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Consent of the Governed #1
Silenced
A new administration sweeps into power, promising unity, promising a fair and just society. They lied.
How do you control free people? You control their information and you control the message. Controlling the message makes yours the only truth. You silence dissenters, critical thinkers, and opponents of your truth. You use fear to limit their movement and make them dependent on their government by solving the problems government creates. Then you wait... wait for them to willingly trade their freedom for safety.
Most importantly, you eliminate the concept that government exists at the consent of the governed. If successful, you become absolute power.
Jack Stinger simply wanted to run his family business and live the American Dream. He and his wife, Lisa, worked hard to build the life they had. The government has a different plan. They attempt to drown the Stingers in bureaucracy, break their will to fight, to silence them. But they underestimated the Stinger family.
Silenced takes the reader on a hypothetical dive into the allure of power and the corruption it breeds. It explores the question: What happens when our government achieves total control?
How do you control free people? You control their information and you control the message. Controlling the message makes yours the only truth. You silence dissenters, critical thinkers, and opponents of your truth. You use fear to limit their movement and make them dependent on their government by solving the problems government creates. Then you wait... wait for them to willingly trade their freedom for safety.
Most importantly, you eliminate the concept that government exists at the consent of the governed. If successful, you become absolute power.
Jack Stinger simply wanted to run his family business and live the American Dream. He and his wife, Lisa, worked hard to build the life they had. The government has a different plan. They attempt to drown the Stingers in bureaucracy, break their will to fight, to silence them. But they underestimated the Stinger family.
Silenced takes the reader on a hypothetical dive into the allure of power and the corruption it breeds. It explores the question: What happens when our government achieves total control?
246 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 2021
34 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
B.D. Lutz
9 books4 followersI was born in Cleveland, Ohio and now live in NEO (North East Ohio) with my wonderful wife (she told me to say that). We recently became grandparents (young grandparents, mind you). That little angel is the apple of our eyes.
In my early adult life, I spent time as a Repo-Man for a rent-to-own furniture company and bill collector. Then I decided that was a tough way to earn a living and spent twenty-seven years working my way through sales management in corporate America.
I've always wanted to write books, and I realized that we, you and me, have about fifteen minutes on the face of this planet and I needed to do one of the things I had always wanted to do. And, well, this is it.
If you're wondering, yes, I'm a conservative, I own guns, and I hate paying taxes.
In my early adult life, I spent time as a Repo-Man for a rent-to-own furniture company and bill collector. Then I decided that was a tough way to earn a living and spent twenty-seven years working my way through sales management in corporate America.
I've always wanted to write books, and I realized that we, you and me, have about fifteen minutes on the face of this planet and I needed to do one of the things I had always wanted to do. And, well, this is it.
If you're wondering, yes, I'm a conservative, I own guns, and I hate paying taxes.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 1, 2021
What Would You Do?
Scary book but I could not put it down. What would an average citizen do if the government took over and took away all our liberties. Jack never thought it could happen but he is devasted as the government takes away his company and his freedoms. No social media, no leaving your house unless you are deemed important which means you voted for the current administration, no cell phones only government issued phones that monitor you. This is a very well written book and I look forward to the next book to see how people begin to fight back.
Scary book but I could not put it down. What would an average citizen do if the government took over and took away all our liberties. Jack never thought it could happen but he is devasted as the government takes away his company and his freedoms. No social media, no leaving your house unless you are deemed important which means you voted for the current administration, no cell phones only government issued phones that monitor you. This is a very well written book and I look forward to the next book to see how people begin to fight back.
October 13, 2021
Fresh off the final chapter of his superlative zombie apocalypse saga, A DIVIDED AMERICA, author B.D. Lutz launches a new series, and this time the monsters wear gray suits and sign executive orders. Our protagonist, Jack Stinger, runs a successful business and he and his wife are living their version of the American Dream. But their generally happy existence begins to crumble after the 2020 presidential election. The new Administration enacts a host of new policies designed to create a more "equitable" nation, which involves creating new agencies to monitor the everyday lives of citizens like Jack and the work they do for a living. At first Jack isn't too worried about the government interference, but as the administration gradually takes more and more control over his business, finances, and personal life, Jack realizes the America he grew up in is being transformed into an authoritarian state unfazed by the Constitution, Bill of Rights, or the consent of the governed. Can he and his family find a way to preserve their disintegrating lives before the Administration--and the powers behind it--are in total control? You have to read the book to find out!
And that is exactly what you should do. SILENCED: CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED is a big departure from Mr. Lutz's previously published zombie saga, but if you enjoyed that storyline, you will like the new one as well. While SILENCED leaves science fiction behind, the author carries over many of the same themes from A DIVIDED AMERICA, such as the fragility of freedom, the reality of a Deep State, and the fact that many of our politicians hate the America they grew up in and want nothing more than to "fundamentally transform" our nation into a socialist utopia...all while accruing as much power for themselves as they can, of course.
But while politics were a major subplot in A DIVIDED AMERICA, they are front and center in SILENCED, which owes more to Orwell's 1984 than NIGHT OF THE LIVNG DEAD. Mr. Lutz deserves a lot of credit for throwing Political Correctness over the rails and daring to showcase the very real dangers facing America right now, dangers that hide behind pleasant but deceptive nomenclature like "progressivism" and "inclusiveness" and "fake news" to disguise the ugly truth. The author portrays how easily the government can take control of our lives if we let them, starting out with what we might call a Soft Totalitarianism but laying the foundation for the Hard Totalitarianism that will come later.
