I've always enjoyed detective stories, and I've always enjoyed near-future based fiction. So why not combine the two? I started writing the book nearly 20 years ago, so when I decided to e-publish, the first thing I had to do was to update the earlier chapters with current technology!
Like many, I believe the country is slowly dividing itself into two camps, the libertarian and the collectivist. Eventually, if present trends continue, there might be a political division. The geography in the book is just one of the many possible scenarios.