*Revised edition with larger font in print version. An average American middle class community is faced with a sudden and complete breakdown of the U.S. economy, government, and society after a massive, nation-wide Islamic terrorist attack. Like the vast majority of Americans, none of the residents of Sea Breezes have a convenient bunker in the woods or a compound of survivalist friends to escape to. They have to find some way to organize themselves in order to survive with what they have on hand, and what they can obtain by using their own wits and determination.Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cantrell and his brother-in-law, former Marine Gunnery Sergeant Josh Koenig, residents of the Florida community, volunteer to help, and what follows is the riveting and often heart-breaking account of a community coming to grips with the unthinkable."Defending Sea Breezes" is a complex story that weaves together international Islamic terrorism, government foreign policy failures, and the indomitable American spirit, to portray one of the most realistic and compelling "what if" stories of survival, all in one complete, stand-alone novel.Unlike similar novels, this story gives a realistic, even probable, military and political background for the Collapse.Advisories: If you believe that America's foreign policy over the last 7 years has been correct, you will probably not enjoy this book.Because this novel contains contemporary dialogue, it contains some profanity.
About the Author: Sometime in high school, I decided I wanted to follow my father and serve in the Army. My father volunteered for the Army in 1943, went to OCS to become a 2nd Lt. of Infantry, and fought in WWII. He was seriously wounded, but recovered and finished his Army career, retiring as a Colonel. So I grew up in various countries: Japan, Venezuela, Brazil, and throughout the U.S. In 1962, at the age of 17, I got an appointment to West Point, and after graduation I earned my paratrooper wings and my Army Ranger tab. My first assignment was in Germany, and throughout my career I had other assignments in Vietnam, Korea, Spain, Panama, and El Salvador, and of course several Army posts in the U.S. I served in combat in Vietnam and El Salvador in Infantry units. My assignments have included Commander of an Airborne Infantry Rifle Company, Commander of a Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Senior Fellow at the State Department's Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, and Military Attache to Spain. I retired as a Colonel. Since retirement I have worked on Wall Street, and taught Spanish in several colleges part time. I enjoy reading, working out in the gym with my wife (religiously, three times a week), and traveling. Lately I have been reading stories of survival, but I avoid supernatural books with zombies, vampires, and super heroes. Most of the post-apocalyptic novels I read deal with men and women escaping to a bunker or cabin in the woods, or some sort of survivalist compound. In reality very few people go that far in preparing for a natural disaster, and most are totally unprepared. So I wondered what a community of normal, middle class Americans would do in a total collapse, and began thinking about how real, everyday people would react. More importantly, I envisioned all the things a community would have to do in order to survive, and how difficult that adjustment would be for most Americans. The result was "Defending Sea Breezes," my first novel. I hope you enjoy it.