American Siege: A Novel

Abstract

This thesis is a work of fiction, and so why you’ve come to it I can’t say. How you ended up here, I don’t know. You must be hopelessly lost. But if you’re curious, in American Siege, James Middleton narrates his life trapped in the city with no country, serving as both a propagandist for a dangerous militia and an unwilling spy for the United States government. When an ultranationalist coalition, captures the city of Charlotte, James finds himself in the sudden and unexpected company of his college friend: Nicholas Brewer, former Congressman from South Carolina and political head of the American Reclamation. Convinced by a single violent episode, James agrees to become an artist in the employ of this antigovernment force. But James begins to suspect that the American Reclamation isn’t the force for good he believed. When approached by government agents who threaten to do anything to break the siege, James faces betraying his friend or putting himself, and the lives of others, in grave danger. With an interest in the political ramifications of hyper-partisanship, political art and steganography, and an exploration of the messy relationship between loyalty and preservation, this book invokes the political thriller in literary fashion.