The Bottom Line: Conspiracy thriller of the year as voted in the 2024 BestThrillers.com Book Awards
2024 was loaded with top-shelf conspiracy thrillers, but the one that set the bar for us is perhaps the most thought-provoking.
Libertyland is highly suspenseful and entertaining, but it’s also philosophical, satirical and a mirror to society all at once.
Never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned manifesto. During a passionate romance with Garrick Cripps, Suzanne Dreyfus wrote a wicked satire of right-wing libertarian philosophy.
However, Garrick took Suzanne’s parody seriously and now, many years later, uses it as a blueprint for how to overthrow American democracy in favor of the 1%.
But for the revolution to begin, an inciting event, like a Stateside terrorist attack, is needed to convince the public that drastic change in leadership is necessary.
Suzanne, along with Carson McCready, a former Navy SEAL, and Laura Cavendish, a cyber weapons expert, are all that stand between Cripps and leadership of the country.
Culminating in a violent denouement, Libertyland shows what could happen if the ideas of a madman go unchecked.
Libertyland is a departure from most thrillers of its ilk. Carson McCready, the main protagonist, breaks the predictable stereotype of the flag-waving uber-patriot.
A student of the human condition, he thinks deeply about freedom and individualism, and in the end, he has no choice but to uphold his oath of honor and battle a violent conspiracy that is fueled by the blood of innocents.
