Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Swan Rising | 2018 | Lisa Brackmann | Buy |
Lisa Brackmann published Black Swan Rising in 2018, a standalone political thriller set in San Diego. The novel follows Casey Cheng, a local TV reporter recovering from injuries sustained in a mass shooting, and Sarah Price, a young woman working on a congressman’s reelection campaign while hiding a past that could destroy her career. When Casey investigates the shooter’s ties to an online hate group called #TrueMen, she finds connections that reach into the political establishment.
The book examines online radicalization, political extremism, and the ways that public and private violence feed each other. It is a departure from Brackmann’s earlier novels set in China and Mexico, but it shares their interest in how ordinary people get caught up in systems much larger than themselves.