This timely nonfiction book relates the story of a trio of Kansas militia members who conspire to bomb a Somali-immigrant apartment complex in their town of Garden City, KS. Dan Day, a Kansas resident and neighbor, ends up infiltrating the group as an FBI informant to catch them before their plans reach fruition. Historian Dick Lehr has written a propulsive and, at its core, terrifying story that assesses just what a danger domestic terrorism is in the United States of today.

Fueled by racism, an irrational love of guns and gun culture, far-right narratives inspiring hate against then-president Obama and immigrants coming to the United States, and a twisted version of Christianity, these three men amped up their hate from racist rants in private Facebook chatrooms to actually building bombs (using YouTube tutorials!) and setting the date for the murder of hundreds of Somalis. The tightrope Dan walks as a father, husband, and Christian who is against the racism he hears from these men, while keeping up appearances by echoing much of what they say is fascinating and keeps the story moving.

My only quibble was a lack of a larger discussion about this epidemic. What encouraged these men to hate and to try and act on that hate (even to their own detriment) is alluded to be a host of things, but I would have liked a larger discussion about how the rhetoric of supposedly "legit" politicians and newscasters also works to encourage these behaviors and suggestions on what can be done to curtail it.

All in all, I was hooked on this very necessary book. If it's not a warning, I don't know what is.