Review: Rome Sims - An Adventure in Scientific Discovery!

Inside Awake
Rome Sims
Eloquent Books
ISBN: 9781606939123
161 Pages

Starting with an enticingly beautiful cover depicting an underwater scene, a futuristic ship, and a strange statue, I moved quickly to start reading Inside Awake by Rome Sims.

Near Lake Eyasi, Tanzania, a group of scientists noticed a bright light, but they were just there to collect random blood samples from migratory birds. Then members of the Mamoya clan also saw the pulsating radiant orb. Hunters, animals and the scientists perished as they stood watching it rotate. They had instantaneously died from extreme thermal shock.

Readers meet Dr. David Woodall in a Particle Physics Complex in Switzerland where he is so deeply involved with the "mysterious artifact," which is 13% beryllium, 2% niobium and 85% unknown, he pays no attention to anything else, including his boss who is pressing for quick information!

But, when Geri calls, he finds time to talk...

The major action and adventure is taking place in the Indian Ocean Sunda Trench where Dr. Sharon Geraldo (Geri) and her team are on an oceanographic survey expedition. The research vessel had passed across the Malacca Strait when Dr. Geraldo spotted a huge statue. It had taken eleven years and a billion dollars to build the USS Argo and it was packed with any innovative technology available. And this trip would allow the team to use them fully!

At the same time in Polanco, Uruguay, paleontologists had found a remarkably preserved skeleton of a forty-foot beast as a result of a flash flood. But they also found a grey octagonal-shaped box with strange symbols that resembled hieroglyphs.

While in Antarctica, a giant circle, slightly raised off the ground had appeared since the last site visit two days ago... But one of these scientific explorations has led to the biggest mystery of all. Dr. Geraldo and her entire team has disappeared! At least, they aren't where they landed underwater, in the same year!

The Commission has collected artifacts and relics for centuries--but a woman known only as Madam is now in charge and their activities have become much more dangerous...

The trips to these sites, such as Tanzania and Antartica are wonderfully detailed so that you enjoy the trip as if you were the scientists making these discoveries. Brilliantly detailed, readers are caught up into these individual mystery discoveries. In fact, readers become so involved that they want more...

And that just might be the only shortfall of Inside Awake by Rome Sims. As with many other serial stories, readers are left hanging, maybe even more so in this book because of the various locations and artifacts, which are involved, and being investigated. I would have preferred to have both books and spent the weekend in this adventure...So, Mr. Sims, burn some midnight oil to get The Commission to us quickly! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Madam!

G. A. Bixler

Interview with Rome Sims - Author of Inside Awake

Rome, thank you for sharing a little with Book Reader's Heaven today! Where are you from?

I'm a current resident of San Diego California, but I'm from Racine, Wisconsin and grew up later in the metropolitan area of St. Paul/Minneapolis Minnesota.

So, when did you start writing?

I began writing at a very young age in Racine. My mother often scolded me for composing adventurous tales past bedtime, and frequently found me beneath a blanket with pencil, paper and flashlight, writing wondrous fiction well into the night. Back then, it was a means of escape. Those stories took me to far away places, from the chaos of a fairly large and somewhat typical dysfunctional family.

I suppose that’s how and when I developed my vivid imagination. Sometimes, I’d wish that I were riding into battle with the knights of King Arthur’s Roundtable or looking for fossils on a dark and cold Saturn moon. It was moments like those, when I was alone, that really defined me. I became very curious about the world, and consequently, extremely interested in all aspects of the natural and applied sciences. As a kid, I read any and everything that I could get my hands on regarding subject matters pertaining to anthropology to biology to physics.

Well, your book, Inside Awake, surely reflects all of that reading--it's a wonder you haven't written your first novel earlier! But perhaps your interest in science took on a life of its own?

I remember once while in my mother’s kitchen, using her pots and pans to mix spices, grass, broken sticks, crushed glass and dirt, trying to cook up a cure for every disease imaginable. And although that moment has long since past, every so often, I can still feel the sting of that admittedly justifiable paddling.

Hmmm, I think that would have stifled my "work" a little too! So when did you get serious about writing?

