Trigger Warning is a 2018 novel written by J.A. Johnstone.note The book attempts to combine action-thriller elements with highly politicized themes: it follows Jake Rivers, an ex-Army Ranger who attends Kelton College, a place described as an "ultra-lib" "safe space". Rivers has a hard time fitting in at Kelton, with his fellow students ostracizing him for not sharing their beliefs. But when a group of armed criminals infiltrate the school, taking its students and staff hostage, it's up to Jake to save the day...
The book is notable for its political leanings, and for its author's beliefs toward "political correctness". It displays a special distaste toward U.S. college campuses.
Not to be confused with actual trigger warnings, which are referenced by the book's title. Or with Neil Gaiman's 2015 anthology, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances.
Tropes found in Trigger Warning include:
- Amoral Attorney:
- Jake's father, who wasted most of his family's fortune fueling his cocaine addiction. Jake reveals that he was eventually disbarred for taking bribes to intentionally lose some of his cases.
- The lawyers who attempt to file suits against Jake for his on-campus behavior, who eagerly drop their cases upon being offered generous settlements by Jake's grandfather.
- Artistic License – University Admissions: Despite the fact that this would be Jake's first year in college, he's already working towards a Master's degree. It's not unusual for students to get a master's in a new school, but that's only if they had completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree first. Jake has not displayed any of the necessary credits beforehand to allow him to advance to the master's position so quickly.
- Black Republican: Pierce, a Black student who's one of the few people on campus Jake becomes friendly with. Pierce is more conservative than most of the other students, and admits to being from a very wealthy family. This puts him at odds with many of his peers, who begin calling him an "Uncle Tom".
- Blonde Republican Sex Kitten: Dr. Natalie Burke, an attractive blonde professor who is one of Jake's only supporters. She frequently makes jokes about the campus' "political correctness" policies, and falls into a fast romance with Jake. Later somewhat averted when it is revealed she's actually working with Foster.
- Canon Character All Along: Rivera/"Dog" reveals at the end of the book that he used to go by the codename "The Rig Warrior", and that his name is really Barry Rivers. Not only does his real name match up with the protagonist of William W. Johnstone's old Rig Warrior series, but the codename is the name of the book series as well.
- Demonization: Jake is repeatedly demonized by Kelton College's students and staff, and by the "mass media", for attempting to defend himself during a series of altercations.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Most of Kelton College's residents are hyperbolically anti-gun, to the point where discussing the Second Amendment is against campus guidelines. The college is also a gun-free zone, which Jake repeatedly ridicules. This later creates a situation where Jake is the only one who can defend himself against the armed attackers.
- Evil Gloating:
- After taking over the campus library, the gunmen loudly explain their plans to the student hostages, including their motivations (collecting ransom money from the students' "privileged" families) and their escape plans.
- While facing down Jake, Foster gloats about how both of them will die, since he's rigged the entire library to explode with just the press of a button.
- The Fundamentalist: The only Muslim student in the book, Fareed, is described as being one of these. Pierce believes that if Fareed "had his way", many of the college's students would be "slaughtered" for being "infidels", or "raped to death for the glory of Allah".
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Comes into play when the "big," old-fashioned ex-soldier Jake confronts the girlfriend-abusing, manbun-wearing, liberal college kid Craig. Craig warns Jake that he knows krav maga, but just when Craig is about to bust out some "fancy martial art move," Jake socks him in the gut.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Granderson sacrifices himself to create a distraction for Jake, allowing him to get a drop on the final group of terrorists.
- Homage: The book is a homage to the Die Hard series, having even been advertised as "Die Hard on campus". Foster's gang references the films several times in relation to Jake, at one point comparing Jake to John McClane.
- Informed Attribute: The "antifa" thugs that Jake fights are supposedly trained killers, but he easily cripples and disables them all despite being alone, unarmed and outnumbered.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Foster and his men infiltrate the university through its groundskeeping crew, who they kill after taking their coveralls. Their new disguises allow them to plant the bombs undetected.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Chief McRainey grows frustrated with Agent Vega, the arrogant Homeland Security operative handling the hostage incident. Vega also accuses the FBI's Agent Graham of acting in bad faith, believing he wants his department to get credit for dealing with the situation.
