Landfall: A Novel

1978-16-year-old Ross is on his way to a beer bash being sponsored by the campaign for Congressional candidate George W. Bush. Ross is seeking a little harmless fun when he meets two people who will alter his life…Bush and Allison O’Connor. Their paths meet and their fates are now intertwined.

Cut to 2005. Bush has just been re-elected, Ross labors for the Homeland Heritage Division, a plum political job where he excels. Allison is in Iraq serving as a lawyer for the Army, witnessing the horrors and setbacks of the 2003 Invasion and Iraqi Insurgency. Meanwhile, The Bush administration anticipates a more successful second term. However, tense relationships exist between the Pentagon, State Department and the White House. Ross reunites with his first crush Allison when Defense Secretary Rumsfeld seeks to plant a contrarian in the Iraq debate and bend Bush’s ear. Ross & Allison’s relationship parallels the country’s hot & cold temperature. When Hurricane Katrina wends its destructive path through the Gulf, everything is further torn asunder.

Landfall is the last in an unlikely trilogy of Historical Fiction from Thomas Mallon that began with “Watergate”. Mallon’s work is breathtaking in its depth and humanity. He has turned his focused microscope on recent history and unlocked the covert lives of public figures. Part love story and part tragic drama that never ceases to keep the reader interested and involved. A+