A weapon is never just a weapon. It carries history, fear, authority—and in some cases, legacy. In the Colt family saga, the gun is more than a tool of violence. It is a symbol of survival, power, and the haunting secrets that echo across generations.
The Colt name itself carries a double edge. It is tied to Samuel Colt, the inventor whose firearms reshaped American history, and it is also bound to a family caught between law, politics, and the underworld. For the characters in How to Kill a President: Colt the Smoking Gun by Colt Donaldson, the firearm becomes both shield and burden. To carry it is to inherit not just the means of survival, but the responsibility—and sometimes the curse—that comes with power.
Guns appear throughout the story in different forms, but their presence is never casual. A Colt .45 is more than cold steel; it represents choices made under pressure, loyalties tested, and the thin line between justice and revenge. In one scene, a concealed pistol tucked under a tuxedo at a prom quietly reminds us that violence is never far away, even in moments of celebration. In another, the echoes of Vietnam battlefields remind us how weapons shape not only wars abroad but also the young men who return home carrying invisible wounds.
But the “smoking gun” of the saga isn’t always literal. Often, it is metaphorical—secrets, blackmail, and hidden truths that hold just as much destructive power as any bullet. A whispered story from decades past, a photograph in the wrong hands, or a deal struck in the shadows can devastate reputations and alter lives. In the Colt family, the gun may silence an enemy, but the secret is what lingers, reshaping the future long after the smoke clears.
This duality—between weapon and secret—mirrors how many of us live with our own “smoking guns.” Perhaps not firearms, but unresolved truths, family scandals, or unspoken conflicts that quietly shape who we become. For the Colts, keeping a secret is as much an act of survival as keeping a loaded chamber. Both can go off at any moment, and both demand vigilance.
What makes this theme resonate is its universality. Not all of us grow up around mobsters or soldiers, but most of us know what it feels like to live under the shadow of things unsaid. We know the weight of carrying family stories we didn’t choose, and the fear of how truth, if revealed, might wound the people we love.
In the end, the “smoking gun” in Donaldson’s story is a reminder that power—whether through a weapon or a secret—is never neutral. It can protect, it can destroy, and it always demands a price. For the Colt family, that price is steep. For readers, it is the haunting recognition that sometimes what defines us most isn’t what we carry in our hands, but what we carry in silence.
Volume 1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DX3Y1QCQ
Volume 2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DX3NHG2P