Orson Scott Card's Empire

A 2006 What If novel by Orson Scott Card, telling the story of Major Reuben "Rube" Malich and Captain Bartholomew Coleman, who get caught up right in the middle of the next American Civil War - the war between the Left and the Right. Takes place in the same universe as the game Shadow Complex. Card was hired to write a story for the game, about a second Civil War, and the authors got more than they bargained for. Card takes a very serious look at the rising extremism and political tensions in modern America and extrapolates them to their logical conclusion: when both sides toss around enough "they're going to destroy our way of life" rhetoric, someone on one side will start shooting, and then it becomes a matter of self-defense for everyone involved. This has actually happened before, in several parts of the world, in the last couple decades, and Empire is the story of how it could happen here.

It was followed with in late 2009 by Hidden Empire.

This first novel contains examples of:

 * Alternate Universe: There are less-than-subtle hints that the story is meant to take place during the summer of 2008, during the heated race for the U.S. Presidency for that November, and what was still in the future when the book was first published.
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Awesome but Impractical:
 * Ax Crazy:.
 * Badass: Rube, Cole.
 * Badass Normal: Rube and Cole face people with  on foot with normal weapons.
 * Batman Gambit:
 * Gambit Roulette:
 * Big Bad:  His Evil Plan involves
 * Captain Ersatz: Averell is a rare in-universe example.
 * By the end of it, Reuben seems to be one of (the Right's perception) of Ollie North. Well Ollie North crossed with Solid Snake.
 * The Chessmaster: If the ending chapters of the book are any indication, loves his board games.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: "Aldo Verus", (an Expy of Real Life's George Soros).
 * Covers Always Lie: The blurb on the back is so disconnected from the events of the book it's tempting to call it false advertisement. Plus, the cover art depicts what looks like a scorpion tank from Halo shelling the Capitol Building (a scene which never takes place in the book).
 * Divided States of America: Divided along political lines, not geographic ones.
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him: Around halfway through the novel  in a very sudden but effective scene.
 * The Extremist Was Right: Seems to be the conclusion at the end of Hidden Empire.
 * Fox News Liberal: Reuben's wife Cessily is the only good "liberal" in the book. She is a housewife who never expresses a single liberal opinion other than to remind the audience, every few chapters, of how liberal she is.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: The village headman performs one for Reubens. It haunts him for much of the book.
 * Ho Yay: A massive amount with its two protagonists. Ironic, given the author.
 * The Man Behind the Man:
 * The Mole:
 * Mood Whiplash: This occurs when  in what was previously a Tom Clancy-esque political thriller.
 * Next Sunday AD: It's today...
 * Also, there's no specific mention of who the President and other political figures are except by allusion. This keeps the book from being dated.
 * Literally, it's . This is clued in not only by clear call-outs to modern devices and cars but also to then-current Senators and specific calendar dates (the Friday 13th mentioned in the book fits with the calendar alignment).
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: "The President's" name is never actually spoken on camera, but he's either George W. Bush or his twin brother.
 * Though maybe not. He was mentioned as being "too liberal for many Conservatives." Does that sound like Bush to anyone? They mention many other names, like "Please don't tell me they want to bring back Al Gore," so I think if they meant him they would have used his name.
 * George W. Bush really is left of center for the 2004 Republican party. I'm not kidding. (And to many Republicans in 2011, he's a RINO ("Republican In Name Only")).
 * Hillary Clinton is all but called out by name, and Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska is called out by name, but only enough to still invoke this trope (calling out not only his last name and his state but the fact that he was the oldest-serving Senator).
 * Bill O Reilly actually appears by name in the novel itself. In fact, the only celebrities given fictional counterparts are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and George Soros (so that he won't sue for libel).
 * Offscreen Villain Dark Matter:
 * Qurac: The unnamed middle eastern country at the beginning of the novel where the US Military is not officially operating. Appears to be the Theme Park Version of Afghanistan but they speak Farsi.
 * Sexy Secretary: Dee Nee.
 * Strawman News Media: Solidly a left-wing type III, except for Fox News of course.
 * Strawman Political: The point of the novel - the two extremes of the political spectrum decided to stop beating around the bush and just beat the snot out of each other.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Reuben, leading him to need to Clear My Name once the fireworks start.
 * Word of God: There is an Afterword at the end of the novel where Scott Card speaks about the problems of extremism in the American political system. It's very apt, but is hamstrung by virtue of it following a book that didn't really come across as (read: wasn't at all) "moderate" or "centrist" in its politics.
 * A explanation by analogy, the George W. Bush analogue is considered an example of a liberal left-leaning Republican.
 * Qurac: The unnamed middle eastern country at the beginning of the novel where the US Military is not officially operating. Appears to be the Theme Park Version of Afghanistan but they speak Farsi.
 * Sexy Secretary: Dee Nee.
 * Strawman News Media: Solidly a left-wing type III, except for Fox News of course.
 * Strawman Political: The point of the novel - the two extremes of the political spectrum decided to stop beating around the bush and just beat the snot out of each other.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Reuben, leading him to need to Clear My Name once the fireworks start.
 * Word of God: There is an Afterword at the end of the novel where Scott Card speaks about the problems of extremism in the American political system. It's very apt, but is hamstrung by virtue of it following a book that didn't really come across as (read: wasn't at all) "moderate" or "centrist" in its politics.
 * A explanation by analogy, the George W. Bush analogue is considered an example of a liberal left-leaning Republican.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Reuben, leading him to need to Clear My Name once the fireworks start.
 * Word of God: There is an Afterword at the end of the novel where Scott Card speaks about the problems of extremism in the American political system. It's very apt, but is hamstrung by virtue of it following a book that didn't really come across as (read: wasn't at all) "moderate" or "centrist" in its politics.
 * A explanation by analogy, the George W. Bush analogue is considered an example of a liberal left-leaning Republican.

The second novel contains examples of:

 * Alternate Character Interpretation: There's a couple in-universe of Averell Torrent's actions.
 * One might make one regarding
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Author Filibuster: Done several times by Averell Torrent at the beginning of each chapter.
 * Balkanize Me: Happens to  by the end of the book.
 * Colonel Badass: Cole
 * Depopulation Bomb: The nictovirus is feared to be one of these.
 * Good Shepherd: Cecily becomes one of these. So does Mark.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * I Did What I Had to Do: Cole's rationale for
 * Infant Immortality:
 * The Plague: The entire point of the book.
 * Powered Armor:The jeesh get these near the beginning.
 * Saintly Church: Virtually all of Christianity gets this.
 * What the Hell, Hero??:
 * He gets another one earlier in the book
 * A literal example occurs when Cole confronts