Of Good and Evil Summary, Characters and Themes

Of Good and Evil by Daniel G. Miller is a speculative political thriller that explores the fragile boundary between utopia and authoritarianism.

Set in a near-future America reshaped by the rise of the Republic of Enlightenment and Democracy (RED), the novel follows an ensemble cast navigating the psychological, moral, and tactical consequences of power, surveillance, and resistance.  At its core, the story pits Cristina Culebra—a visionary yet authoritarian leader—against a fractured but determined resistance, including her own daughter Eva Fix and a mathematician named Albert Puddles. As ideologies clash and secrets unravel, the line between good and evil grows ever more uncertain, forcing each character to confront not only external threats but the darker recesses of their own beliefs.

Summary

The novel opens in a transformed United States where Cristina Culebra leads the Republic of Enlightenment and Democracy (RED), an expansive political movement that has brought sweeping reforms and established strong control over many states.  Praised for eliminating crime and enhancing education, Cristina is also feared for her methods.

Watching her rise with increasing dread is Albert Puddles, a disillusioned cryptographer who once studied under Angus Turner, a man whose mysterious death he suspects was orchestrated by Cristina’s regime.  Albert, hiding out in England, suffers through grief and addiction while obsessively analyzing societal trends using the “Tree of Knowledge,” a cognitive model that predicts human behavior.

Cristina appears composed and unstoppable, but she senses an imbalance in the absence of significant opposition.  Her fears manifest during a rally in Texas when a drone drops a device onto the stage.

While the explosion proves non-lethal, it leaves behind a cryptic image: a flaming sword accompanied by the phrase “Solve the Cipher.  Follow the Cipher.” This marks the emergence of a new adversary known only as the Cipher.

Elsewhere, Albert narrowly survives a gang assault and reflects on how his once-peaceful tools have become sources of destruction.  His mental deterioration intensifies as he mourns Turner and feels powerless to change the future.

His only respite comes from Olivia, a kind-hearted woman whose affection is no match for his despair.  Albert turns to Turner’s journal, hoping the codes and patterns might offer purpose.

In New York, surveillance expert Ying Koh and Detective Michael Weatherspoon gather evidence against General Isaac Moloch, Cristina’s ruthless enforcer.  Ying, another follower of the Tree of Knowledge, uncovers Moloch’s plan to mobilize 10,000 RED soldiers toward Washington by January 20th.

She also witnesses a terrifying demonstration of RED’s power through a teenage cadet named Cynthia, who easily defeats a trained guard.  The mounting threat pushes her deeper into the resistance.

Ariel Kelly, a former Army PsyOp officer, observes the rally attack on television and quickly realizes Cristina was not behind the staged explosion.  Running an underground newsletter called The Voice, Ariel resumes her investigative work.

Before she can uncover more, she is abducted in a violent raid and transported with other detainees.  From California, Eva Fix—Cristina’s daughter—watches in silent horror as her mother’s regime crosses a line.

While she still claims loyalty to RED, Eva’s doubts begin to crystallize.

Ying and Weatherspoon take their evidence to the FBI.  While Agent Taylor dismisses their claims, Agent Moini discreetly believes them and offers sanctuary.

Moini insists they involve Albert.  Initially indifferent, Albert changes his stance after learning about Ariel’s abduction and eventual death at the hands of Moloch.

The news reignites his commitment to fight.

The group—Albert, Ying, Weatherspoon, and Moini—regroup at a safe house and develop a theory: Cristina’s regime depends on controlling information and weapons while manipulating emotions through the media.  The Cipher, now a public fascination, is the only variable she hasn’t accounted for.

While decoding the flaming sword symbol, they discover a Tor link leading to an encrypted dark web page with GPS coordinates.  One of the coordinates points to Boston, offering a clue to the Cipher’s identity.

Eva meets her mother for a tense breakfast in New York.  Their conversations, once intimate, are now layered with coded language and suspicion.

Cristina defends Moloch and calls the abductees terrorists.  Eva’s internal conflict deepens as she recognizes how far her mother has drifted from the ideals they once shared.

The resistance embarks on a mission to Macau to find Raphael Salazar, an eccentric and flamboyant ally.  Despite initial theatrics, Salazar agrees to help after learning their objective is to rescue Brick and Gabe from a Shanghai prison.

The jailbreak is a tightly orchestrated operation.  Disguised as visitors, Albert and Ying infiltrate the prison, free the captives, and flee via helicopter piloted by Salazar, with Eva aiding in the extraction.

During the escape, Eva kills the pursuing guards, sparking an ethical clash with Ying.  Eva justifies her actions through a dark Chilean parable about sorcery and preemptive violence, while Ying questions whether Eva is becoming the very thing they’re fighting against.

Back at the Virginia safe house, the reunited team debates Cristina’s looming “peaceful protest,” which they believe is a cover for a military coup.  With federal support lacking, they prepare for a final confrontation relying only on their skills and instincts.

Tensions escalate when Cristina unexpectedly arrives.  She overpowers the guards and enters the safe house, delivering a persuasive speech offering the team a chance to join her.

Most resist, but Cristina’s appeal convinces Ying to defect, stunning the rest.  She boards Cristina’s helicopter and disappears, leaving the team divided.

On January 20th, the final showdown begins.  In Washington, D.C. , Gabe and Mana follow Cipher’s clues to the 2nd Division Memorial, where they find hundreds of others who have solved the same riddles.

The crowd, dressed in black, awaits their leader.  At the same time, Albert, Brick, and Salazar sneak into the White House and confront the President.

Using logic and sheer conviction, Albert convinces him to deploy the National Guard just in time.

Cristina marches toward the White House with the RED Army, confident and poised.  However, as she arrives, she is met not by violence but by thousands of Cipher followers.

In a dramatic twist, the RED Army collapses in agony—poisoned from within.  The Cipher had infiltrated RED’s ranks and activated their betrayal.

Ying, thought to be a defector, reveals she was a double agent all along.

Eva Fix reveals herself as the Cipher, exposing her identity to Cristina and the world.  The emotional confrontation between mother and daughter underscores the personal cost of their ideological split.

Though Cristina is shaken, she doesn’t break.  Eva’s victory is swift and strategic, but she shows hints of the same control and ambition that once defined her mother.

The crowd cheers as Eva claims the revolution as her own.

In the aftermath, Albert and the team are exonerated.  Albert joins Eva, now at the forefront of the new movement.

Though her goals are revolutionary, her methods remain shadowed in ambiguity.  The epilogue ends with the reassembled Book Club sharing breakfast, only for Albert to receive a cryptic call from Genji Wu, who claims to hold secrets about the Tree of Knowledge.

While RED has fallen, the future remains uncertain, and a new power now stands at the edge of transformation.

Characters

Cristina Culebra

Cristina Culebra is the magnetic yet formidable leader of the Republic of Enlightenment and Democracy (RED), a regime that has swept across several U.S. states with both efficiency and terrifying speed.  Cristina presents a paradox: to the public, she is a revolutionary, a reformer who has slashed crime rates, restructured education, and cultivated unity; yet, to her adversaries, she embodies autocracy disguised as progress.

Her meticulously orchestrated persona—composed, commanding, and impossible to ignore—only sharpens her mystique.  Cristina is acutely aware of the laws of nature, especially Newton’s Third Law, and this anxiety fuels her paranoia and her need to anticipate and suppress any form of dissent.

Her hunger for total control extends not only across political structures but also into her personal relationships, especially with her daughter, Eva.  Cristina’s ruthlessness is underscored in the dramatic confrontation at the Virginia safe house and her unwavering defense of brutal tactics like kidnapping and assassination.

Despite her claims of visionary idealism, Cristina ultimately becomes the very force of tyranny she might have once fought against, a ruler so convinced of her righteousness that she can no longer recognize her own descent into despotism.

Albert Puddles

Albert Puddles, a reclusive mathematician and disciple of the late Angus Turner, is the philosophical heart of the resistance.  Brilliant, jaded, and spiritually fragmented, Albert once believed in the Tree of Knowledge—a framework that allows the user to predict human behavior—but now finds it as much a curse as a gift.

His exile to Cambridge represents both a strategic retreat and an emotional breakdown, punctuated by alcoholism and alienation.  Albert’s grief over Turner’s death, coupled with his frustration at the rise of RED, fuels his reluctant journey back into the world of resistance.

Although he initially resists becoming involved again, Ariel’s death reawakens his moral compass and gives him renewed purpose.  Albert’s genius lies not only in decryption and strategy but in his ability to see the underlying truths of power, manipulation, and human psychology.

He serves as a counterbalance to Cristina and later to Eva, holding onto a quieter, more humanist vision of revolution.  Even as Eva ascends to power, Albert remains skeptical, a necessary conscience in a movement constantly at risk of becoming what it opposes.

Eva Fix

Eva Fix is perhaps the most complex character in Of Good and Evil, a young woman burdened by both lineage and ideology.  As the daughter of Cristina Culebra, Eva is indoctrinated in the Tree of Knowledge from an early age, trained to be both brilliant and ruthless.

Initially loyal to RED, Eva’s conscience begins to fracture as she witnesses her mother’s regime cross ethical boundaries.  This moral awakening leads her into a gradual and then definitive break from Cristina, culminating in her dual role as the Cipher and the revolutionary leader of the Sword of Eden.

Eva’s ability to orchestrate massive shifts—from prison breaks to psychological warfare via poison pills—demonstrates not just tactical genius but a willingness to wield power with deadly precision.  Her final confrontation with Cristina reveals the emotional wounds beneath her ideological convictions, and while she triumphs in the eyes of her followers, the specter of her mother’s ruthlessness looms large.

In seizing control, Eva risks becoming the very authoritarian she overthrew, making her a compelling embodiment of the novel’s central tension between liberation and domination.

Ying Koh

Ying Koh is a stealth operative and another adept of the Tree of Knowledge, distinguished by her acute perception, moral rigidity, and unwavering pursuit of justice.  A former pupil of Turner and an ally to Albert, Ying represents the more militant wing of the resistance.

She is resourceful, daring, and precise, as shown in her rooftop surveillance and her decisive action during the Shanghai prison break.  Ying’s journey is also one of ideological crisis; she views violence as a tragic necessity, not a tool of ambition.

Her clashes with Eva, particularly over the latter’s cold-blooded executions, highlight Ying’s deep concern for maintaining ethical clarity in the face of existential threat.  However, Ying’s temporary defection to Cristina complicates her character—was it betrayal or a masterstroke of double agency?

Her ultimate reveal as a mole within RED underscores her long game and dedication to Turner’s original vision.  Yet even in victory, Ying remains sobered, aware that revolutions often consume their ideals in the flames of their own momentum.

Raphael Salazar

Raphael Salazar is the quintessential wild card—flamboyant, unpredictable, and immensely talented.  First encountered in a Macau casino, Salazar’s bravado and showmanship contrast with the intense solemnity of the other resistance members.

Yet his cunning and flair prove indispensable, from orchestrating prison breaks to piloting helicopters under fire.  Beneath his theatrical surface lies a deeply loyal man who, though skeptical of ideology, is driven by personal loyalty and moral clarity.

Salazar offers much-needed levity to the group, but he is no comic relief—his presence is a reminder that style and substance need not be mutually exclusive.  He embodies the spirit of improvisation that often defines real-world resistance movements, adding texture and unpredictability to the ensemble.

Ariel Kelly

Ariel Kelly, former Army PsyOp and journalist, is the narrative’s conscience and its first true martyr.  She recognizes the propaganda machine early, seeing through RED’s manipulations and understanding the deeper psychological strategies at play.

Ariel’s subversive newsletter, The Voice, becomes a beacon for dissenters until her tragic capture and execution by Moloch.  Her death is a pivotal moment in the story, galvanizing Albert and the rest of the resistance.

