Refuge

by David Schoorens

A Novel of Lost Democracy
A national election broken by once unthinkable laws and political violence. Tens of millions of fearful Americans demanded safety and security. The new far right president obliged, using the crisis as a pretext to declare a national emergency and pass sweeping laws that targeted political opponents and dissenters as domestic terrorists. The United States of America falls into one-party autocracy.
Democracy was not lost to invasion or natural catastrophe. There was no economic collapse or military coup. Instead, out of fear or vengeance, or ignorance, or apathy, voters abandoned their always imperfect democracy for promises of a return to the mythical glories of the past.
In St. Andrews, New Brunswick, American dissidents hoped to start a new life. Mike and Debbie Whynot, both retired U.S. Air Force officers and leaders of the expatriates, now face threats from the new U.S. government. They will pay dearly for their continued fight for democracy.
Across the Saint Croix River in Maine, others remain in service to the United States government. A few will find the moral burden unendurable.
This is a story of a few who must find an answer to what a President long ago asked of all Americans for all time,
“…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
This is a story of our near future that is no longer fanciful. It is possible. Even probable.

389 pages, Paperback

Published November 19, 2022

About the author

Recently retired as a high school biology and chemistry teacher, I earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Southeastern Massachusetts University. A graduate degree in education from The George Washington University was next, followed by a second graduate degree in business administration from Boston University of Brussels, Belgium. I'm a veteran junior officer of the U.S. Coast Guard.

I lived in Maryland before moving to Germany for four years. Cheyenne, Wyoming, came next before going back to Germany once more. I returned to the United States in 2001.

Just before the pandemic, I retired after fifteen years as a high school science teacher. I did other jobs before that, but none was as worthy. Except when I served as a junior officer in the United States Coast Guard. With retirement, however, it dawned on me that I needed to do something with all this time.

Take it from a science teacher. The second law of thermodynamics requires an increase in entropy over time; that is, an increase in disorder and randomness of the matter and energy of the universe. Meaning with every action I take, at any time, within my body and within my surrounding environment, I break down complex things into simpler things.

Things must fall apart. In other words, I get older. Same goes for you. No exceptions.

So, I could wait for entropy to do its thing, leading to the inevitable knee or hip replacements and countless other medical procedures and maladies. Or before I couldn't much of anything, I could do something I always wanted to do. I decided to write.

Refuge: A Novel of Lost Democracy is my debut novel. Refuge’s genre is military and political thriller with a large measure of the dystopian fiction genre. Set in the near future, the story imagines the descent of American democracy into autocracy, played out as a conflict emerges between the United States and Canada. Published in 2022, many readers see Refuge as a prescient cautionary tale.

Captive is my second novel. A psychological thriller about a man who wrote a novel. More to the point, he wrote a novel that sent a great many people into fury. Who call him un-American and a traitor. Who threaten to harm him. To kill him.

This wounded and decorated combat veteran of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, now an old man and alone, faces new enemies hiding amongst his fellow countrymen. Doxed, harassed, threatened, stalked, vandalized and assaulted, he faces mortal danger from an enemy who does not stop. His fight to save himself will drive him to the edge of sanity.

More novels will follow, I hope.

Regarding Refuge, here are a few interviews that will help explain.

My latest interview with Lisa Towles, award winning crime thriller author, of Story Impact:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTV9I...

Upton (MA) Community Television. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfqnJ...

Rhody Radio Podcast, September 12, 2023
https://link.chtbl.com/ePDeMYWG

Find more on my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...

I live in Rhode Island with my wife of forty-two years. Thanks to her, I lived in many places and seen a good deal of the world. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Egypt, England and much of the American West.

I could not write these two novels without her encouragement and her help in reviewing my drafts. She is also the love of my life.

Reviews

[Ron McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a story! I cannot believe that Schoorens wrote this book in 2021 or thereabouts and how close it is to world events today 2025. Secondly, I cannot believe that an American wrote this story in which Canadians ended up winning a fictional conflict with the Americans. I can tell from this story that Mr. Schoorens in most likely not a Republican. Furthermore, being a Canadian and being familiar with down east Washington county Maine and western Charlotte county New Brunswick where this story is set one can tell that the author is very familiar with the geography of the area. For these reasons I have given the story 5 stars and would give it more if possible. Mr. Schoorens you are one brave individual!!!

[Max Folsom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refuge by David R. Schoorens is a tour de force, a powerhouse work of fiction from a writer with a distinctive and compelling voice.

Think author prescience, in literature. Two examples quickly come to mind: Huxley’s
Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984. Although it was set in the past, I suspect that Ian
McEwan's Machines Like Me will also make the list before too long. And there are
others. Without wanting to deny the author the exploding book-sales and bump in
royalties should the central premise of Refuge also come true in the future, those of us
living in North America should all hope that it never comes to pass.

