Black Swan Rising

by Lisa Brackmann

Sarah Price wants a career in politics. But she has a secret past that won't stay past, threatening her job on a San Diego congressman's reelection campaign.

Casey Cheng wants a story. An ambitious local television reporter, Casey needs to get her career back on track after being seriously injured in a mass shooting. When she investigates the man who nearly killed her, she finds a connection to a group of online harassers called #TrueMen--and realizes her shooter may not be the only killer they have inspired.

Casey's investigation and Sarah's secret put them both in the crosshairs of a hate group that targets anyone they've deemed to be against their cause, including Sarah's boss, the congressman. Now Sarah and Casey have a choice to make--do they hide? Or do they fight back?

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Politics, Suspense, Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook

421 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 2018

About the author

Lisa Brackmann is the New York Times best-selling author of the Ellie McEnroe novels set in China and the thrillers Getaway and Go-Between. The first Ellie book, Rock Paper Tiger (Year of the Tiger) was one of Amazon Top 100 Books of the Year and a Top 10 Mystery/Thriller. Hour Of The Rat, the sequel, was shortlisted for Left Coast Crime's international mystery award and was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Audio Book. Dragon Day, the third novel in the Ellie McEnroe trilogy, was a Seattle Times Top 10 Mystery of 2015 and was short-listed for a Lefty award. Getaway (Day of the Dead) was an Amazon Best Book of the Month and a finalist for SCIBA's T. Jefferson Parker award. Her latest novel is Go-Between, "a terrific noir tale that channels Richard Stark's stories" and a "Hottest Summer Books" selection from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Black Swan Rising, her new book about misogyny, mass shootings, and polarized politics, launches Sept. 8. Her work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Travel+Leisure, Salon and CNET. She lives in San Diego with a cat, far too many books and a bass ukulele and is playing in a band again after a 17-year break. You can find her online at www.lisabrackmann.com.

That's the official bio. You can find out more about me (if you are so inclined) on my website (www.lisabrackmann.com)

Thanks for visiting!

p.s. In the UK you'll find me as Lisa Brackman (one "n"). "Year of the Tiger" is the UK edition of "Rock Paper Tiger." "Day of the Dead" is the UK edition of "Getaway."

Reviews

[Catherine McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a massive fan of Lisa Brackmann's. She always packs a punch in her novels! This timely story is no exception. If you love political thrillers, add this one to your to-read shelf!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising is a hard hitting political thriller with a prescient look at the “Me Too” movement, domestic terrorism and the ever-increasing number of public shootings. The characters, both male and female; good, bad and in-between, are interesting, multi-layered and never stereotypical. It's clear that a lot of research and thought went into this book and it's one hell of a good read. Put this on your TBR list asap! If you're lucky, maybe you can get ahold of an ARC too. :-)

[Ramsey Hootman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmmm... this is a tough book to review!

Is this a good book? Yes.
Is it "fun" to read? No. It was difficult to read, actually, because the subject matter is all too real, which is why I didn't devour it in 48 hours like I usually do.
Does it ask good questions? Yes. It's challenging. And frustrating. Kinda like our current political environment.
Is there a satisfying conclusion? No. Because that would be too easy. (Although I really do wish there had been more of a resolution with Wyatt.)
Is it hopeless? No.

I liked that the three main point of view characters were all women in different hard positions, trying to make the right decisions for the situations they found themselves in. I also liked the window into both a political campaign and the local newsroom, both worlds I knew nothing about. Casey in particular gave me insight into why reporters do what they do - an impulse which is very foreign to me, but in Casey, very sympathetic. Overall, Black Swan Rising is a different kind of story than Brackmann's other novels, but at the same time very much her thing, if that makes sense. It's a solid, suspenseful addition to what (in my bookcase) is becoming "her shelf."

Also I'm pretty sure the title implies a sequel, so, uh, I'll be waiting.

[Bryn Greenwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my cover blurb ...

Black Swan Rising is more than the sum of its parts. More than political drama, personal struggle, or the looming menace of gun violence. In this gripping novel, Lisa Brackmann tells not just the harrowing story of two women impacted by a mass shooting but the story of America’s deadly love affair with guns.

[3 no 7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Black Swan Rising” by Lisa Brackmann sets the tone in the opening lines.

“They’d found her new email address. No one here knew who she used to be, she told herself. But she knows I deserved that money, she thought.”

Thus, readers embark on a journey of intrigue, deception, and revenge filled with unpredictable events that have massive impacts.

Congress is always a demanding workplace, but working in communications in the office of Representative Matthew Cason is especially stressful during his first reelection campaign. The campaign is volatile and hectic. The team needs to create a message specifically for the campaign, something that would pop, get people excited. They needed a consistent style and voice across all social platforms. Then the phone call came.

“I know some things about your opponents that you might find interesting. I can help you, Sarah. If I give you information, that makes you valuable. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Being valuable?”

Brackmann intertwines several complex stories that converge and depart throughout the book. Across town, a TV reporter, the victim of a shooting, decides that she will exploit her assault and advance her career by investigating the shooter.

“What do you think about a special report? A series about the long-term repercussions of a tragedy like this?” Jordan crossed his arms over his belly. Thinking it through. “So the angle is … you?” She smiled. “Who better?”

The plot is complex and packed with contemporary topics. The storyline is driven by personal conversations, social media comments, Twitter feeds, press releases, and news post. The examples lend realism and contemporary authenticity, but they also interrupt the flow of the story.

There is just too much going on in this book. The overabundance of “current-event topics” (me too, domestic terrorism, political corruption, gun control, mass shootings) seems to overshadow and confuse the underlying plot. Many of the “posts” are just about unrelated violent incidents and do nothing to advance the plot. It makes the book appear to be a vehicle for promoting gun control through concocting stories in a book. A leaner story with more action and less lobbying and exploiting would have made a compelling thriller.

I was given a copy of “Black Swan Rising” by Lisa Brackmann, Midnight Ink, and NetGalley. Ignoring the abundance of “news” posts, it was an interesting and current book. Brackman is certainly on the correct writing path with this contemporary storyline. It could have been pulled from today’s pages of any big city newspaper. I absolutely will read her next book, and I just hope it will be a little leaner.

[Michael Martz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising was a disappointment to me. I've been a big fan of Lisa Brackmann's novels from the beginning and this one seemed promising- ripped from today's headlines, as it were. There is, indeed, much action that seems very timely with social media, mainstream media, and politics on prominent display. However it just doesn't get there.

Story threads that are intertwined throughout Black Swan Rising include a young female political operative with a past she's trying to hide, a shadowy group of anti-female activists who use social media to attack its victims, a reporter trying to recover from a murder attempt, and a candidate who seems idealistic but has his own secrets. The story moves along with a few expected bangs and a couple surprises along the way, but there's no real conclusion to speak of. It reminds me of one of those movies you spend a couple hours watching and "The End" (or its equivalent) appears on the screen and you say: "What? That's it??".

Black Swan Rising has a decent premise but doesn't do enough with it. Lots of believable action and at 400+ pages too long already, but it seemed to need an additional 100 to wrap things up.

[Allison Larkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A chilling, nuanced, heart-in-your-throat read. Absolutely impossible to put down.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Lisa Brackmann, but this book, which is very Current Year, wasn't my favorite. Black Swan Rising is a political thriller focused on a Congressional race in San Diego (Brackmann's home town), but the election is really just the driver to push the plot. The two candidates are fairly generic assemblies of Congressional cliches: Matt Cason is the Democrat, a moderate with all the usual mainstream Democratic positions. He's an Iraqi war vet, he's got some anger management issues and he's fidelity-challenged: his marriage to a jealous political wife is a bit Clintonesque. His Republican opponent, Lisa Tegan, is likewise pretty generic, spouting conservative talking points with the main wedge issue being immigration. There's also a leftist primary opponent trying to peel off some of his votes, but that's mostly irrelevant to the plot.

The election is just the draw for the characters who become snarled up in what's really a book about sexism, social media, and gun violence. The two main characters are Sarah Price, a young worker in Cason's campaign, and Casey Cheng, a local TV reporter who's tired of covering "surfing bulldogs." She's pretty and young but not getting any younger, and looking for the story that will give her her shot at serious journalism, which she gets when someone shoots her.

Both Sarah and Casey have been exposed to extreme misogyny online, Sarah in her past, which she's trying to keep hidden, and Casey after an angry loser goes on a shooting spree in which she's wounded. It soon turns out that there is a disorganized "movement" of sorts, made up of angry young men who hate women, and incidentally other minorities, but mostly women. Remarkably, the term "incel" is never actually used in the book, but Black Swan Rising is basically about a bunch of incels being stirred to violence by the "#truemen" movement, which turns out to have originated in a graphic novel series by an alt-right comic book artist. (The term "alt-right" is also not used in the book, but again, the references are obvious.) Brackmann, as a native San Diegan, naturally manages to work the San Diego Comicon into the story, and includes an interview with the graphic novelist who's sort of a mouthpiece for generic alt-right talking points and an amalgam expy of several real-world figures I can think of.

The abuse women are subjected to online was obviously one of the themes the author wanted to write about. Although the climax of the novel goes beyond abusive Tweets and revenge porn, as a wave of serious political violence mars polls nationwide, the gun control issue is actually handled with a lighter touch, which is to say, it's implicit in the events of the novel that Brackmann sees guns as a problem, but she mostly avoids getting on a soapbox about gun control, other than the obligatory references to a couple of the shooters who had a history of violence and mental illness but were still easily able to buy guns. The soapboxing is more obvious and personal in the harassment and abuse that both Sarah Price and Casey Cheng suffer throughout the novel, mostly directed at them by angry basement dwellers, but the eruption of actual violence, and death threats which become more than threats, is a clear repudiation of the "Just ignore the trolls" school of dealing with online harassment.

The problem with this book was that it's very political and very of the moment, and it's rare that an explicitly political novel doesn't cause the plot and characters to suffer a bit at the expense of the political messaging. Even when I agree with the author's politics, a soapbox novel rarely manages to be subtle, and I felt like most of the characters in this one were pretty flat. Sarah and Casey are defined more by what happens to them than by their personalities, as they are just representatives of the point the author is trying to make. Which is probably why I found the ending rather unsatisfying. We see a rising tide of violence, all supposedly originating in a bunch of incel boards stirred to violent action by a comic book written by a ideologue, but then the story just ends. Obviously, the fact that there is no single solution to the problem and it's not just going to be "resolved" was part of the point, but there's no real aftermath, no natural conclusion to any of the character arcs. Shit happened and people move on.

Is Black Swan Rising a cautionary tale, a political soapbox, or just a novel about two women thrust into a world of angry young men and political violence? A bit of all three, but it felt like something the author wrote because she had something to say as opposed to a story to tell. And of course there is nothing wrong with that: indeed, a novel that has nothing to say isn't much of a novel either. But in this case, there was less story than message.

[El · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising should be made into a movie.

It is riveting and speaks to our current societal situation. The writing is so perfectly done, the flow, the descriptions, the incredibly well-developed characters all speak to the hard work it takes to keep a reader engaged. The reader is completely engaged because they find themselves in it.

I could not put the book down. This book moves the reader through scenes and dialog with such ease while still building the suspense. Not one word is out of place. Every word has a purpose and every sentence is packed with information but done in such a way that is easy to follow. The suspense keeps pace because the threat is real all along the way.

The characters are so well-developed and what they do is so well-described as well as the locations being so well thought out and described, that there is very little left to do regarding making this into a movie script.

But the real bonus in making this into a movie is that it has women leading the cast with a well-rounded and diverse support cast, each with their own developed story. The dialog for the women ring true to a woman's ears, which is always so hard for movies to do, not sure why. This is why the flow is so perfect. The dialog is such that one does not stop to rethink how something is off. Nothing is off in this book. Nothing.

This writer has something special. Yes, hard work is obvious. Research is down pat, which makes it that much easier to turn into a movie because most of the work is front loaded already. But there is something else. The reader finds themselves in the book, feeling the characters' anxieties without getting hit over the head in any way. Nothing is heavy-handed. Everything happening can happen to anyone.

The threats are real, the scenarios already happening or will happen eventually given the current "anxieties" some in our society think they are experiencing. Add the internet to that mix and we have backroom chat sessions whipping up those anxieties into actions taken. I have already said too much and will stop there for hints.

The author, Lisa Brackmann, connects the dots with care in Black Swan Rising. I have purposefully written this review without telling what the book is about. That you can get from the front cover. I want the reader to get the full impact from start to finish they way I did and nearly any descriptions past the book cover is a spoiler.

Books are an inexpensive way to give a gift, or to pass along to a friend. You won't regret getting Black Swan Rising. I have already mailed one to my daughter in college. I want her to raise her awareness levels. This is real.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one grabs you from the first page and never lets go. With current topics from politics to mass media, to internet subcultures and hate groups with guns, it's a must read if you've been paying attention to what's happening in this country. I've read most of Ms. Brackman's books. All of them are excellent, but I think this is the best one yet. (I have to go get "Go Between" as I think it's the only one I've missed.)

I can't recommend "Black Swan Rising" enough!

[August Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Brackmann’s Black Swan Rising is a break-neck thriller built around Sarah Price - a political campaign volunteer with a past she’d prefer stays private, Casey Cheng - a local television reporter injured in a mass shooting, and what may or may not be a conspiracy to both destroy a local election and terrorize the city of San Diego. Like the author, both women play every move at the top of their intelligence, navigating the complex and less than ideal world of modern American politics, and the depths of surviving trauma, while managing to triumph over a constant barrage of attacks. While some writers rip plotlines from headlines, Brackmann’s story takes the modern world a terrifying, yet prescient step forward to the natural evolution of today’s alternative fact discourse and its danger to democracy everywhere. Luckily, women like Sarah Price and Casey Cheng are looking out for us. A thoroughly enjoyable, if not far too real, thriller.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hair on the back of my neck was standing almost the whole time I was reading this book! It has been on my To Be Read pile for a while, but only now did I get around to reading it. I think it is more pertinent now than when the book was originally published because of the events of January 6, 2020. Also there have been ongoing efforts to destroy our nation's democracy by all sorts of vile groups: QAnon, white supremacists, Proud Boys, the Tiki Torch bearers in Charlottesville, etc. What a prescient book! As an Asian-American woman, I also felt a bond with Casey. I am sorry to see the partnership between Casey and Sarah end. I would like to see them in another thriller because they are two strong female characters. I hope Ms. Brackmann will consider writing a sequel to this book, because they are so many bad guys (and gals--as Jan 6 2020 has shown) around, whom Casey and Sarah can fight. Also, I want to know who Wyatt Gray is!

[Ellen Kirschman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too close for comfort

Brackmann nails America’s worst nightmare, an attack on Democracy and democratic elections by a fringe group of lunatic white nationalists. The writing is tight, the heroines are female and the plot moves faster than a speeding bullet, of which there are plenty. As a bonus, In the midst of the action I learned how political campaigns work and how TV news covers them. Given our current political tensions, I dearly hope Brackmann’s book remains a work of fiction, not a predictor of things to come.

[Caroline Gerardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels like this is today Lisa Brackmann I think you are a fortune teller, please let us know what stocks to buy. Geeze yes I used that word, this is great. A thriller with females that I can love. White Nationalists Supremacists yes those Boogaloo guys are real - posing as "antifa" Buy this book before it becomes a big screen blockbuster movie whenever we are able to go back to see a film... the writing is terrific. One more time: buy this book before it sells out!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising involves a San Diego Congressman who is a military veteran, an ambitious news reporter and a staffer with the secret past whose lives are upended when images from a campaign event go viral. Highly recommended.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty. Tense. Ugly. Real. BLACK SWAN RISING tackles the hateful truths of today. Written with uncompromising force, Brackmann delivers a timely and riveting thriller.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve long been a fan of Ms. Brackmann’s book and her latest one, Black Swan Rising, is no exception. I see the word “riveting” in a lot of reviews here, and the book is indeed that. I read it straight through, late into the night, not only because of the edge-of-your-seat action, and the compelling storyline, but because it has a “sticky” quality, like being caught in a web, forced to watch an oncoming collision, holding your breath to see what’s going to happen next, wanting to escape, and wholly unable to. Just exactly like the women Ms. Brackmann so deftly and devastatingly portrays in this book.

All three women, Sarah, Casey, and Lindsey, are caught in a web that’s partly of their own making, but made inescapable by the men pulling the strings. Life shouldn’t have to be a pot-holed trap for these women, each just wanting to live her life and succeed in her own way, but for two of them at least, crap happened to them and they unwittingly sprung open a hornet’s nest of hate and violence that swarms inescapably into every corner of their lives. For the congressman’s wife, Lindsey, the tale is a bit different. She opted in to being the wife of a political animal, but the personal costs to her are no less significant.

With such a strong group of leading women, I would have thought this book would easily pass the Bechdel Test, which is “a work of fiction that features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.” It doesn’t. It can’t. Men are the drivers here. The man Sarah is trying to get elected. The horrific online harassment of women by frustrated, furious men. The men who think rape and execution are the answers to their anger. The men trying to kill them. And if you’re a man, don’t get complacent, no matter how big and strong you are. Bullets don’t discriminate. And no place is safe anymore.