Even in death, her legacy persists—she becomes the moral spark that reignites the fight against Cristina.  Ariel’s combination of intellect, intuition, and journalistic courage presents a grounded counterpoint to the abstract theorizing of Albert or the hardened pragmatism of Eva and Ying.

General Isaac Moloch

General Isaac Moloch is the brutal hand of Cristina’s regime, a cold enforcer whose loyalty is unwavering until it becomes opportunistic.  Moloch embodies the regime’s readiness to commit atrocities in the name of stability.

His manipulation of RED cadets, use of coercion, and eventual execution of Ariel mark him as a symbol of unchecked military power.  He is feared even within RED, and his eventual exposure as a traitor within the upper ranks only adds to the complexity of his role.

Though powerful, Moloch is also expendable—a tool in Cristina’s arsenal, ultimately outmaneuvered by those who understand the deeper currents of loyalty and ideology.

Brick and Gabe

Brick and Gabe are the muscle of the resistance, former prisoners rescued from Tilanqiao Prison by Albert and his team.  While they may not possess the intellectual firepower of Albert or Eva, their loyalty and courage are unmatched.

They bring grounded realism to the story, struggling with PTSD and reintegration after captivity, yet willing to fight once more.  Their character arcs explore themes of redemption, trauma, and the human cost of resistance.

In a story filled with ideological debates and strategic calculations, Brick and Gabe remind readers of the flesh-and-blood stakes behind every revolution.

Themes

Authoritarianism and the Fragility of Democratic Ideals

The rise of Cristina Culebra as the leader of the Republic of Enlightenment and Democracy (RED) underscores the vulnerability of democratic systems to charismatic autocrats who exploit the tools of democracy to consolidate power.  Cristina presents herself as a reformer and savior, reducing crime, restructuring education, and increasing social engagement, yet these surface-level accomplishments serve as a cover for a deeply authoritarian agenda.

Her actions expose how easily civic structures can be reengineered to favor surveillance, control, and ideological conformity.  The transformation of RED from a political movement into a regime with militaristic overtones—complete with cadets like Cynthia trained for violent enforcement—signals the erosion of checks and balances.

RED’s manipulation of media and the judiciary, as well as Cristina’s ability to silence opposition and frame dissenters as terrorists, reveals how institutional mechanisms meant to uphold democracy can be commandeered for autocratic goals.  The novel does not present this shift as an abrupt coup but rather as a gradual erosion, highlighting how easily civil liberties can be traded for a sense of order and national purpose.

Cristina’s final recruitment attempt at the safe house, appealing to each character’s personal fears and desires, exemplifies the seductive nature of authoritarianism.  It is not just imposed by force but accepted by those who feel disillusioned, powerless, or desperate for meaning—making the resistance more about reclaiming individual agency than simply fighting a regime.

The Moral Ambiguity of Resistance

The characters opposing Cristina are not cast as unambiguous heroes but as complex individuals forced to navigate ethical compromises and ideological inconsistencies.  Albert, a brilliant cryptographer, is haunted by his inaction and the death of his mentor, carrying a burden of guilt that shapes his hesitant re-entry into resistance.

Ying, a once-principled agent, turns toward vigilante justice when official channels fail her, only to later betray her allies under the pretense of long-term strategy.  Eva, Cristina’s own daughter, orchestrates the poisoning of an entire army—many of whom are young, indoctrinated cadets—believing such ruthless action is necessary to prevent greater harm.

These choices raise profound questions about what lines, if any, should not be crossed in the pursuit of justice.  The resistance is fractured not just by external pressure but by internal doubts about methods, motivations, and end goals.

The group must constantly weigh the cost of violence, deceit, and personal sacrifice against the promise of a better future.  The climactic confrontation between Eva and Cristina illustrates this tension: while Eva defeats her mother through cunning and strategy, she inherits aspects of the very ruthlessness she set out to oppose.

The resistance thus becomes a mirror to the regime it seeks to dismantle, revealing how even those with noble intentions can be tempted by the allure of power and control.  Rather than offering a clean moral victory, the narrative unsettles readers with its depiction of revolution as a morally murky endeavor.

