Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
Yes, I did have this written in draft form...I have NO idea why I didn't publish--My guess is that it was the beginning of my needed surgeries! But, as we all know, Books Never Are Outdated! Sorry, Peter...
A spotlight fell onto the stage at an angle that revealed a lithe, female figure in silhouette. She raised her arms over her head as the intro to a classic rock track began. Ryan recognized it immediately. The Hooters. And We Danced. The guitars began and the lights revealed Laura wearing a glitter-studded leotard. She lowered her arms and spun with dazzling speed. Ryan’s jaw dropped. He’d never seen her in such contour-hugging attire before, and her physical condition stunned him. Despite her months of tireless training, he’d never expected this. She’s so beautiful.
Prologue: Ryan Scott gazed at the floor of the subway train, too uncomfortable to make eye-contact with anyone. The general public was all around him, causing him to shudder in harmony with the low rumble of the train. It was a world in which he had no place. His experience of life had taught him that much. What are you doing? This isn’t who you are. He knew he was just trying to make something of his life. Everything he’d ever touched had been taken away. Why couldn’t he just be himself? Why did it have to be this way?
He felt perspiration on his brow as he gripped a black, leather briefcase with a sense of loathing. His designer gray suit and tie made him feel as though he was walking around in someone else’s skin. The train came to a halt at his stop. His heart raced as he waited for the last commuter to get off before exiting. Walking through the subway station, it felt like a force field was holding him back. Commuters brushed passed him as they went about their business. His fear wouldn’t go away, but he knew he had to fight it. He needed a vocation. He made it through the front entrance and stepped out onto a Chicago street.
This couldn’t really be happening. He had to be having a nightmare. He recalled the four years he’d studied at law school—a subject he hated. Going against his own heart, he’d invested himself in something he didn’t want to do in order to thwart the terrible curse that plagued him. He’d reached the top of his class within his first year, picking up several best student awards along the way. The other students looked up to him, and he wanted to connect with them. But he couldn’t bond with anyone. He just kept his distance...
~~~
Ryan Scott was cursed, or was he? Even as he was broodingly walking to his work site, it blew up...and he spent most of the time on top of a mother and child, to save them...When it was safe, he got up and walked away... The Influencer had spoken. No matter how he prepared and worked to try something meaningful in his life, he was stopped... Finally, he took drugs, drank alcohol enough to kill and worked to commit suicide... Even at that, he failed...
But the stories Ryan had told her were beginning to peak her fears like never before. She’d gone into it fearlessly in the beginning, trying not to show her concern. Gradually, the memories came back, and it was getting to her. She’d experienced it in the TV studio, and again with the death of her uncle. She knew Ryan wasn’t crazy. “OK, let’s do it,” he said. As they walked into the run-down establishment, she noticed the decor didn’t look like it had been attended to since the 1980s. The retro rock music coming from the radio in the background seemed to fit. A young couple waited at the counter. “I like it,” Ryan said. “What? This place?” “The song.” Don’t stop . . . believin’ . . . Ryan headed for the deli aisle and picked up a few sandwiches. “Are you OK with these?” She looked over what he was holding—ham and cheese, chicken salad, a pastrami on rye, and a tuna mayonnaise. It was all very basic, but she accepted this was the nature of life on the road. “They’ll keep us going,” she said.
Two years had gone by since the explosion that destroyed the law firm where Scott had been headed... Since then, he had discovered that, for whatever reason, he could not die... It was his latest drug and drinking celebration that had brought him to the hospital, as a suicide, and he had met Dr. Richard Logan... They were able to bond like no other and Ryan Scott started on a new, almost unbelievable life that changed his future...
“For whatever reason, Mr. Scott wanted to leave this world.” “I don’t believe that. I have never believed that. What people call suicide, I call cultural homicide. This sick, diseased, bankrupt world makes them do it. They become convinced they have no place and are driven to despair. He didn’t take his own life. We killed him.” He was barely conscious of the outrage in his tone. “I understand,” she said. “I was with you all through what happened back then, remember?” He looked at her with an apologetic heart and tried to maintain his composure. “I know. It just never goes away. Every time it happens, I relive it again.”
Would you be able to adjust to knowing that you cannot die? What would you do? Be like the main character and try to kill yourself over and over... Or would you get past that first reaction--stop, pause, and consider just what has happened and where to go from here? Do I try to do good for all of mankind? Do I begin robbing banks because I could always get away from anybody who tried to stop me?
