Patchworks

AMERICA'S NEXT GUN MASSACRE IS IN-EVITABLE, UNLESS GOVERNMENT INTERN GABRIEL DUNNE CAN MAKE A MIRACLE OF HIS ODD JOBS IN WASHINGTON, DC.

Gabriel Dunne's federal internship has him tracking gun violence in America. But before he can start, his boss Chloe tasks him with planning her wedding; Parker wants help seducing their fellow intern; security chief Hubbard hounds him about expired passwords; the shredder guy needs saving from his deadly machine; and Congress threatens a government shutdown that'll send them all packing. When a colleague is victimized by just the kind of violence their office exists to prevent, these ordinary bureaucrats must fight back, or become statistics in America's next mad shooting spree.

"I should tell you this right now. I don't think it's going to stick. Your report won't get past Dvorak, never mind Ms. Marci. And the seventh floor..." She shook her head. "But I do want to say this. You're the first person to stand up to those arrogant, racist pricks at the NRA and K Street by at least putting truth to paper." She nodded before turning away. She stopped.

"And if there's anything I can do to help."

"I still have to get it all down. I still have some work to do. But I thought, even before you said so, I knew the chances of getting it through were slim. So, if there's another way..."

LaRhonda smiled. "You a very discreet young man. Talk like that, you may not need those supplies very long. Destined for things greater than this office."

"Or my demise."

"It's a lose-lose world."

"A lively, moving book in the tradition of Joseph Heller... this page-turner has great heart."--Tony D'Souza, author of Whiteman and Mule.

"One of those need-to-read books -- Ben East, with a penchant for authentic dialogue, acerbic commentary on the government's inability to govern, and a searing end-game, serves up an indictment and, ultimately, a call to arms."--Karl Luntta, author of Know It by Heart and Swimming.

"East constructs narratives as a cinematographer might, only cinema would not pack the same wallop with tone-perfect lines like: 'The shredder guy in the no-water room whose name nobody could remember...'"--Daniel Whitman, author of Answer Coming Soon and Blaming No One.

"Powerful and funny and horribly relevant."--Preston Lang, author of The Sin Tax and The Blind Rooster.

"A tragicomic requiem for America--a once shining dream of democracy that has fallen prey to its own bureaucratic government that operates 'besides the people, despite the people, and against the people.' "--David Suarez Gomez, author of Heaven Is Coming Home.