THE DUCK SPRINGS DEFIANCE: A Tale of Love, Redemption, and Small Town Resistance in the Next Civil War

    Daniel Goodman, former combat Marine, secular Jew, and disillusioned armchair philosophizer retreats from his unhappy past to a borrowed cabin deep in a forest in the Cascade Range of Washington state. Goodman is running on empty with lingering PTSD moments from a combat tour in yet another foreign war, a failed marriage, and a gambling habit that had him disbarred from a promising legal career.

    In search of escape, he reads, hikes, and periodically contemplates suicide. He also ruminates on the life, times, and writings of existentialist philosopher Albert Camus who thought life was meaningless. Camus called it “absurd.”

    Slowly Goodman is drawn into the rhythms of a quirky, out-of-the-way rural community called Duck Springs. He meets Clover Fiffe who was born and raised there and falls in love with her just as a violent coup d’état led by political white supremacists throws America into a second Civil War. Right wing militias unite under a junta led by senior military, business, and political men. The President and other high officials are assassinated, cities are on fire, and for reasons not immediately obvious, rogue troops close in on the 800 residents of Duck Springs.

    Goodman helps a seasoned retired army general organize a rear-guard resistance, finds redemption with Clover, becomes part of the small town that adopts him, and discovers what a community can do when people take a stand.

Forthcoming, February 2026 from All Night Books