So what if another person comes into the picture? Would that make a difference in your decision-making? Ryan had moved into an isolated place away from the chaos and started looking around him, seeing the people suffering from one illness or another... And he saw that often poor people couldn't even afford to purchase the medicines that were already available! Could something good come out of all of this? But... What About The Influence?!
I'll tell you one thing, I'm anxious to see what happens in the next two parts of this extraordinary suspense thriller trilogy! Do check it out!
Why do these bad dreams keep coming? he thought. This has been going on nearly every week since I started the invention. This last one was by far the worst of them all. Funny how it happened the same week my revolutionary device became operational. I could introduce it to the company and become one of the richest citizens of San Antonio. Plus, I’ve always wanted to make scientific history, like the ones who have inspired me––Darwin, Einstein, Hawking, even my dad. And now I could. However, could something like the dreams become reality? Could my contraption fall into the wrong hands and cost more lives than I can count? Of course, it could.
Why have I wasted so much time on this scientific path? What was I thinking? I was thinking only about my future? What about the world’s future? Why have I never thought of that? The world’s future affects my future. If not mine, my kids’, if I ever have any. And what about my niece and nephews? Why did it never occur to me that anyone who would travel with a cloaking device, such as a chopper pilot, would never do so, unless…their intentions were evil?
This can’t happen. It just can’t! I will not be responsible for any dark realities that are even remotely similar to those ghastly events haunting my dreams. As sad as it makes me, my goals of early retirement, making scientific history, and impressing my father will have to be forgotten. I’ll have to give those weaker projects at Envisiocom a shot instead. He got out of bed and went straight to his garage. When he flipped the light switch, fluorescent bulbs buzzed as they lit up the room, with his tan Toyota Corolla on one side, worktable on the other. Scattered about the table were science-related notes and tools that had aided his creation of the apparatus. Fastened to the old car’s hood was the cloaking device, an odd-looking stack of circuitry the size of a shoebox. The name of Trey’s creation was the VV1––Veiler, Version 1.
I have to end it now. I can’t take any more of those nightmares. A mallet was taken from a toolbox atop the table. He approached the Toyota with it, wanting to see the miracle gadget perform one last time. His hand felt its way through the multicolored wires for the correct switch and flipped it. A few scarcely audible bleeps could be heard as lights twinkled through the circuitry. After forty seconds, the red READY light came on. He flipped the second switch. Yellow radiance hummed, coating the entire Toyota. Then–– ––all signs of the vehicle were gone...
Next, Trey recalled the first eighteen years of his life. He’d been raised by good parents who’d brought him to church every Sunday. The church had constantly emphasized how important it is to love people. It’s so hard to love when there is so much to hate.
~~~
First, let me say that these books will not be for everybody. Language and violence are the hallmark of many of today's criminals--they are truly presented in these books! On the other hand, both of the main characters come to accept God as their Savior... And are often saved or act in accordance with His guidance... Given the issues confronting each of us in these days of chaos, prejudice and violence, I find I enjoy reading about how good always reigns over bad... So, you decide because I do recommend them as exciting sci-fi, action adventure stories mostly on bikes of all kinds, which will thrill you as every form of travel is exploited and used practically on every page!
Readers enter into the lives of two characters--one a former member of a biker gang and a genius scientist being hunted for his invention. Trey had created something that would definitely change the world. He almost immediately, even though he'd worked diligently to achieve his dream, realized how criminals could use it for evil and decided to destroy it! He knew he'd done the right thing but that didn't mean he was safe. For his former fiancée was furious when she learned that he had destroyed the invention which would have made them all the money they would ever need. When she immediately left him, Trey realized that she had only been in it for the money...
Problem was, she had reappeared when Trey had been running from the evil group that knew what he'd built. And that's when the two main characters meet--Sonya had attempted to help this man who she immediately thought was cute...a good sign for the future! But even after many thrilling attempts to lose the enemy, both had been swept up into space by something that then disappeared, and taken into the secret location of a criminal group which was widely causing havoc all over--The Chrome Falcons.
This is an unbelievable futuristic criminal group who had already created a teleportation field. If they had Trey, they would make him recreate his invention through persuasion...or otherwise! And I don't think it is giving away too much when he learned that his "ex" was a member of the group and already involved with someone there and carrying a briefcase full of money and precious diamonds...