- Lawful Pushover: The college's administration is described as being like this, seeming to cave in to even the slightest demands from student activists. One example given is when administrators agree not to demolish an abandoned warehouse with a rainbow painted on its side, due to students accusing the decision of being "bigoted".
- Long-Lost Relative: Rivera turns out to be Jake's uncle, who had long ago been presumed dead after a car bombing.
- Malevolent Masked Men: The "antifa" attackers wear black hoods every time they assault Jake.
- The Mole: Ben, one of the criminals who joins Foster's men, who turns out to be a federal agent. Before beginning the attack on the college, Foster reveals he knows about Ben's treachery and has him executed.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: At the beginning of the book, Jake is attacked by other students, and arrested by campus police, for attempting to defend a girl who is being abused by her boyfriend.
- Nom de Mom: Jake changes his last name (Gardner) to his mother's maiden name (Rivers) because he is ashamed of his father's addiction and behavior. However he frames it as taking the name of his "maternal grandfather", since he looks up to him instead.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Used in a negative context for Margery, a purple-haired progressive girl who is described as being "perpetually outraged".
- Police Brutality: Campus police officer Cal Granderson is a highly abusive cop who enjoys using his stun gun on anyone he doesn't like, especially Jake. He excuses his actions by claiming he is on "the right side of history".
- Political Overcorrectness: Acts as one of the central themes of the book. Kelton College is depicted as a place which panders to privileged young students by trying to act as "politically correct" as possible, to the detriment of people like Jake.
- Pun-Based Title: While the title is primarily meant to mock "trigger warnings" (content warnings added to certain works to inform others about their "triggering" content), it also doubles as pun which refers to the trigger of a gun.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Police Chief McRainey is portrayed as being much more reasonable than the rest of the college's administration. He's also the first person to recognize the threat posed by the terrorists and to call in a response team.
- Red Herring Twist: Early on, Jake mentions that he secretly keeps guns in his dorm room, which implies that getting hold of the guns to defend the campus will come up as a plot point. However, the gun stash is ultimately never brought up again and Jake just uses guns he takes off the bad guys.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Jake manages to avoid being kicked out of Kelton College because of his billionaire grandfather, who is a major donor to the school. His grandfather also keeps Jake out of legal trouble by paying off the lawyers who attempt to file cases against him.
- Shooting Gallery: Several are present throughout the book, including one Jake practices his shooting skills at, and one which Foster's gang use to prepare for their operation.
- Take That!:
- The New York Times is name-dropped as being one of the publications which defames Jake after he is assaulted by "antifa" students.
- The Democratic Party is insulted several times, including once when several of its in-universe politicians are revealed to be sex offenders, and once when Chief McRainey blames them for ruining the country with high taxes.
- Pierce states that both Black Lives Matter and "antifa" are guilty of widespread voter intimidation.
- Hillary Clinton is name-dropped to show how the "mass media" is dishonest, due to them "praising" her during the 2016 presidential election.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Jake forms a quick romantic relationship with Dr. Natalie Burke, a criminal justice professor at the university. His relationship with Burke ends up being one of the key reasons he refuses to drop out.
- Took a Level in Badass: Dr. Montembault, a skinny, nervous professor who despises guns, manages to disarm and kill one of the gunmen while hiding in the library, allowing him to assist Jake later on. Jake has a hard time believing this, due to Montembault's previous behavior.
- Two Aliases, One Character: Dr. Natalie Burke turns out to be the same person as "Lucy", one of Foster's co-conspirators.
- The Whitest Black Guy: Reversed.
- Dr. Montembault, a white professor who goes by "Dr. Mtumbo", says he "identifies as African-American".
- Jenny, a white college student, claims to not be white because she "identifies as post-racial".
