Energy Dependence Day

In the modern day Middle East, Saudi Arabia to be precise, there lies a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists that are primed to hate the West. Fleeing Afghanistan, Husam and his parents were caught in the middle of a firefight when an American drone targeted nearby, the debris crushing his parents, leaving Husam a devastated orphan where the seed for his hatred of America began to flourish. Terrorists took Husam, preparing him for a life of violence. Abdul Hafiz Al-Faruq’s mother tragically passed from an illness, sending Al-Faruq to his uncle’s, where he would later join the military, and ultimately become a detective for SAID (Saudi Arabian Investigative Directorate).

Recently tenured Professor Ratib and the Imam share a mutual disdain for everything American and their own monarchy, which they feel is in the United States’ back pocket. Professor Ratib develops an idea to accurately affect America where they will feel it the most, a more calculated target–oil refineries. “Death by a thousand cuts” being their logic, that when “bloody bodies are our calling card,” they are not successful unless they impact mass quantities of Americans by attacking “softer, less protected targets [that] concentrate on disruption rather than total destruction”. Gathering more than a dozen young college men, Professor Ratib and the Imam put their plan into action, Husam being the Imam’s right-hand man and eradicator of all loose ends.

In the constant battle for control, Husam, Detective Al-Faruq, Professor Ratib, and many other vital characters struggle for what they believe is right, when two orphaned boys’ paths converge leading to one’s demise. Energy Dependence Day provides a fresh perspective on fiction, and possesses a recurring theme of doing what is right, regardless of race, religion, or gender, based in a country where so many restrictions and laws run rampant. Energy Dependence Day is beautifully written, with the frequent use of the language that almost became second-nature to read, i.e. thobe, ghutra, and hijab.

The author, Christian F. Burton, is a United States Air Force graduate and member of the Air Force intelligence community. Being in the Air Force afforded him the opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, South Korea, Japan, and Germany. Energy Dependence Day is his first novel.