As the first installment in a new series, SILENCE: CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED sets the stage for what figures to be an epic national drama, grounded in the personal story of the very relatable and sympathetic Jack Stinger and his family. There are of lot of hints and suggestions, and Mr. Lutz does a great job of ratcheting up the stakes as the novel progresses, so that situations that at first seem relatively harmless are later revealed to have very sinister underpinnings. The author has a great feel for dialogue and throws in some nice touches of humor, though on balance SILENCE has a more serious tone than his previous books. SILENCE concludes with a cliffhanger of epic proportions, and this reader will be counting the days until the next book in this timely and well-crafted storyline is released. In that, I suspect I am not alone.
And that is exactly what you should do. SILENCED: CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED is a big departure from Mr. Lutz's previously published zombie saga, but if you enjoyed that storyline, you will like the new one as well. While SILENCED leaves science fiction behind, the author carries over many of the same themes from A DIVIDED AMERICA, such as the fragility of freedom, the reality of a Deep State, and the fact that many of our politicians hate the America they grew up in and want nothing more than to "fundamentally transform" our nation into a socialist utopia...all while accruing as much power for themselves as they can, of course.
But while politics were a major subplot in A DIVIDED AMERICA, they are front and center in SILENCED, which owes more to Orwell's 1984 than NIGHT OF THE LIVNG DEAD. Mr. Lutz deserves a lot of credit for throwing Political Correctness over the rails and daring to showcase the very real dangers facing America right now, dangers that hide behind pleasant but deceptive nomenclature like "progressivism" and "inclusiveness" and "fake news" to disguise the ugly truth. The author portrays how easily the government can take control of our lives if we let them, starting out with what we might call a Soft Totalitarianism but laying the foundation for the Hard Totalitarianism that will come later.
As the first installment in a new series, SILENCE: CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED sets the stage for what figures to be an epic national drama, grounded in the personal story of the very relatable and sympathetic Jack Stinger and his family. There are of lot of hints and suggestions, and Mr. Lutz does a great job of ratcheting up the stakes as the novel progresses, so that situations that at first seem relatively harmless are later revealed to have very sinister underpinnings. The author has a great feel for dialogue and throws in some nice touches of humor, though on balance SILENCE has a more serious tone than his previous books. SILENCE concludes with a cliffhanger of epic proportions, and this reader will be counting the days until the next book in this timely and well-crafted storyline is released. In that, I suspect I am not alone.
January 9, 2022
An Entertaining That Scared The Hell Out Of Me!!
Of Me! I started this book just few short hours ago (yes, its a fast read, 'cause you can't put it down!) I was sort of, meh. But let me tell you, this is a book that has already been written in the news we read every day! It gives us a primer to see/know what is going to happen next. It seems so spot on that its just plain scary, even though there's generous amounts of tongue-in-cheek (and scary close to accurate) humor contained. A word to the wise, the author is a self-confessed conservative so if your political sensibilities tend liberal, just take it all with a grain salt. And remember, its just fiction! ;-)
Of Me! I started this book just few short hours ago (yes, its a fast read, 'cause you can't put it down!) I was sort of, meh. But let me tell you, this is a book that has already been written in the news we read every day! It gives us a primer to see/know what is going to happen next. It seems so spot on that its just plain scary, even though there's generous amounts of tongue-in-cheek (and scary close to accurate) humor contained. A word to the wise, the author is a self-confessed conservative so if your political sensibilities tend liberal, just take it all with a grain salt. And remember, its just fiction! ;-)
May 21, 2022
Funny and Frightening
This political thriller, published last year (2921), is actually a scathing satire, a canny combination of the snark of Jonathan Swift and The Harvard Lampoon, the political acumen of David Baldacci, and the vision of George Orwell’s “1984.” The (very) thinly disguised major political characters and seemingly outrageous plot may offend or disturb some readers. And that is exactly the point. Satire is meant to shake people up and make them think. Mission accomplished.
P.S. This is Book 1 of a series.
This political thriller, published last year (2921), is actually a scathing satire, a canny combination of the snark of Jonathan Swift and The Harvard Lampoon, the political acumen of David Baldacci, and the vision of George Orwell’s “1984.” The (very) thinly disguised major political characters and seemingly outrageous plot may offend or disturb some readers. And that is exactly the point. Satire is meant to shake people up and make them think. Mission accomplished.
P.S. This is Book 1 of a series.
June 2, 2022
Cut to the chase
I enjoyed the book until the author kept establishing the evil within the government...again and again and again. We got it ok...now turn on the switch and start kicking ass.
I enjoyed the book until the author kept establishing the evil within the government...again and again and again. We got it ok...now turn on the switch and start kicking ass.
May 19, 2022
Breath of fresh air
Pacing was great. Editing was great. Characters were flushed out. Will definitely look into this authors other books. A great read.
Pacing was great. Editing was great. Characters were flushed out. Will definitely look into this authors other books. A great read.
May 17, 2024
A unique view of possibilities in our current environment
Excellent view of current possibilities. A bit serious but still a hint of humor. Let's hope we never devolve this far.
Excellent view of current possibilities. A bit serious but still a hint of humor. Let's hope we never devolve this far.
November 26, 2021
B. D. Lutz’s Best Book Yet
While this book is a departure from his previous series, I have to say I think I enjoyed this one the most. As usual, Lutz pulls things from today’s political headlines and then sends us down a dystopian rabbit hole. The similarities of some of the characters to real life politicians today is, in my opinion, intentional. It is also scary. This book will get you thinking.
While this book is a departure from his previous series, I have to say I think I enjoyed this one the most. As usual, Lutz pulls things from today’s political headlines and then sends us down a dystopian rabbit hole. The similarities of some of the characters to real life politicians today is, in my opinion, intentional. It is also scary. This book will get you thinking.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews