Mary, a twelve-year-old middle school softball pitcher is murdered in a school shooting along with all her classmates and teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. Mary's father, grandfather and a family friend, steeped in grief and anger, fixate on the real culprit, NRA poster boy Senator Mitch McConnell. Mary's grandfather (Tony), a Vietnam vet and ex-CIA operative, tells an old FBI buddy he's thinking about writing a political novel and asks the buddy how he would go about killing a senator. The buddy sees through Tony's literary smokescreen and tips off the FBI that taps Tony's phone and puts a listening device and tracer on his car.The FBI captures Tony and his son-in-law (Richard Wallace/Mary's dad), following Mitch McConnell's car to a five-star restaurant. In Tony's car there are face-hiding covid masks, weapon-hiding long coats, and a new AR-15 rifle. The federal court trial for conspiracy for attempted murder underscores the government's dead-to-rights evidence against the co-conspirators, on the one hand, and temporary insanity, driven by the tragic loss of an innocent child, on the other. The plot twists and turns along the way. The characters are real and memorable. Despite the gravity of what happened, there is still room for humor and romance under a constant umbrella of gun politics and legal maneuvers. Then in the end, the totally unexpected happens.
Mary, a twelve-year-old middle school softball pitcher is murdered in a school shooting along with all her classmates and teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. Mary's father, grandfather and a family friend, steeped in grief and anger, fixate on the real culprit, NRA poster boy Senator Mitch McConnell. Mary's grandfather (Tony), a Vietnam vet and ex-CIA operative, tells an old FBI buddy he's thinking about writing a political novel and asks the buddy how he would go about killing a senator. The buddy sees through Tony's literary smokescreen and tips off the FBI that taps Tony's phone and puts a listening device and tracer on his car.The FBI captures Tony and his son-in-law (Richard Wallace/Mary's dad), following Mitch McConnell's car to a five-star restaurant. In Tony's car there are face-hiding covid masks, weapon-hiding long coats, and a new AR-15 rifle. The federal court trial for conspiracy for attempted murder underscores the government's dead-to-rights evidence against the co-conspirators, on the one hand, and temporary insanity, driven by the tragic loss of an innocent child, on the other. The plot twists and turns along the way. The characters are real and memorable. Despite the gravity of what happened, there is still room for humor and romance under a constant umbrella of gun politics and legal maneuvers. Then in the end, the totally unexpected happens.