A Year on Fire

By Alex Fogel

Age Groups: 12-18, 18+

“A Year on Fire”

Complete at 66,834 words in 18 chapters

1990. It was a year like few others.

Geo-political turmoil reigned supreme across the globe. From Central America to Europe and the Middle East, dictators were deposed, empires crumbled, nations were reunited while others sought to conquer their neighbors. At home in the U.S., natural and man-made disasters challenged a government and a military struggling to stay ahead of the changing international landscape. This dynamically changing world is the backdrop for a year in the life of a man seeking to protect his family from the forces allied against them.

Chet Diego is anticipating his pending discharge from the U.S. Army. Being among the elite Green Berets seconded to support covert C.I.A. operations throughout central and south America, Chet has been away from his fiancée for over a year. When he learns that his daughter was born while he was incommunicado on missions, Chet is even more excited to settle down and begin family life.

When the beautiful mother of his infant daughter is brutally murdered in an apparent robbery, Chet begins to suspect that the crime may have been staged to hide a deeper conspiracy. Relying upon the precocious niece of a former Army colleague to be a responsible nanny for his daughter, Chet sequesters them away in safety while he investigates his suspicions. When his suspicions are confirmed, he then seeks retribution.

Chet’s quest for justice and the future security for his family will come at a cost. Concerned that the risk of him being linked to the deaths of the conspirators is genuine, Chet puts plans into play for him to assume a new identity for himself and his daughter. Will the price be too high, or will it buy him a future that he and his family will be proud of?

With his new identity, he begins teaching cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy, instilling in them the philosophy that it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. In this prequel to “His Daddy’s Car”, one man’s solitary role during a year on fire influences the lives of the people who would go on to shape America’s Homeland Security strategy in the future.