Refuge is a dense read, and I mean that in a good way. David R. Schoorens knows
absolutely whereof (and what) he writes. The level of accurate detail in the book
regarding military and coast guard operations, doctrine and administration is
extraordinary. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading fiction. And, when I
finished it, I was reminded of how my head felt (throbbed) when, years ago, I read
Seven Pillars of Wisdom. There are layers upon layers in Refuge to unwrap and absorb
what lies underneath but they overlap in all the right places to give the story authenticity.
Fiction, yes. But grounded in the real thing, and threaded through with humanity.
Every democratic government has a department of dirty tricks that operates with its
distasteful underbelly covered, and much fiction has been written about these
organizations in the past. But readers of those books could sit in their comfortable
chairs, or lay back on their pillows under a reading light, and feel easy in the cozy belief
that although ex officio abductions, torture and killings might actually happen behind the
scenes in real life, this unpleasantness could never really affect upstanding citizens like
themselves. It was just tin soldiers strutting about, and if discovered, officially denied,
rogue elements, don’t you know. So, even if they as upstanding citizens were to criticize
their elected government, it would still protect them from the nasty, dark-side stuff,
wouldn’t it?

Refuge upsets that neatly-stacked applecart, with a vengeance.

But there are some light-hearted elements in the book as well. There is a scene
reminiscent of the hilarious riff on the ubiquity of red tape by the comedian Eddy Izzard
where Darth Vader runs afoul of the food-service bureaucracy when he tries to order a
dish of pasta in the Death Star canteen. And an aptly-placed Shakespearean quote
reminds us that, for good and bad, humans haven’t changed much in four centuries.

The back cover of the book classifies Refuge as ‘Speculative Fiction’, however the
author calls it ‘political horror.’ I’d say it’s both. Highly recommended.

[Cheryl Giesinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refuge is a fictional telling straight out of the mind of non fictional news reporting. While elections loom in the air in 2024 and may never see this sort of apocalyptic world, it seems as though democracy fails again and again in this story. When the weight of men is lifted by shifty idealism to take the easy road of blame and adjust the narrative to their own agenda.

While this story was very much focused on the military view of the failing democracy of America, it also showed a small flame of hope in those who still believe in what it once stood for. Having to choose the right path for themselves in order to continue the fight for others. This read to me much like the Handmaid's tale. The loss of identity. Waking up in a country you no longer recognize. While the leader of the story is not named, its obvious to whom they represent, and sometimes the proof is in the pudding. The idea that this may never happen does not excuse the idea that without compassion and trust in one another, it very well could.

[Visionary Impart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refuge is a timely and chilling exploration of how fragile democracy can be—and how quickly it can unravel when fear, disinformation, and apathy take root. David Schoorens delivers a gripping and thought-provoking novel that blends political realism with deeply human storytelling. The tension between those who flee for freedom and those who remain complicit in an authoritarian system makes for a powerful, unsettling narrative. Both urgent and heartfelt, Refuge is a wake-up call disguised as a compelling work of fiction, reminding us that the preservation of democracy is a choice we must actively make.

[Richard Gower · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is a tour de force, a powerhouse work of fiction from a writer with a distinctive and compelling voice.

Think author prescience, in literature. Two examples quickly come to mind: Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984. Although it was set in the past, I suspect that Ian McEwan's Machines Like Me will also make the list before too long. And there are others. Without wanting to deny the author the exploding book-sales and bump in royalties should the central premise of Refuge also come true in the future, those of us living in North America should all hope that it never comes to pass.

Refuge is a dense read, and I mean that in a good way. Schoorens knows absolutely whereof (and what) he writes. The level of accurate detail in the book regarding military and coast guard operations, doctrine and administration is extraordinary. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading fiction. And, when I finished it, I was reminded of how my head felt (throbbed) when, years ago, I read Seven Pillars of Wisdom. There are layers upon layers in Refuge to unwrap and absorb what lies underneath but they overlap in all the right places to give the story authenticity.

Fiction, yes. But grounded in the real thing, and threaded through with humanity. Every democratic government has a department of dirty tricks that operates with its distasteful underbelly covered, and much fiction has been written about these organizations in the past. But readers of those books could sit in their comfortable chairs, or lay back on their pillows under a reading light, and feel easy in the cozy belief that although ex officio abductions, torture and killings might actually happen behind the scenes in real life, this unpleasantness could never really affect upstanding citizens like themselves. It was just tin soldiers strutting about, and if discovered, officially denied, rogue elements, don’t you know. So, even if they as upstanding citizens were to criticize their elected government, it would still protect them from the nasty, dark-side stuff, wouldn’t it?

Refuge upsets that neatly-stacked applecart, with a vengeance.

But there are some light-hearted elements in the book as well. There is a scene reminiscent of the hilarious riff on the ubiquity of red tape by the comedian Eddy Izzard where Darth Vader runs afoul of the food-service bureaucracy when he tries to order a dish of pasta in the Death Star canteen. And an aptly-placed Shakespearean quote reminds us that, for good and bad, humans haven’t changed much in four centuries.

The back cover of the book classifies Refuge as ‘Speculative Fiction’, however the author calls it ‘political horror.’ I’d say it’s both. Highly recommended. -REG