnie — Homicide detective and wife of Jack Logan
Logan, Jack — Head of FBI Counterterrorism Task Force, husband of Bonnie Logan
Lysle, Kurt — Senator and Democratic nominee for President
Martin, Bartholomew — Leader of the Freedom from Terror party
McDonald, George —Secretary of Defense
McTigue, Donald — Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Miraudeli, Massaud — Regional manager, Kurdistan
Moon, Max — Forensic expert
Morgan, Gary — Former Vice-President of the United States
Moriarty, Mary —TV news anchor
Ordin, James — Aide to Bartholomew Martin
Randolph, Bill — Partner at Blake & Randolph
Rudden, George — member of the Witness Protection Program
Sidduq, Muhammed – Accused bomber
Simon, Frank — Governor and Republican nominee for President
Townsend, Amy — Political fundraising expert
Yamani, Ali — Accused bomber
Youseff, Ibrahim — Radical Imam and spokesman
About the Author
Russ Moran is the author of The Gray Ship (Coddington Press, 2013), Book One of The Time Magnet series. It's a story of time travel, romance, and a nuclear warship that finds itself in the Civil War. The Thanksgiving Gang is the sequel, A Time of Fear is Book Three, and The Skies of Time is Book Four in the series.
The Scent of Revenge, is the second book in the Patterns Series, the sequel to The Shadows of Terror.
The book you have just read, The Reformers, is the sequel to Sideswiped.
Russ Moran has also published five nonfiction books: Justice in America: How it Works—How it Fails (Coddington Press, 2011); The APT Principle: The Business Plan That You Carry in Your Head (Coddington Press, 2012); Boating Basics: The Boattalk Book of Boating Tips (Coddington Press, 2013); If You’re Injured: A Consumer Guide to Personal Injury Law (Coddington Press, 2013); How to Create More Time (Coddington Press, 2014). He’s a lawyer and a veteran of the United States Navy. He lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Lynda.
If you enjoyed The Reformers, please consider leaving a review on amazon.com.
To make sure you don’t miss out on Russ Moran’s forthcoming books, visit his website, http://www.morancom.com, and click on the “subscribe and get updates button.”
The Books of Russell F. Moran
The Gray Ship – Book One of The Time Magnet Series
http://amzn.to/16GPumH
“This provocative, intensely powerful novel is a must-read for sci-fi fans and Civil War aficionados, though mainstream fiction readers will find it heart-rending and inspiring as well. A rare read that’s not only wildly entertaining, but also profoundly moving.” — Kirkus Reviews
The Thanksgiving Gang – Book Two of The Time Magnet Series http://amzn.to/1NzBs7N
"I had never read a book before written in an efficient, minimalistic prose... Instead of writing what most readers want to read, he gives voice to life-like characters, with their flaws and prejudices. They are not infallible superheroes. It’s always nice to find a new voice in fiction and to enjoy creativity at its best." — C. Ludewig
A Time of Fear – Book Three of The Time Magnet Series
http://amzn.to/1zdjaG9
“His story is fascinating, and adds even more depth to this already cavernously deep novel. Amazingly unique, chilling and well written, Moran weaves a future that is both desperate and hopeful. Blending modern fears with science fiction results in a tale that will keep you reading long into the night. Five stars!” —Heather
The Skies of Time – Book Four of The Time Magnet Series
http://amzn.to/1CCC3jg
In The Skies of Time, you will recognize the two main characters, Ashley Patterson, now an admiral, and her husband, Jack Thurber. They met and fell in love in The Gray Ship, and now they’re in for the adventure of their lives in The Skies of Time. Ashley and Jack have been such prominent characters in all four books of The Time Magnet Series that I feel like they’re old friends. You will also recognize some of the other characters. But if I told you who they are, it would ruin the fun.
The Skies of Time is a novel of time travel. Naturally, the book is fiction, but I’ve tried to make it as realistic as possible. Ashley and Jack are faced with the big question that troubles all time travelers—dare they change history? As the author, I’m the last one to be a spoiler, so I’ll leave the answer to the characters in the book.
“I’m big fan of this series and this one may be the best. I hope there is another book to this series since it keeps getting better. There is a few questions I have about certain events that makes the next one even more suspenseful. These are great books to binge read one after the other.” — Time Travel Fan
The Shadows of Terror – Book One of the Patterns Series
http://amzn.to/1IDQzJS
A novel that explodes off the front page of your newspaper.
Terrorism now has a new face, a face that’s obscured in the shadows. The radical forces of destruction have learned to make themselves invisible to the West, and preventing a terrorist attack has become almost impossible.
A new war has begun, World War III.
Rick Bellamy, an FBI agent who specializes in counterterrorism, is engaged in his own war, a war with no end.
Bellamy’s wife, Ellen, a prominent architect, discovers that she’s in the middle of the greatest terror plot to date.
To defeat the enemy, Bellamy first has to uncover the clues, to shine a light on the shadows. He has to find patterns – before it’s too late.
“Move over James Patterson and Mary Higgins Clark. There’s a new guy in town. Russ Moran’s new book – The Shadows of Terror.” — Frank from Lynbrook
The Scent of Revenge, - Book Two in the Patterns Series.
http://amzn.to/1UvDRmw
The world is at war – World War III.FBI Agent Rick Bellamy and his wife, Ellen, find themselves in the middle of a sinister terror plot.
Someone is attacking young prominent women, inflicting a horrible disease.
Nobody knows its origin, nobody knows how to stop it, nobody knows how to cure it.
Rick Bellamy and a team of scientists want to go on offense. But how?
Will the lives of the women be changed forever? When will the attacks stop?
“Heart pounding, can’t put down thriller that will force you to look at terrorism in different light. Life in America will never be the same.” —Cold Coffee Cafe
Sideswiped - Book One in the Matt Blake series of legal thrillers.
http://amzn.to/1MkxX35
Trial lawyer Matt Blake took on a perfect case.
It involved a sideswipe collision in which his client’s husband, an investigative reporter, was killed. The evidence of negligence was overwhelming. Eyewitnesses testified that defendant was talking on his cell phone when he hit the other car.
But was it negligence? Was it an accident?
Matt uncovers evidence that the act may have been intentional. Somebody wanted the man dead. Somebody wanted the man silenced.
Somebody had a lot to hide.
The signs started to point to the highest levels of government.
An open-and-shut personal injury case suddenly became a vast conspiracy of terror.
“This books hooks you in from the very first line. You are drawn into the world of Matt Blake and become emotionally attached to him and his journey. The story itself is so well-written and moves quickly so there is never a dull moment.” —Sarah Elle
The Reformers, the book you just read, is Book Two of the Matt Blake series of legal thrillers, the sequel to Sideswiped.
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To be alerted to my future novels, please go to www.morancom.com.
Russ Moran