Legacy, Knowledge, and the Weight of Mentorship

Throughout Of Good and Evil, characters grapple with the legacies left by those who came before them—especially the teachings and influence of Angus Turner, the founder of the so-called Book Club and the developer of the Tree of Knowledge framework.  This cognitive model, capable of predicting human behavior, becomes both a gift and a curse for those who master it.

Albert sees it as a key to understanding systems but also as a burden that alienates him from others and exacerbates his internal torment.  Cristina weaponizes the Tree to manipulate mass psychology and enforce obedience, while Eva and Ying use it to navigate moral dilemmas and anticipate moves in a political chess game.

The Tree of Knowledge serves as a symbol of intellectual power that can enlighten or corrupt, depending on how it is wielded.  The repeated references to Turner’s journal and his cryptic philosophical musings suggest that knowledge alone is insufficient without ethical grounding.

Legacy, in this sense, is not merely about passing on information but about preserving wisdom while resisting the temptation to distort it for control.  The story repeatedly emphasizes how mentorship and influence ripple across generations, shaping choices in ways that are both empowering and constraining.

Cristina’s transformation from idealist to autocrat is presented as a betrayal of Turner’s teachings, while Albert’s slow return to activism is a painful process of realigning his intellect with his conscience.  In the end, the legacy of the Tree remains unresolved, a powerful tool whose future depends on who holds its roots.

The Tension Between Personal and Political Identity

The struggle for power in Of Good and Evil is paralleled by intense personal reckonings, particularly for characters whose familial or romantic ties complicate their political positions.  Eva’s identity as both Cristina’s daughter and her eventual nemesis encapsulates this duality.

Her ideological divergence from her mother is not just a political act but a deeply personal rebellion against someone she once admired and trusted.  The confrontation between them is emotionally charged, revealing a fractured bond where love, betrayal, ambition, and disappointment all intersect.

Albert’s relationship with Olivia, brief as it is, highlights his inability to forge authentic human connections while burdened by grief, guilt, and obsession with abstract systems.  His eventual willingness to reconnect with others—particularly Eva and the remnants of the Book Club—signals a tentative healing, but also a realization that personal wholeness cannot be achieved in isolation from the broader societal battle.

Ying’s shifting loyalties and eventual defection reveal how identity is shaped not just by belief but by survival instincts, trauma, and strategic calculations.  The characters are never purely ideological agents; they are people caught between their histories and their hopes, their roles in a movement and their internal needs.

The novel suggests that the personal is never separate from the political, and that true transformation—whether of an individual or a nation—requires reckoning with both.

Control of Information and the War on Truth

The manipulation of truth, dissemination of propaganda, and strategic use of media play a central role in Cristina’s consolidation of power and the resistance’s counter-efforts.  RED’s dominance is not enforced solely through military might but through a sophisticated control of narrative.

Cristina’s speeches are perfectly choreographed, her image tightly managed, and her enemies framed as threats to order and progress.  This information warfare extends to surveillance, censorship, and indoctrination, with even youth like Cynthia molded into living instruments of the regime.

In contrast, the Cipher utilizes subversive messages, encrypted clues, and symbolic imagery—like the flaming sword—to inspire dissent and restore a shared sense of truth.  The use of coded messages and dark web portals by the resistance reflects a reliance on secrecy and puzzle-solving, which simultaneously empowers and isolates their movement.

Ariel’s fate—kidnapped and ultimately killed for publishing a newsletter—serves as a grim reminder of the cost of telling the truth in a regime built on lies.  The story illustrates how control of information becomes a battleground more consequential than physical skirmishes.

Both sides engage in narrative warfare, but while RED seeks to suppress and homogenize, the Cipher aims to provoke thought, inspire action, and expose hypocrisy.  However, the line between transparency and manipulation becomes increasingly blurred, especially as Eva’s campaign begins to mirror the aesthetic control and symbolic dominance once associated with her mother.

In this way, the novel portrays truth not as a fixed ideal but as a contested, often weaponized, concept in modern power struggles.