Sonya, who had escaped from the Screamon Demons Motorcycle Club immediately left town. Her grandmother, Iza had coincidentally (God Incident?) called and Sonya set out for home, living there for three years, staying even after her grandmother had died. Sonya had begun taking Iza to church and had finally heeded God's call... She now sought God's guidance in all things.
But that did not eliminate the danger that she had left behind when she was called the "old lady" of the leader of a dangerous and increasing murderous club. When her good friend risked her own life to call her, Sonya got on her low rider bike and soon was on her way...back into danger, but with God now as her co-pilot...
Sonya Radisson—formerly Sonya McCall—woke with a gasp. She was in her dark bedroom, not a parking lot. Instead of soaked blacktop, she was reclined on her soft, memory-foam mattress. Putting her sweaty hand between her breasts, she thanked God there was no shotgun hole there. Her racing heart was still intact and safe inside her rib cage. Her skull was not cracked, either. That’s not what happened last spring, she thought, annoyed. The rainy day in Fraser replayed in her head. When Levi was astride the police bike, he’d not been armed. Also, her flying kick had broken his neck.
Where’d that awful dream come from? Her head spun to the clock on her bedside table. It was 5:51 A.M. She turned the other way, relieved to see she’d not wakened Trey, her husband of three months. They were married two weeks after she’d defeated Levi North. Levi was more than her vile ex-boyfriend; he was also the president of a lawless motorcycle club. They called themselves the Screamon Demons. Last December, the crime ring had disbanded after Sonya had spilled most of their secrets to the Feds. No one in the posse ever found out she was the rat—except Levi. Moreover, he was unlikely to find a chance to tell anyone who’d be a threat to his ex. Very few members of the MC had evaded arrest, but they’d stopped caring where Levi was and what he wanted. Sonya wondered if Levi was still alive. If he was, he probably wished he was not. Nova Krenshaw, Sonya’s friend in the FBI, had assured her and Trey that Levi would never be found. He would never be a free man, either. Being paralyzed from the neck down, he’d no chance of escaping from wherever he’d been locked up.
Still disturbed by the dream, Sonya swept the blankets aside, baring muscular limbs and washboard abs. Her ivory skin starkly contrasted with her lacy lingerie, as gloss-black as her curly, mid-back-length hair. Feeling a slight chill in the room, she got off the bed and covered her shapely form with a fleece robe. Then she kicked into her slippers and strode from the room. The dark hallway led her to the great room of the spacious chalet-style house, located in the home rule municipality of Winter Park, Colorado. She flipped a switch, turning on a gas fireplace, and plopped down on an L-section sofa of soft gray leather. She faced a wall made mostly of large windows. The stunning, twilit view of the pine-cloaked Rocky Mountains was a vast improvement over the dull, flat scenery of Artesia, New Mexico, where Sonya had grown up. She sporadically told herself to return to the small town, someday. She could chat with old friends and set flowers on the graves of Derrick McCall, her late father, and Iza Gibbs, Derrick’s mother. She’d not seen Iza’s house for nearly a year, but had heard the Screamon Demons had torched it. Frank Giles, the pastor of the church she’d grown up in, had given her the bad news about the home. Last January, Sonya had called him to confirm all her friends in Artesia were extremely worried about her. Frank was more than happy to honor Sonya’s request of letting the church know she’d not gone missing. One night, almost a year ago, she’d had no choice but to leave town—without telling a soul. She’d had no intention of coming back, either.
Days later, her friends and coworkers had grown concerned. They’d feared the worst once word got around of what had happened to her house. She’d had no time to think things over—not since that night Becky Lugo had called, warning her that Levi’s gang was coming to Artesia to look for her. Again, her brain reran the nightmare of her ex. Before heading to the kitchen to get hot coffee, she musingly eyed the majestic scenery for another minute.
Was God trying to tell her something? Was someone with a grudge against her still out there, somewhere? Did the stench of Levi North still, somehow, linger in the world? And was it coming for her?
~~~
By the time of the second book, Trey and Sonya were in love and had married three months before. Once again, she had heard from her friend Becky, and needed to leave... Only to wind up in a hospital for the insane--and being called by another name and a complete history of that woman. But Sonya knew her real life, even though she'd been injured... Indeed, Sonya was soon to find out that she was not the only one who had been placed in that hospital under false names. There she met Judy and when it was time to escape, Sonya and Judy were helped by Judy's biker sisters.
