Worst of All Evils
Following a worldwide economic collapse, a tyrannical administration has taken control of the United States government and nullified the Constitution. Joan Bowman, a highly skilled veteran and patriot, joins an underground resistance group to restore America’s beloved freedoms. Too late, she realizes that the group she so idealistically joined is just as corrupt as the administration in Washington. However, since she knows too much to ever leave the group alive, she turns State’s evidence. But when the task force demands she go back to the group to obtain one last piece of crucial information, Joan knows she faces certain death. Dispirited, exhausted, and paranoid, she’s hardly on top of her game—and she needs to be or, this time, she’ll pay with her life.
Interview by Theodore M. Homa M.D.
What motivated you to write this story? Who are your heroes in real time? Do they have any relationship to the personalities you developed in your novel?
I wondered if my oath of enlistment was just for the time of my service or for life. I determined an oath is forever, but that brought about the question of what I would do if a tyrannical government trashed the Constitution—the great “What if?”—although at that time I had never heard of the author’s “what if.” That’s why in Worst of All Evils I don’t delve into the politics of the governing body or what brought about the situation. The story is focused on one person’s response to her oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic.
My real heroes in real time are the first responders. The ones who go toward danger—the alpha males and females in our culture who not only lead, but step up to protect and defend their neighbors, family, colony, tribe or country. I’ve tried to show that persona in the main three characters in Worst of All Evils, although they go about in their own ways.
Are you writing about Joan because you have similar values and skills? Did you use these skills in this way in the army?
My values are very much like Joan Bowman’s, and I have similar skills. Joan trains to the point of perfection, and although I have similar skills, my age and lifestyle preclude two hours of daily training for any length of time. I work fulltime, go to the dojo four nights each week and I write whenever I can. I only train at Joan’s level when preparing for a belt test (a test to earn the next belt in my current style, Kali.)
In the Army I had two MOSs (Military Occupational Specialty). I was an administrative sergeant and a medic. Neither called for me to use my martial arts skills. But that didn’t stop me from training.
Have you experienced personally some of the battles you describe?
These battles are purely fictional and based on training scenarios that I took part in.
Your novel seems to be about domestic terrorism in the USA. Do you think there are justifications for it? Or are you pointing out how power corrupts those who govern and those who rebel?
I wanted to demonstrate that no matter how good or successful a mode of action might seem, it isn’t perfect and could possibly be worse than that which you are fighting. In the United States where we have a responsive system of government, fighting back within the system is the better way to effect change. Also, the government holds the ultimate power. To fight it with a paramilitary group, you must look past the initial idealism and be absolutely sure of your course of action. Charges of treason and sedition are never a good thing.
What are the circumstances that led to the lack of constitutional law and loss of personal freedom in your fictional America. Do you see any similarities between current political divisions and losses of freedom in America.
Worst of All Evils begins after there was a worldwide economic collapse. In that desperate time Americans voted for the party that promised to bring them out of horrid times, but they got something else instead. The story picks up as the economy is creeping toward recovery, but the cost to Americans has been great. They’ve lost their freedoms secured by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Local police departments have been federalized. Free commerce between states is clamped down. Centralized power leaves no recourse. Without recourse, the natural tendency is to rebel. The alphas in any group will step forward when they see the suffering and frustration around them.
Worst of All Evils is a worst case scenario. As long as Americans stay alert and participate in their government, regardless of what side they’re on, an unchecked tyranny would be hard-pressed to survive. Our founding fathers developed a system of government that has the ability to correct itself as long as Americans stay involved.
Which is the highest value. Rule of law or defense of individual freedom.
Wow. This is a toughie. In the United States, the people are guaranteed certain individual freedoms or rights. The rule of law is there to support those freedoms, and those freedoms should be exercised to keep them from being subverted. Let me give you a short analogy. In the Army when outdoors you always must wear headgear. If I, as a Sergeant First Class, let a soldier walk by me without a hat, and I don’t correct him, I have just set a new uniform standard, if only for that instance. The same goes for our freedoms and rights. If we let the authorities steamroll over our freedoms, they [the freedoms] are jaded to some degree. Are there times when it’s prudent to allow a SWAT team search your house when looking for a terrorist? Probably—but by the letter and spirit of the Bill of Rights we don’t have to let them in without a warrant.
That said, the rule of law will prevail in cases of freedoms and rights not protected by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Will you go into these questions and give answers in a sequel?
I will answer some of these questions in the next book, Hottest Places In Hell, scheduled for release in late 2015. I glossed over some of these deeper issues in Worst of All Evils because word count prevailed over the storyline. WOAE is my first novel…ever. Letting word count trump the story was a beginning author mistake, but I am now more aware that the story is king, and will show that in future writings.
Can love really cross the barrier of political divide even when it goes this far?
Not many people would call me a romantic, but I do believe love can conquer many differences. I’ve known couples where one was a conservative and the other was a liberal, and their marriages lasted decades. As far as Duncan and Joan are concerned, their love is forged and tempered by the dramatic and life-threatening circumstances in their past and will be further strengthened in their future together.
If this were the FRENCH REVOLUTION , on which side of the Barrier would you stand?
I’m not an expert on the French Revolution, but I believe I would be on the side of the insurgents. When a government becomes so oppressive the citizenry cannot make a living and there is no avenue for addressing their plight to bring about change—or changes proposed by the government are ineffective—they will be heard. How loudly and how rebellious depends on the response of the government to the people when they make their displeasure known.
Thank you, Janet.
Author's Bio -
After 22 years in the Army, Janet McClintock exhaled and settled down in Pittsburgh with her aging Pit Bull. She has completed two novels of her four-part Iron Angel action series, the first of which, Worst of All Evils, is under contract with Black Opal Books. While she edits the second book in the series, she is trying her hand at a paranormal novel before returning to her passion—action.
Action comes easy to McClintock. Over the years, she has owned motorcycles and horses and driven a tractor trailer across the country. She has trained in various martial arts over the past 38 years and is currently training in Kali and Jeet Kun Do. She is also a certified Edged Weapons Combatives Instructor.
Worst of All Evils on Black Opal Books
Worst of All Evils on Barnes and Noble
Thank you Janet and Dr. Homa. The next author in the Author Interview chain will be interviewed by Janet McClintock. Stay tuned.
J.J.
