Dance with the Shadow Machine takes you on an involving suspense filled journey to America in the near future, and tears into the conflict that has defined American politics since the American Revolution - security versus liberty. The rise of a pseudo-conservative anti-government political movement, failing state economies, a never-ending war on drugs and terrorism, ever expanding government surveillance, a declining dollar and massive hidden inflation are today's current events, but they are also at the heart of Mr. Goodman's story, which is prefaced on an America in economic and emotional turmoil, and a political scene manipulated by a media whose raison d'être is to describe corporate sponsored government policies in terms palatable to the public. The central core of the story is intertwined with a newly imposed, frighteningly invasive cashless society. Once you have experienced the author’s vision of where America is headed you will be hard pressed to look at present day America in the same way. The story follows two devoted friends who first meet on a government mission to the jungles of the Brazilian Amazon. There, the testing of a secret technology leads to a confrontation with Brazilian native tribes and South American Guerrillas. The outcome of the test and the bloody events in the jungle seemingly effect the two friends differently until many years later when they are forced to revisit the events that brought them together. Daniel, educated as a lawyer, serves as an Army Military Intelligence officer assigned to evaluate narco-trafficking in the Brazilian jungle; Charlie, a hacker and enfant sauvage of the computer programming world designs security systems for government agencies. The characters are believable and involving, drawing you into their world. The science fiction is written to the highest standards of literary fiction wherein the science’s effect upon people is emphasized. Mr. Goodman takes no political side, and everyone should assume they will disagree with something in this well researched novel that takes a sharp look at the American scene. The military action is honest, at times visceral, and reflects proudly on those who serve.