Ms. Brachmann does an outstanding job of telling a story that absolutely could be, sadly, ripped from the headlines of any day right now. She does this expertly, with her usual deft hand, avoiding allowing it to become a screed about politics and gun culture and internet harassment, while at the same time incorporating all those things into a story that is sad and true and horrifying and empowering at the same time. I most enjoyed seeing the strength in these women. Quiet, each in her own fumbling way finding what she needs to make it through another day, to find her courage and strength, and her own voice. This isn’t an easy book to read but I absolutely recommend that you do.

[Daniel Westrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know too well the corrosive effect online trolls have had on politics and culture. Anonymous death threats, doxxing, swatting, and hate posting are all too commonplace. Brackmann's fast paced tale asks what would things look like if more of the dysfunctional angry men behind this phenomenon started acting out in the real world rather than staying in their bedrooms and basements. The answer is not pretty and is alarming precisely because it is easy to imagine the dark tipping point portrayed in this story happening tomorrow. This is a great read that is begging for a sequel

[Jo Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brackmann's political thriller is an original, dark, ambitious and timely exploration of rage, violence, freedom and intimidation in an era when social media bestows both anonymity and and dangerous exposure. Despite the nail-biting suspense, Brackmann's lucid and beautiful writing was a constant pleasure. BLACK SWANS RISING terrified me, gripped me, and made me cheer.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey Cheng, an ambitious local news reporter in San Diego, California, and Sarah Price, a campaign worker for San Diego Congressman Matt Cason, alternate the narration in this timely political thriller. Both women are targets of white-nationalist misogynist trolls: Casey because she is Asian and visible, and Sarah because she gained unwanted notoriety in the past, from which she is trying to escape.

The neo-Nazi white supremacists featured in the book are of a piece; i.e., they are unsuccessful in life - whether in terms of education, work, or women. They are full of rage and, thanks to online forums, feel they have support and encouragement. Is that true to real life? Fortunately, I don’t actually know first-hand.

When the story begins, Casey is covering an active shooting, and gets injured. She wants to get back to work though, and decides to investigate the life of the dead shooter and perhaps gain insights into why he committed this horrific act.

Additional episodes of mass shootings follow, with politicos on the left - like Cason - in the crosshairs. Thus Casey and Sarah begin to interact as the ensuing violence brings them together.

There are a lot of issues covered in this thriller, from online bullying to gun rights to sexual harassment and violence. In addition, the “usual” issues of relationship conflicts absorb the characters as well. While all of the issues are plausibly connected in the story, the writing seems to be a bit heavy-handed and clunky at times. In addition, there are two plot threads running through the story that are totally left unresolved at the end. Is this supposed to be the first of a series? There is no indication of that. The author may be saying we just can’t know the answer to some things. Or she may have just decided she was done with the story. Either way, it leaves readers hanging, and left this reader, at least, unsatisfied.

Evaluation: For those who enjoy thrillers that take the headlines and spin them into even scarier scenarios, this book will fill the bill.

[Nathan Bransford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timely, riveting, and chilling. Thoroughly enjoyed this!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising by author Lisa Brackmann is like reading an expose' from today's headlines. It was a bit scary to know how easily anyone can be the target of cyberbullying and the target of a hate group. I did feel uncomfortable with some of the language in the story. That made it hard for me to read, although I do know there are some people who use these offensive words, I do not want to read them. I almost stopped reading the book because of that but decided to push on through.
Sarah Price works for the campaign of a California senator, and she has a secret in her past which she has tried to put behind her. She receives offensive and harassing emails from an unknown source. She must find out who is doing this and the motive. Could the sender possibly know her secret?
Casey Cheng is a reporter who was shot during a cruel mass shooting in San Diego. As she heals she decides to learn more about this shooter. Hey, if she had to suffer, she might as well get a good story out of it, right? as she digs through information and investigates, there are other events of shootings, or small car bombs, senseless violence directed at what seems to be everyday people. The violence heats up and targets the political committee and the media as the election date nears.
Layers of political agendas, movement of dark money, extremist political language, all intertwine to expose a very dark subject in a very interesting book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book certainly hits a lot of major hot button issues – the diffuse, toxic masculine anger that is so easily amplified by both mainstream and social media, the eternal election cycle and the role of massive amounts of money from everywhere in US politics, the rise of grievance politics and, oh yeah, our never ending, ever growing epidemic of gun violence. It’s a pretty sad but unfortunately too accurate picture of the USA today. I found Sarah the political intern and Casey the Asian reporter to be well drawn characters but the charming candidate and his jealous wife were a bit annoying. The major loose end, the pseudonymous deus ex machina who keeps feeding alarming information to Sarah, is also a bit a bit of a head scratcher.

