The Tuesday Code

You're exhausted by the polarization. Then it breaks, the way you feared. The president won't leave. The National Guard is federalized. AI surveillance watches everyone as a temporary measure. For now.

You told yourself it couldn't happen. Then the Great Gridlock hits. The power's out. Communication's gone. The country goes dark and turns on itself. And you still have to get up and go to work.

You keep your head down. Sign what needs signing. Tell yourself it's an emergency. Most people do.

Not everyone does. You start to feel something different. A master teacher and a street-smart teenager lead strangers to rebuild the trust that keeps one another alive. If you can trust the person beside you.

The election is the first Tuesday in November. The Tuesday Code is what you do next.

THE STORY

Riley built his career on the order and stability required to run the world's most advanced automotive plant. When the Gridlock hits, he does what most people do. He keeps his head down. Signs what needs signing. Tells himself it's an emergency. For now.

In the wreckage of the Great Gridlock, Riley meets two people he can't quite dismiss. Victoria is a master teacher who holds people to a high standard. Leo is a street-wise teenager who survived the collapse by taking what he needed and sharing what he had. Riley likes them. He doesn't believe it's enough.

The Bensalem plant is under attack digitally, physically, and from within. Riley understands order. Victoria and Leo understand freedom. Which saves Bensalem?

WHY THIS BOOK, WHY NOW

The Tuesday Code arrives during the 250th anniversary of American independence and a consequential election season. For readers of Station Eleven, which showed what survives a collapse, and Severance, which showed the cost of going along, The Tuesday Code goes further, asking whether a free society can distribute its power faster than its enemies can consolida

Author: John Warner
Publisher: Swamp Fox Press
Published: 07/15/2026
Pages: 430
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.26lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.96d
ISBN: 9798997093402

About the Author
Warner, John: - For decades, John Warner has written about the quiet choices ordinary people make in extraordinary moments that ultimately determine their futures. His previous non-fiction books, The Intelligence Tsunami, Sculpting Intuition, and Swamp Fox Insights, explore how the intersections of technology, power, and culture transform institutions and society. In The Tuesday Code, his debut novel, characters seek to sustain their freedom not through ideology, but in choices between security and conscience. John is the founder of InnoVenture, which brought together thousands of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry leaders to accelerate new ideas and strengthen regional prosperity. He is a former senior manager at KPMG, co-founder of Capital Insights, Chairman of Earth Fare, Vice President of KEMET Corporation, and co-founder, executive, and board member in numerous entrepreneurial, academic, not-for-profit, and governmental organizations. He is a member of the initial class of the Liberty Fellowship and of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with his wife, two children, and four grandchildren. Readers can follow his daily visual storytelling in his "Photos By a Guy in a Hat" Facebook group and connect with him or learn more about the novel at TheTuesdayCode.com.