Frederic Rich, 57, a prominent corporate dealmaker at Sullivan & Cromwell, became alarmed when Senator John McCain, the Republican Party's nominee for president in 2008, picked as his running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, an assertive champion of the Christian right. He began asking himself a series of "What if…" questions, beginning with, What if McCain had defeated Barack Obama but died after taking office, making Palin president?
Rich's musings led to a recently published speculative novel titled "Christian Nation" (W.W. Norton, $25.95) in which the United States, after a constitutional coup and a bloody "Holy War," is converted into a theocracy like Afghanistan but directed by Christian fundamentalists instead of Muslims. By 2029, American society is dominated by an authoritarian law called "The Blessing," enforced by a totally integrated digital world known as the "Purity Web."
