Libertyland has garnered some nice early reviews from readers. Here is a sampling.
From Lisbeth Ivies, Reedsy Discovery:
Ayn Rand, shadow conspiracies involving corrupt billionaires, and maligned heroes trying to clear their name? I was sold from the blurb on Libertyland, and author Peter Sacks didn't fail in the premise's execution. A one-man army standing up to injustice could be painted as a libertarian's dream. But in this, it might just be their nightmare.
The main protagonist that keeps this thriller together is hard not to like, largely because of the focus and pacing of the first part. A father trying to reconnect with his son. A soldier trying to come home from the battlefield only to find an arguably worse enemy on his doorstep. Those aren't shoes that many readers have been in before, but the emotions behind those situations bleed off the page and are hard not to relate to. I also appreciated that the larger cast of characters, especially the women, had both a purpose in the plot and felt fleshed out. Something almost atypical for this genre, but I wish there was more of.
From Eddy Weatherill, Journalist, on NetGalley:
Libertyland is a Political Conspiracy thriller by Pete Sacks and is rated as my best book of the year.
Carson McCready a former Navy SEAL is under financial pressure from Alimony, banks and the Navy. He needs a normal honest job and a chance meeting on the beach leads Carson to apply for a job working with inmates at SanDiego County Jail.
Carson puts all his energy into the new project, building an inmates team for telemarketing but Carson receives an anonymous tip off about a cyber war and then his prison boss tells him their computers are to have a surprise upgrade.
Carson also learns his telemarketing computers are the gateway for a cyber attack and he's fall guy for the Freedom Society’s home grown terrorist plot.
The terrorists plan to launch a military grade cyber network killer AI which will overcome Government cyber systems. The killer cyber bot's launch needs Liberation Day to be a bloody catalyst, build panic and Carson to be blamed.
Their contingency plan is foiled as Carson McCready uses all his experience, skill and help from an ally from his past.
The end game for Cripps is to take charge whilst lining their pockets from cyber security disasters and chaos.
But, as the country remain immobile or impotent following Liberation Day, it is Carson alone who must end this evil power play and rescue his country.
Libertyland’s well blended characters work well in creating the picture of financial blackmail, intrigue and back room politics and where fake news and social media assist the terrorists to lull and coerce the population.
Libertyland is a very well crafted, realistic, absorbing and enjoyable political thriller, written in and for the political climate of today. It's fast moving and thought provoking in today's climate of media warning on data lost or cyber security breaches in large corporations or at National level.
The terrifying scenario of military grade cyber network killer AI bots being used by greedy unscrupulous megalomaniacs to destabilize Government is no longer unbelievable. We should all be disturbed by that.
Libertyland illuminates moral disconnect between decision makers and those delegated to act on their decisions. This appears a common factor in many . Corporate and Government actions today, indicating a growing lack of moral compass in individuals.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read and provide a fair review of Libertyland and introducing me to author Peter Sacks - Eddy Weatherill 19.02.24
Steven P., Reviewer, NetGalley
As a Brit seeing what happens in USA can seem baffling most of the time. If you read this and do not feel your blood boil then you may wish to chaek your pulse to make sure you are still alive. What starts of as a joke for a boirthday gift (some form of manifesto) becomes a blueprint for a libertarian movement who want to overthrow the governernment and take/steal all of the assets that previously belonged to the governemt. The hijack of what it means to be free is shown as being a balance where all need to pay their way.
In our day and age where the uber rich contuie to amass wealth beyond belief this is a timely take that illustrates that things probably are not always as bad as they seem. Thankfully our heroes (two of them) refuse to lie down and combine together to defeat the aims of the shadowy libetrian movement.
When you read this, as with many decent stories, please suspend your disbelief and enjoy the story through to a, thankfully, encouraging ending. However, some passages made me incredibly sad as to what human kind might be capable of.