Publication Date: April 7, 2026
In the near future, China wins the Pacific War that leaves the United States vanquished and bankrupted. Beijing is plotting to make a puppet of the next US President, in command of a corrupt and hypocritical government that has created two one of ease, affluence, and influence; and one where people struggle to survive. Now paroled military officers and ordinary Americans are beginning to fight back. Their audacious plan is to put a spy into the highest reaches of government. Philip Nolan, Commander, US Navy, survived the war and captivity as a POW. Paroled in Chicago, Nolan agrees to infiltrate the Internal Security Division—America’s Gestapo—and replace his look-alike brother as the head of a vast secret police network built to intimidate, arrest, and imprison the government’s critics. As treachery and political intrigue swirls around him, Nolan is pulled into a whirlpool of deceit and foreign intrusion. Hidden in the corridors of power, Nolan risks capture, torture, and death as he works undercover to aid the rising Resistance. The Counterfeit is a gripping dystopian thriller that explores the themes of loyalty, identity, and the struggle for freedom in a world where truth is a rare commodity and courage is the ultimate weapon.
Welcome to a new world where Beijing now controls the United States after a disastrous Pacific War.
Commander Philip Nolan is among hundreds of paroled military officers who find themselves barely surviving under the new regime. However, he’s not exactly thrilled about being involved in a plan by a group of revolutionaries.
Author Ralph DeFalco serves up a dystopian thriller oozing with intrigue in The Counterfeit. Inserting Nolan into a top Washington spot occupied by his newly discovered look-alike brother marks a distinct change from his days aboard ship.
In a world where U.S. political leaders jockey for favor, Nolan must carefully navigate treacherous conversations where deceit is practically an expectation.
The author provides interesting characters as he explores a Beijing-controlled country known for its democratic roots.
The Counterfeit highlights the courage and resolve necessary in a fight for freedom.
Ralph DeFalco is a historian, writer, and national security intelligence professional with a career that spanned five decades and five continents. Retired from a 25-year career in the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy, he also served as a civilian intelligence professional on the Pentagon staff of the Director of Naval Intelligence. He is a distinguished graduate and former faculty member of the National Intelligence University. He graduated, with highest distinction, from the U.S. Naval War College and later served as Fleet Professor on the college’s faculty. DeFalco writes about history, world affairs, national security intelligence, strategy and policy, and geopolitics. His essays, articles, commentaries, and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications and online. His current work is online at Law & Liberty.
When he is not writing, DeFalco will be tooling around Amelia Island, FL, in his 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, or on cruise ships where he is a featured speaker presenting the maritime history of ports of call or his insights on world affairs.
