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Extra Content from The Lion’s Den
For a more in depth look at some key moments in The Lion’s Den, these additional sections offer further insights and additional clarity to the published passages.
The full text of Rev. S. D. Thomas’ letter to Danny McGuire in the wake of Nevers’ defeat.
(From p. 177 - The Lion’s Den)
Dear Daniel:
Considering it as ever my duty to enhance your understanding of the true genius and grace that gave rise to our republic, and which must attend its survival if that be the Almighty’s purpose, I wanted to relay to you a recent product of my research that has excited me and provided no small amount of inspiration for further inquiry.
You are, of course, fully informed concerning the profound impact that the Reverend Samuel Davies had on that pivotal patriot, Patrick Henry. My latest discovery relates to his evident influence on the even more consequential General Washington.
Details of the Meade-McGuire anti-drug plan.
(From p. 374 - The Lion’s Den)
Governor Meade’s speech to the General Assembly outlining her and Attorney General McGuire’s anti-drug plan included this passage:
“First, it includes drug prevention and addiction recovery initiatives that draw on the resources and expertise of the public and private sectors, including both faith-based and secular organizations.
“Earlier this month, I visited with a mother and father whose teenage son died of an overdose only days after coming home from a rehabilitation center. They had mortgaged that home to pay for the help their son needed, only to learn much later that the program’s success rate was less than 5 percent. The reality of the treatment their son received did not come close to matching the hype.
Danny recounts the lecture on leadership delivered by Gov. Ned Nevers at VMI
(From p. 250 - The Lion’s Den)
By the time he became governor, Ned Nevers had gained a balance in perspective. At earlier points in his career, I had seen him fall on his sword over some perceived matter of principle while, at other times, he had indifferently cast principle aside for expedience. Recollections of failings in both categories came immediately to mind when Nevers asked me, shortly after our big legislative victory on education, to write a speech for him to deliver at a leadership conference at his alma mater, the Virginia Military Institute. The assigned topic was “Principled Public Service.” The exercise would illumine for me the insight and judgment that Ned Nevers had gained over the course of an up-and-down career in public service, and it would go a long way in honing my own view of the way the political world should work.
A summary of the lecture delivered by Dr. Nehemiah Adams at U.Va. entitled “States’ Rights: What if the States Really Had Been Right?”
(From p. 115 - The Lion’s Den)
The idea of home—not just as a place, but as a powerfully motivating cause, practice, and principle bound up with notions of personal freedom—was the focus of the lecture by best-selling author Nehemiah Adams. Like his ancestor, Charles Francis Adams Jr., who fought against Robert E. Lee on the battlefield but delivered a laudatory address on the centennial of the General’s birth, Dr. Adams came at his subject from a surprising angle.
He began by talking about his namesake—not Adams, but “Governor Nehemiah,” who was among the Jewish exiles still in Babylonia around 450 B.C. Nehemiah had attained high rank as senior aide to King Artaxerxes, the Persian ruler then in power, and in an act of beneficence the King gave Nehemiah time off as well as the passports, men, equipment, and protection necessary to return to Jerusalem, the home of his forebears, and accomplish the long-delayed reconstruction of the ransacked city’s walls.
THE LION’S DEN First Edition Hardcover is available from Dorrance Publishing Co. Click here to learn more.
"We're human, we're fallen creatures, we aspire to be better. Political life, public life, leadership; there are all kinds of things that relate to the way we live our lives. And so I think it's great that you did this in the form of a novel. I loved it. I read it cover to cover, in one sitting one afternoon."
— Kevin Gentry, Host, Going Big Podcast
Frequently Asked Questions
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Fiction lets me write about tough choices and difficult truths in ways nonfiction doesn’t allow. I can address the sensitive situations that arise without casting judgment on real people and their actions.
After four decades of watching how government and politics really work — in the Governor’s office and state Capitol, in the Justice Department, in statewide political campaigns, and corporate and university boardrooms — I found that the questions you confront as a leader are universal: Can you be both successful and faithful? Principled and practical?
The Book of Daniel and the work of James Madison seemed instructive. But a novel let me show, not tell, what happens when ambition, betrayal, and fear test your character. Sometimes stories reach people that arguments can’t.
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No — The Lion’s Den is a work of fiction.
But it draws on decades of observing politics in Virginia and Washington. My protagonist, Daniel Madison McGuire, faces moral tests like those I’ve seen good people confront at the highest levels.
The name is deliberate: Daniel for the biblical exile who served in a hostile capital without being defined by it, and Madison for the founder who designed a Constitution for imperfect people to govern themselves.
So while the characters aren’t real, the choices they face are.
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The Lion’s Den reflects my view that our future depends – as it always will in a democracy – on the choices we make as citizens. Do we treat others like we want to be treated? Are we true to the values our faith teaches—to the principles our Constitution embeds in law? And, for people in politics, are we in it for what we can get, or what we can give?
The UVA Center for Politics is doing vital work on civics and public service, helping young people understand their role and opportunity as part of this ongoing American experiment with democracy. The Lion’s Den is published in conjunction with the Center because we share a belief that principle and practicality are not incompatible; they’re both essential. And renewal doesn’t start in Washington or Richmond. It starts with us.
The book’s subtitle is Renewing Our Democracy by Renewing Ourselves. Democracy is a long game. The only choices we control are our own. We can choose now to choose well, so that when the lions come — and they always do — we will be ready.
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Yes, and I’d be honored to.
I speak on leadership, character in public life, and the lessons of Daniel, Madison, and Washington for today’s leaders. My talks draw from 40 years in law and government, the story behind The Lion’s Den, and what it means to know what’s “non-negotiable” before the pressure hits.
I also love visiting book clubs — in person in Virginia, or via Zoom anywhere. If your group is reading The Lion’s Den, I’ll join for Q&A.
For media inquiries or bulk book orders, please contact us at info@frankatkinson.com.
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The Lion’s Den launches August 6, 2026 and will be available on Amazon.com and later at select independent bookstores.
If you’d like to order 10+ copies for your organization, book club, or class, please contact us for bulk pricing at info@frankatkinson.com.
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This is the 2nd revised edition of The Lion’s Den.
This new edition is 30 percent shorter, with new material that enhances the story, and with a foreword by Vice President Mike Pence.
I recommend reading the new edition first, and if you are hungering for more detail after that, you can pick up the first edition and do an even deeper dive. The hardbound version of the first edition is available through Amazon and other booksellers.
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