Review: First in Conspirator's Odyssey Series by Aaron Kuykendall!

Conspirator’s Odyssey:
The Evolution of the Patron Saint

By Aaron Kinte Kuykendall

With an exciting alternative history novel, Conspirator’s Odyssey: The Evolution of the Patron Saint, Aaron Kinte Kuykendall presents his first book in a new “Conspirator’s” series.

Why? This one-word question is one that many of us first learn and continue to use throughout our lives. Why was John Kennedy assassinated? Why did 9-11 happen? Why are we in Iraq? We want to know the “why” of it. Only once we know why, will we then turn to the other questions of who, what, when, and where. Alternative history has found a place in literature as we all seek to learn the “why” behind what happens in our world. For many times, we are not satisfied with the answers to questions that are spoon-fed to us through the media.

Mr. Kuykendall presents an obviously well-researched novel that moves us through the United States' late 1940’s history into the future in a thoroughly plausible response to many of those incidents about which we have found no satisfactory explanation. Is any of the book true? Is all of it true? Only readers can match their own knowledge of historical events, evaluate the options found in Conspirator’s Odyssey and arrive at their decision. However, this reader can assure you that the concepts are logical, that the story presentation is excellent, and the characters just may haunt you in their respective roles within our government.

Major Kalista Flaker of the United States Army is the heroine of this story. Yes, she is a major in the army; however, she has also now inherited the role of leader of a secret organization, one that reaches across the world, fighting against those who conspire against the United States. It is a bitter pill to swallow that most of those she fights against are found within the agencies of the US government, especially within the security sections. However, facing the reality that she has lived through, she had no choice but to accept and respond to these dangers.

Everything that had happened dated back to before she was born. There had always been talk of UFO sightings and she had scoffed at them along with most Americans. It wasn’t until she was sent on a mission to Vietnam, had talked to a war prisoner and received a vial of his blood that she knew the truth. She had tested and studied the blood and found unknown DNA and other elements. The soldier had alien blood in his body!

She would never forget that mission. She had been in charge of a group of rangers and SEALs. Selected to lead the group by General Thimpkin, the man who had guided her, mentoring her almost as a father, she alone had been told of the full extent of the mission. The group was being sent to Vietnam because they had learned that there were Vietnam War prisoners still alive. They were all to be killed. Indeed, everyone on the mission was to be killed, except her.

General Thimpkin had made special provisions to get her out. Everything had happened as planned—almost. Following orders, they had killed the American soldiers, prisoners who had lost limbs, who were barely holding on to life. In fact, she was puzzled how they were still living!

But she just couldn’t handle having her own team being killed. She tried to tell them what was to happen, but Lieutenant Buckner, thinking she had become unbalanced from what they had just done, stopped her and relieved her of command, only to then lead the group into an ambush. Kalista pulled Buckner to the pickup site, the only one of her team she had found alive, and had saved his life. And then others as she once again ignored commands of her superiors.

Buckner continued in a coma for more than five years. Much had happened during that time and Kalista was ready—ready to seek revenge. But she needed help—she needed Buckner, so while he had been comatose, she had injected him with a variation of the blood the soldier had given her before she killed him. The alien DNA had been test-injected into those poor soldiers and had lived through years of torture and hunger when they should have been allowed to die.

Kalista knew that if her research had been productive that others would have also been working on the same DNA. She was sure she had discovered what would happen in a successful transfer into a human. She and Buckner would be testing her theories.

For, you see, all of it tied together. Project Aneman was still moving forward. They knew the answers to why Kennedy was dead, why there had been bombings at the World Trade Center. They knew who would be elected next. And they knew they had an ongoing mission—to find and destroy conspirators who had sought power and money through abuse of authority and position. The only thing they didn’t know yet—were the conspirators human?

As the first in a series, Conspirator’s Odyssey should be on the must-read list for those looking for and who enjoy reading alternative historical answers!

G. A. Bixler
IP Book Reviewer