My first attempt at serious writing came when I asked and got permission to start a school newspaper while in 6th grade at Lincoln Elementary School. I recruited a couple of other students as reporters, and with the assistance of my teacher, Mr. Griffith as the editor/overseer, the two pages of the Lincoln Press was born. I don’t think I was really interested in journalism, but I learned the art of objectivity which further improved my skills, and I was able to write something other people would read.

And regarding your comment about writing my book earlier? Now you would think, a kid with a slightly above average IQ, rich imagination, and a natural writer (for the craft, for me, is as innate as speech)…surely, the road to success would be already paved with glittering stones of success…but au contraire. And it’s not to say that I haven’t had some success in the business world, for I’ve had a fair share. However, what I fail to realize, until later in life, is that sometimes for most of us, the past is difficult to escape, and sometimes for an unfortunate few, it won’t let you escape.

We are all inherently born with an inner voice whose sole purpose is to guide us safely on our journey through life so that we may be humane and fruitful. However, when traumatized, the human spirit manifests itself as a dark cloud of distrust and emotional seclusion. The condition eats away at the soul, consuming character, strength and will, eventually becoming comfortable like old leather. Our inner voice, that which guided us, becomes as distant as the sun.

I’d like for you to read a quote I penned, when one day while contemplating…well….me, I had a brief moment of undeniable clarity.

"Everyone is running from something. But if we’re lucky, really lucky, fate intervenes and presents an opportunity to conquer our fears. Only then, if triumphant, can a destiny bestowed become a destiny fulfilled."

Sad to say that in today's world that may be true; but, on the other hand, I think destiny is sometimes disguised... Sometimes the past may be rekindled, because that adventure that you dreamed about as a child is certainly in your book!

Well, I write as a means of discovery, and to share in that journey. And I can guarantee two things you will discover from reading my novels; my books will always be entertaining, and the characters will teach you something about yourself as they have taught me. Because when it really comes down to it, inside, I am like you, and you, like me.

Ahhh, but there is also complementary people...people like you, the writers. People like me, the readers! Yes, we may be alike, but you just may find that your new fans will fulfill and create a destiny that you never had even thought would be!

Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us today, Rome! Best wishes in your writing on the followup book to Inside Awake--The Commission!

New Book Out: Inside Awake by Rome Sims

Inside Awake
By Rome Sims
Review Coming Soon!

Inside Awake is the thrilling, debut action adventure novel by Romé Sims. Taking readers on a whirlwind tour from Tanzania, to the Indian Ocean’s Sunda Trench, to Switzerland, and beyond, this action-packed taste of Jurassic Park combined with the best of the best governmental plots, will soon be followed by the conclusion of this great adventure in The Commission!

When the United Nations discovered a tragedy of unimaginable proportions, their early investigations uncover a massive loss of life around a lake in Africa; a government satellite links the incident to a radio signal off the coast of Sumatra and a group of scientists and military personnel are enlisted to find out what happened.

Dr. Sharon Geraldo, known as Geri to her friends, leads a research vessel across the Malacca Straight off the Sumatra Island. It had taken eleven years to build the vessel and it was equipped with every possible piece of innovative technology that could be needed to complete their mission: “Inside Awake.” As Geri and her team take their first maiden voyage in the area, Geri spots a large primitive statue and what looks to be some type of structure. That will be their first site visit!

But an unexplained phenomena happens – the team disappears. Actually, they’ve been taken back in time! The excitement during this visit highlights the novel!

During this same period, scientists are being sent all over the globe to investigate disease or unknown events causing death. In Tanzania, three people were burned to death quickly, in a fraction of a second! One of those scientists called back to Manhattan, and disclosed, “Test results from Lake Eyasi indicate positive...”

David Woodall is hired by a questionable organization to find out what really happened. But he is kept away from some parts of the building and from some of the artifacts that have been brought back from various sites. When he discovers that Geri, a friend for whom he cares greatly, has disappeared, he begins to use his own methods for getting what he needs, no matter how well it is being guarded!

Sims’ riveting novel is scientifically superb in describing the land areas, the historical perspectives and the various natural habitats where the scientists travel. Like all serial stories, Sims’ Inside Awake leaves you wanting to move right into his next novel! The Commission coming soon!

ISBN: 978-1-60693-912-3
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