"I backed toward the door, shaken by all that he knew about me, the position I put myself in. My family, my reputation, my career, maybe my life, all in the hands of these people. The worst part was that I wanted the same thing they wanted and had sunk to their depths to get it."

As coronavirus rages through South Dakota, a newspaper editor blasts the Republican governor's hands-off approach while forming an ethically dubious alliance with a Democratic mayor. When the editor's son joins a potential state champion football team and militia members attack the mayor's policies, the editor is caught in the crossfire, exploring how far he can go before his own freedom is in doubt. THE COVID CHRONICLES, a debut novel by award-winning journalist Stu Whitney, examines political partisanship and pandemic fatigue, probing the question of whether America returning to normal is as appealing as it seems.