Of Honor And Deceit

The events of September 11th, 2001, demonstrated the extremes terrorists would go to in order to harm Americans. In "Of Honor And Deceit", terror adopts a new strategy; to sentence their victims to lifelong confusion rather than death.

Men armed with chemical weapons breach America's southern border with intent to disrupt the lives of citizens of Tombstone, Arizona, by attacking their minds. Human histories would soon be hijacked instead of aircraft. Hospitals would be overwhelmed with patients who no longer remember their own names. And long after the attack, careers would be halted, families destroyed, happiness extinguished and fear of further attacks heightened. No national monuments would be toppled this time; the damage would be exacted solely upon the quality of human lives.

These are the events that impact a small group of Army recruits who are in the desert on a training mission when the terrorists prepare to unleash their chemical chaos known as CampX. After a skirmish the recruits unwittingly become the first victims of CampX on US soil.

Or so they are told. The soldiers ultimately find out that some very important details have been omitted from what they've been told. One nurse has the courage to unravel a web of lies and uncover the truth, while requiring her to participate in her own deceitful actions in the process.

What happens next is a series of twists and turns that challenge the reader's notion of right and wrong. To what lengths should one go in order to right a wrong? Is there honor in deceit? Is a lie really a lie when used against an enemy?

Author Michael R. Due, in his freshman fiction effort, challenges readers with layers of moral predicaments. Michael provides the reader with elements of humor, mystery, suspense and drama with overtones of Grisham and Crichton. In the end, the reader may more fully know their own tolerance for depths of honor and deceit.