[Salem]

What feels like an insider view of political campaigns, TV news and social media trolling. I'm glad to see someone take a stab at showing the emotional sewage of internet trolling and how damaging it is. Lisa Brackmann works social media into her story naturally, with characters checking in frequently to try and keep up with the rapid shifts in the zeitgeist -- like ya do! In one chapter we see a campaign volunteer shot; turn the page and the characters are discussing the wave of copycat shootings that followed. Brackmann wraps all this social commentary up in a good story with characters we care about.

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat journalistic in style, this provocative read tracks the uptick in hate crimes in the U.S. prior to a mid-term election, through the lens of two prominent female characters: Sarah Price, an aspiring politician who works in the fictional democratic front runner's campaign office, and Casey Cheng, a fearless television reporter. The current relevance of the theme makes this a very compelling read.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not "Ripped from the headlines", but "woven into the headlines", including headlines that are to come. One of the better thrillers I've read, not as wonderfully mad as "Rock Paper Tiger", but more compassionate to its characters. A look at politics, journalism, violence, the alt-right, and selfish palemale troll culture.

[Sabra · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too busy for me. I think Sarah's and the TrueMen storylines would have made better standalones. Also the ending didn't really work for me, it just... stopped without really ending.

[Paul Sutter]

Sometimes fiction, although fabricated, meanders much too close to reality. When you reach the fine line between fact and fiction, it turns a story both powerful and unsettling. That is the case with BLACK SWAN RISING, a book mirroring some of the horrific events from the world today.
The book centers around Sarah Price and Casey Cheng. Sarah is a worker in a political campaign for Matt Cason, a Congressman up for reelection in San Diego. Casey is an ambitious television reporter, who always wants to get to the bottom of a story.
Their paths cross when Casey is shot in the back. Thus begins the road to recovery, along with finding the truth behind the shooting, and the extremist groups wanting to disrupt the political campaign. They also stake their claim for male superiority.
There are many mass shootings and offensive emails from a group known as True Men. They spout not only hatred, but also anti-female sentiment, showing misogyny at its highest zenith. Casey knows there is still a target on her back, fighting to recover from the shooting, and also trying to find the identity of the shooters and others like him.
Alan Chastain is the shooter. He is far from finished in his True Men crusade. His followers are many. Sarah has created issues, while trying to support her candi-date. There is a true collision course between good and evil, one wondering who will survive?
Lisa Brackmann has done an excellent job of creating tension on every page. It is the unpredictability factor that makes the book effective. Mixing political thriller with social commentary, it creates a non-stop classic.

[Chuck Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced political thriller(?) that touches on many of the hot-button issues of the day: mass-shootings, Me-Too movement, the political divide, and most of all the climate of hate in America today. It's about a congressional election campaign in California taking place amidst a series of shootings carried out by followers of the "True Men" movement. The main characters are a young social media volunteer on the campaign team looking to escape her own horrific past, and a female local news reporter who becomes personally involved in the shootings. But are the True Men truly an organized movement, or just an anonymous collection of angry, young, white loners? I liked how the book raised all these timely issues through well written dialog (and a smattering of social media posts which anyone who has browsed Twitter or website comment sections will recognize) without really pontificating, but the conclusion was unsatisfying. The story just kind of ended with no real resolution - which perhaps reflects that there is no good resolution to the question of why people need to hate those seen as "other".

[Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Swan Rising is an unsettling thriller that’s literally “ripped from the headlines” involving political campaigns, mass shootings, videos going viral, and a conspiracy fueled by twitter.

Casey Cheng is a TV reporter who is shot in the first mass shooting in the book. Sarah Price is a campaign worker with a big secret. Matt Cason is a Congressman and veteran running for re-election. George Drake is the author of True Men Will Rise, a graphic novel the author describes as “social realism” and “a cautionary tale”. And then there’s conversation about a conspiracy where people are doing violent things and using the hashtag “TrueMen” to brag about them.

Lisa Brackmann writes a compelling story, complex and believable. The characters are well developed, the dialogue realistic, the tweets convincing, and the outcome thought provoking. Warning: this book is hard to put down once started.