Brief

In this world where american history was rewritten by the KKK, a young adventurous woman finds a way out of this lie with the help of a Cherokee man.

What We Liked

A reality manipulated by the Klan after their infiltration into the US government is a very compelling plot. You can't help but think about how they are able to maintain people believing in this, or how this works from the global perspective. This makes a very interesting political adventure that entices discussions about how far segregation and prejudice can move people.

Film: This is a movie about how the country was rebuilt by the Klan. Much like The Road, the story can already start in the future explaining how America became the Union States, exploiting the fact of Mikela being a descendant of one of the men responsible for this and making her closer to the people responsible for maintaining the lie for so many years.

TV: K3 is perfect for a science fiction story about a dystopic future where this world is introduced and the characters are gradually discovering how it came to this point. Exploring the different provinces can make this a TV show with its development running through many seasons, presenting a bigger cast of characters than the book. This is the kind of story made to become viral, creating a buzz in communities like Twitter and Reddit, where the users are hungry for theories and science fiction shows.

Key points:
1. The Hero wins in the end.
2. Lots of action.
3. The conspiratorial plot.
4. The discussion created.
5. A very interesting setting.

Synopsis

Starts in 1996 with Vice-President DAVIS WESTMORELAND speech after the reelection of President BILL ADAMS. DAVIS assures they'll keep the campaign promises, and this administration will be marked by a more active Vice-President who'll not be sidelined and he will be part of the decision-making in the White House.

In this context, we meet SAMUEL, MILDRED, ESPERANZA, LEE, KATHY, and JOSE, characters from diverse backgrounds -- immigrants, Black and Asian people. We follow them while their lives are changed forever without their knowledge. SAMUEL and MILDRED became close friends with the local white butcher and his wife. ESPERANZA and JOSE are a couple of Latin immigrants who want to be seen as Americans and give a better future to their kids. KATHY and LEE are expecting a baby; she is a white woman and he is Asian American, and her parents do not approve of this relationship or the pregnancy.

They start to understand that something is happening when they see news of twenty black churches being burned all across the country. This is the trigger to a sensation of fear and uncertainty among minorities, causing them to respond to this violence with a big protest called We Are One Nation. The people and the media start to suspect the KKK, but they don't take this as seriously as it is.

DAVIS WESTMORELAND, a KKK member infiltrated inside the government, starts to act on his plan to take on the presidency. While this happens, PRESIDENT ADAMS gains popular support with a speech declaring only American-born immigrant children the US citizenship, something the American people apparently support but the immigrant community doesn't.

The KKK reveals its plans: they're training a new generation of recruits in silence to infiltrate within every level of the United States government and military. They want to use this influence to take over the country and create provinces in US territory where its inhabitants are determined by race and religion.

While PRESIDENT ADAMS is trying to balance the best for everyone, DAVIS poisons his wife and makes it look like a heart attack. The plan is to create a tragic story to help his popularity grow. He sees an opportunity to do the same with ADAMS and take on the presidency before the next election. DAVIS reveals another step in their plan: developing artificial intelligence capable of monitoring all the communications between people inside the provinces and maintaining people inside their determined spaces.

The military is responsible for kidnapping and forcing people to move away from their current homes to the new province created for them. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Delaware, Vermont, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Tennessee, Washington State and New Jersey will comprise the Province of White America. Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Nevada will be for Native American Indians. Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii and California will be designated for Asian America. Arizona, New Mexico and Texas will comprise Hispanic America. Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina will be for Black America. And Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina will be for Black America..

The military has permission to kill if necessary to make people move, even children. At the same time, they are burning all the books, the historical, the fiction and the religious.

The story fast forwards to the year 2298, when people's lives are conducted by artificial intelligence. We are introduced to a group of young friends called ALEX, ELENA, LEXI, MIKE and her dog BEAU. They are living in the Union States of America, without knowing about this fabricated reality. While adventuring, they find some History books with very divergent information from their school books, especially because they differ "World History" from "American History" and, for them, they are the same. Other book mentions the English language, something none of the kids had ever heard about.

There is a note inside one of the books and MIKE reads it. Being written by the person responsible for the AI that runs the Union States. He says about an implemented virus in the programming of the chips implanted in every person and hopes at some point this virus will wake up. The trigger is someone reading the Emancipation Declaration. MIKE finds the declaration in one of the books and reads it.

MIKE is attacked by a bully during a hike and sees BEAU fighting and being severely hurt protecting her. There, in the middle of nowhere, she is saved by two dark-skinned men called SKY, RIVER and their wolf. Something she had never seen before. They are walking North. To Canada.

In Canada, MIKE knows the couple JEAN PIERRE and ANNE MARIE. They talk about English, French, the Grand Canyon, a state called Arizona, of what Mike had never heard about before. One week passes and MIKE's family still has hopes of finding her. MIKE, now feeling more like MIKELA, is living with JEAN PIERRE, ANNE MARIE and the Cherokee boys as this is her new life.

MIKELA follows RIVER to Wyoming, the place where he was born. During the travel, she finds an opportunity to E-text her friends ELENA, LEXI and ALEX, asking them to look for the History books that are hidden in the attic. They go and read Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech. RIVER explains to MIKE about the "unfeeling ones", the robots responsible for maintaining the people in their designated places. He also tells about the other people from different provinces he rescued in the same way he did with her.

MIKELA friends are still trying to understand what to do with the information in the books. But they contact MIKE and agree to meet. She leaves RIVER in secret with the company of BEAU and a pack of wolves, but the government is monitoring her and the girls, ambushing them at the meeting point. They are saved by the wolves and the arrival of RIVER, who was looking for MIKELA. He makes everyone go back to Canada, so they can regroup and develop a new plan. Mike is already three years away from home.

The government tries to find the girls by kidnapping their families and making the parents contact them via E-phones. MIKELA answers and THOMAS WESTMORELAND threatens to kill everyone while she listens. Before arriving to rescue the girls' families, all the group and their pack of wolves have to fight AIs trying to kill them. Having the kids hidden and making a surprise appearance, Mikela is able to free everyone from Westmoreland and his robots, until after a long chase, they finally fight and the wolves kill Westmoreland. They are free and alive, in a world full of lies, but free and alive.

About The Author

Tracie O'Neil Horton grew up in a small town in upstate New York and now resides in a country home in Virginia. After joining the Army at age eighteen, she became a Korean voice interceptor for Military Intelligence. K 3 is her debut novel.