Alan Bock Sr. editorial writer The Orange County Register abock@ocregister.com

Vin Suprynowicz, now a columnist and editorial writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, can lay some claim to being the country's leading libertarian journalist at a daily newspaper (although some of us in the Freedom chain might like to make a similar claim). He is one of the few writers I acknowledge as sometimes being more unabashedly and radically pro-freedom than I am.

He has been tireless in writing about government abuses, from Waco to Ruby Ridge to use of eminent domain to the war on (some) drugs that is really a war on people. His columns and other articles have been collected in two nonfiction books, "Send in the Waco Killers" and "The Ballad of Carl Drega."

I wasn't sure when I heard he had written a novel. The transition from journalism to fiction can be a tricky one; I've tried it and I don't show my efforts to anyone. I knew Suprynowicz's novel would have to incorporate libertarian ideas and principles, just because Suprynowicz is who he is, but I was afraid it would be - as most fiction that tries to deliver a message is - overly didactic and ultimately unpersuasive.

But "The Black Arrow" succeeds as fiction because it has mostly believable characters with some complexity to them (even the corrupt mayor of "Gotham," where the tale takes place, has some almost-redeeming human qualities), and a rip-roaring good plot.

The incidents of government outrages in 2030 Gotham are believable in part because almost all of them have actually happened in our country. Property is taken from families by force to give to politically connected developers. Families have been killed more because they had the wrong beliefs than because of the overly obtrusive and insignificant laws they violated. Sellers of horticulture equipment have been arrested because of the drug war. To envision a police state that seems complete and invulnerable, Suprynowicz adds things like airport security-like "portals" that can be opened on any street corner to search for drugs, weapons or other contraband, with those who get out of line shot down by homeland security "Grays." But the novel is built skillfully on current tendencies.

The book's hero is too perfect - scion of a wealthy old family, a former rock star, a billionaire entrepreneur who is also a near-perfect physical specimen and sexy to boot. Nonetheless, you'll like Andrew Fletcher, who at night uses compound arrows (the whole city is monitored to detect gunshots and focus cameras on the scene instantly) to take down political and bureaucratic malefactors. The budding underground (literally) resistance to tyranny that he organizes seems at least possible and includes many memorable characters, including patriots with military experience and a love for the freedom they thought they were defending.

Into a rapidly converging story of resistance are woven several love stories. Much of the story is told from the perspective of two attractive and intelligent women, newspaper columnist Cassandra Trulove, and budding resistance fighter Madison, locked in a love triangle with Fletcher. There's some fairly steamy sex and plenty of rock'n'roll references.

This isn't "War and Peace," it's an action-suspense novel with serious overtones. The story moves right along. There are no 50-page speeches. Rather, the political message emerges logically from the actionand the dialogue, and it grows organically. The atmospheric vibe is a bit like the Tim Burton "Batman" movies, but the issues involved are more consequential for current Americans. It would make a heckuva graphic novel or a movie. Vin Suprynowycz has ventured into tricky terrain and pulled it off.