Political Technothriller Splices America’s Past and Present Together

Going Dark by George K. Mehok

Going Dark is a riveting thriller about saving America from destruction by powerful foreign forces — both today and during the Revolutionary War at the beginning of our nation’s history.

Yes, there are two distinctly different timeline stories in this book: one set in present day when a frightening new terrorism threat emerges nearly a quarter of a century after the horrors of 9/11; and another back in 1781 about a sinister plot that could spell doom for General George Washington and the Continental Army.

 The hero from today is Paul Knox, a government cybersecurity expert who must somehow stop a plot by remnants of Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network — lying dormant in the U.S. for two decades — to sabotage all of the power in this country and plunge America into unprecedented digital darkness and chaos.

At the same time, we follow the exploits of Revolutionary War soldier Captain John (“Jack”) Jouett, who sets out on a perilous mission to deliver a critical message from Thomas Jefferson that can expose British traitors and mean the difference between victory and defeat in the war for independence. 

Author George K. Mehok does a masterful job of weaving the past and present together in these two stories which may seem totally separate at first — but come together in a logical and extremely satisfying way by the conclusions of both stories at the end of the book.

Mehok himself is a renowned technology expert as a businessman with a distinguished record of designing software and knowledge of cybersecurity — which makes all the technology that he writes about in this thriller very authentic and believable as well as the horrifying “going dark” plot against America that he lays out so meticulously.

It all begins when the U.S. is hit with a massive new deadly terrorist attack on Thanksgiving Day — which throws the country into chaos, disrupts all air transportation and cripples the U.S. economy worse than ever before. 

But that is only the trigger for the upcoming real plot by Islamic radicals to destroy the U.S. completely with a total power and internet terrorist shutdown that would leave America unprotected for attacks around the world and right here at home — an action that would prove far more devastating than even 9/11 ever did. 

Paul Knox and Jack Jouett, in addition to living nearly 250 years apart, are different kinds of heroes trying to save their country. Knox is beset with personal problems — he’s estranged from his daughter, a brilliant MIT computer scientist who unwittingly holds the key to blocking the terrorists from their ultimate goal; he’s still in mourning and denial over the recent death of his wife; and, by the end of the book, he must confront shocking secrets about his long-dead father. 

Jouett is an idealistic young soldier who will face any danger to prove his loyalty to Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and the rest of great men who created the United States of America. His long trek from Monticello to Mount Vernon to deliver the secret note from Jefferson that can save the Revolution (complete with a map of Jouett’s journey!) is an epic adventure tale in itself. 

But the bad guys they’re up against are pretty formidable too. 

In present day, the leader of the terrorist plot to make America go completely dark and helpless is a truly scary man named Hassan — who is so devoted to his goal and to his cause that he’s even willing to kill his own brother at the beginning of the book as an ultimate sacrifice to show his devotion to the leaders.

Back in 1781, Jack Jouett must confront a brutal British leader named Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton who has become infamous for torturing and beheading American captives; a member of George Washington’s own family who is helping the British in a plot to assassinate him; and, of course, there’s also a lot about America’s most notorious traitor of the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold.

This book has a lot of things going for it: fascinating historical fiction; real-life ripped from the headlines action from today; and compelling characters battling for the highest stakes possible — the future of America, both at the beginning and again today more than two centuries since it was founded. 

Going Dark is a very different kind of thriller that I enjoyed — and I think other readers will too.