Anthony, the reporter from First World Problems, becomes the focus. When he submits his report that it was unarmed teachers who subdued the assailant while two parents who had claimed to be armed for personal protection fled the scene, his publisher deletes those details. It’s not what the public wants to read, and, besides, as Anthony finds out, the Ledger publisher is lending his support to a pro-gun, anti-immigrant politician in return for a favor.
The assailant had aimed his gun at a parent in a hejab. But a mystery develops when it is discovered that, although a teacher was wounded, it was not the assailant’s gun that fired the shot. Bea, an evangelistic School Board member, falsely claims she saw the woman in the hejab fire the shot, and it’s up to Anthony to prove the woman’s innocence and find out who actually shot the teacher.
The publisher’s daughter leaves the paper—and Anthony—to take up with a TV news anchor and starts broadcasting false reports that stir up fear of terrorism. Anthony falls in love with her replacement, the beautiful Pari, who encourages him to keep reporting the truth despite the publisher’s threats to fire both of them. Together they reveal how Bea and her cronies have worked to cash in on the fear of terrorism they helped to spread.
Rea Keech served in the Peace Corps in Iran from 1967 to 1969. He has lived in Severna Park, Maryland, since 1980. He was Professor of English at Anne Arundel Community College from 1978 to 2013. Before that he taught at the University of South Carolina, Voorhees College, and at schools in Iran, Japan, and Greece. A large part of his career has been spent teaching international students.
For many years he raced a Snipe and a J29 sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay out of Annapolis, but since he has retired, he spends most of his time writing.