The Vanishing State (Book 1) is a near-future political thriller by R.W. Calderin, set in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections. Voting access narrows, media credibility fractures, and institutional legitimacy begins to fail. As power tightens and rules shift in plain sight, journalists, veterans, organizers, and public officials are forced to choose what they will defend and what they will risk. This is not a dystopia. It is a plausible breakdown told from inside the system.