Pandemonium in 2012, by Lee Cross
Review by W. J. Rayment / ConservativeBookstore -- There is a genre of novel that has been around a long time, but has only recently become recognizable in recent years as more and more people have found an outlet for this type of work in the abundance of small publishers that have sprung up. The genre involves an author taking his daydreams and political or social wishes and setting them down on paper in the form of a political thriller. I have even engaged in writing in this vein myself. I wrote an unpublished work about 20 years ago called "A Rude Awakening". It is a long, rambling novel where a politico engineers his own attempted assassination in order to gain the sympathy of the country and catapult himself to the highest office in the land.
As a conservative book-reviewer, I have been asked to read and comment on any number of these. The plots invariably involve recognizable leftist personalities, thinly veiled, coming to power. The policies of these politicos create mass havoc, and a right-wing person, movement, group, or mass revolution comes along to save the country for the next few generations. Like any other genre, some of these books are very well-written and highly entertaining; others are implausible, involve shallow characterization, and often turn into a bloodbath.
"Pandemonium in 2012" by Lee Cross is firmly in this genre. All the major left-wing characters are present, Hillary is represented by President Rodham. Edward Kennedy is Senator Canaday, and so on. There are drug dealers, nuclear bearing terrorists, hapless leftist presidents, a savior in the form of Stuart Ramsey, and his sidekick a sultry representative of the already sultry Ann Coulter.
The plot is somewhat rambling, yet I found it to be engaging. The rambling, though, reflects a logical randomness that has the gritty feel of reality. Because he is the only member of a third party (the Constitution Party) in Congress and there is a 217-217 tie, Stuart Ramsey is made speaker of the house. When both the president and vice-president die, Ramsey becomes president. With considerable opposition he attempts to govern by his convictions. His measures to close off the porous border with Mexico, deal with an activist court, and handle the terrorist threat prove too effective. Thus there is a political conflict of a vicious nature that involves impeachment backed by both parties and more.
Yet President Ramsey proves resilient. Although he is eventually removed from office (only after a second impeachment) there is a huge popular backlash. It is here that the plot gets out of hand. A right-wing terror group sets out to destroy one of the biggest conservative bug bears in both fiction and reality, the ACLU, with a bomb. While such an event is certainly possible in the context of the plot, it is not handled in a way that is tasteful.
In the course of the plot Mr. Cross reveals that he is not fond of neo-conservatives and paints this group, as well as free-traders, to be as villainous as he does the left-wing demagogues, decrying the adventurism of the former and the job destruction engendered by the latter. Being a so-called neo-con myself I felt somewhat chagrinned at being portrayed as an internationalist, ex-Trotskyite not working for the best interest of the nation. All I can say is, my belief in a muscular and active foreign policy by the U.S. is based on a belief that a secure world means a secure America, and the only way to do this is to export Anglo-American ideals to the rest of the world.
No question that "Pandemonium in 2012" is an interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking work. It has good elements of drama and action. There are a few scenes of extreme violence (some would call the scene involving Osama Bin Laden as poetic justice - though quite improbable). Many conservatives will find themselves cheering on every page, others will merely shake their heads. Liberals will label this work with the usual politically correct epithets, including sexist, unsympathetic, and even dangerous - which may be a good reason to read it.
Pandemonium in 2012 is available at Amazon.
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