Anthem — Roy A. Teel Jr.

“The fallen, the flag, the national anthem, and America have been disrespected. It ends now!” Back matter:On a cool Sunday morning at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Sentinels had taken the field. In an all-too-familiar sight, superstar wide receiver Golden Madden knelt to the jeers and boos of a waning crowd as the national anthem began. Madden’s previous antics included spitting on the color guard before games and yelling profanities as the anthem was sung. As the refrain echoed in the near empty stadium, a single shot pierced Madden’s helmet and the skulls of two of his kneeling teammates, starting a counterrevolution. While federal and state law enforcement officials investigate, FBI Deputy Director John Swenson, aka The Iron Eagle, finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an ethical twist. Should he stop the events from unfolding despite their aim to restore respect for God, Country, and the American flag? Inside flap:As a retired veteran and the owner of the Los Angeles Sentinels football team, Aaron Clintock has had to endure the antics of his players as they disrespected law enforcement and the military under the guise of a political protest. While grieving for his son, a major in the United States Marine Corps killed in a black op the previous summer, he feels that the protests originally sparked by police brutality have become a free-for-all platform for players to say what they want when they want. With pressure from the league, the players’ unions, and others, he’s powerless to stop his team from spiraling out of control until one fateful Sunday when local police refuse to protect the players, and three of his athletes are gunned down on national television. As the bodies lay under tarps on the field, a quiet sense of satisfaction appears on his face. The dark secret he now carries, though, could bring him into the talons of the Iron Eagle.