Hoping to calm her frazzled nerves, Sonya turned on the radio. The selected station played “Hey Brother” by Avicii. The song helped swap her anxiety with a sense of triumph over her escape. But the feeling didn’t last; for ten more miles, her rearview mirror showed a single headlight a quarter mile behind her. Sonya was convinced she had a tail. She would need to somehow take her tail’s ride and ditch the crippled SUV. If she waited too long, either the steaming engine would die, or the vehicle’s damage would draw a cop’s eye. Either scenario would end badly for her. Seconds later, she grasped the best way to make her need a reality. With one of the switches on her door, she opened the front-right window. Then she tapped S-O-S on her “wristwatch,” activating the veil. Once the two-minute countdown started, she hit the brakes, pulled over, put the vehicle in park, and killed the engine. Without turning off the outer lights, she climbed out the open window, took the tranquilizer pistol, and waited by the front-right tire. As she’d suspected, the headlight belonged to a biker—one interested in the Outlander...
~~~
In both books, a connection had been established with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. In the first book, Trey and Sonya helped to bring down the Chrome Falcons. In the second book, Judy's MC had also been working with a local FBI agent. Sonya was honored to take a temporary membership in the Night Mares MC... who were helping gather evidence and then providing it to the FBI agent for legal actions...
But Sonya still did not understand how and why she had been placed in a hospital for the insane... Her greatest nightmare was yet to be revealed...
The two books are so action-packed that readers will be boggled by just how much havoc can be made by criminals in their search for revenge...or power and wealth!
And when most needed, prayer by those who are fighting evil, will be spoken and in miraculous ways, all that seems impossible is made possible...
When I first saw the title, I immediately thought of an old song, Earth Angel. I found it interesting that the singer on the video I opened seemed to me to look like the main character, Daryl, who is known to look younger than she really is... You'll also see that there are two different beings on the cover and readers will find that a lot happens in the book even before they appear...
The cab pulled up and the driver rolled the window down. Daryl cornered the car and wondered why there was already a passenger in the back seat. She tilted down to talk to the driver but got a good look at the passenger. She flipped down a sun glass visor and recoiled in shock. She saw a black-cloaked figure wearing a hood. The face was misshapen, gouged, wrinkled, and drawn tight like wet tissue over a lumpy gourd. It had one hand over its lap; the fingers looked like burnt twigs. She could not see inside the cloak, save for a neck that resembled that of a tortoise. A smell like rotten meat wafted from the inside of the car. Daryl stepped back, trying to reign in her shock and horror. She yelled, “Get the hell out here. We don’t need you anymore!” “What’s the matter? I told you I’m sorry, lady” ~~~
For instance, you'll read about a cab pulling up and the driver rolling the window down. Daryl cornered the car and wondered why there was already a passenger in the back seat. She tilted down to talk to the driver but got a good look at the passenger. She flipped down a sun glass visor and recoiled in shock. She saw a black-cloaked figure wearing a hood... By the time you learn about that death-like being that was found in the back of a cab that Daryl was about to enter, you will have read most of the book and moved forward slowly to actually see why this book is, well, strange, unique, and quite entertaining. And you also will have seen that cabbie in an accident that took his life... Of course, by that time, while Daryl had immediately predicted it and had been looking for verification...sadly, she was right again! At first I thought this was a romance story...Two couples, one engaged; one married... And they had become close friends, so that, whenever something was happening, it was quite natural to share among the four. It was romantic as it related to the normal interactions; however, with the storyline of the book, tensions run high, quarrels occur...and the two female characters take off and leave both husbands to travel to Hawaii! So, enjoy the time with two women who refused to continually bow to the needs of their husbands! Dean, Daryl's fiance, was a cop and had just become involved with a serial killer who seemed unstoppable, providing no clues, leaving no forensics, and quickly killing their victim, then leaving: A young girl dead, and one tooth pulled as a souvenir... Dean wanted badly to be on that investigation team. Daryl, who worked for an institute for the deaf and mute, though, was about to gain a job that she never bargained for. But that was before Dean and Daryl were both shot by someone who was trying to steal their car... Dean, thinking he would have everything under control, slowly pulled out his gun...Before anything could happen, the robber had shot through the window, hitting Dean badly and Daryl had a major loss of one of her eyes... Both would be grounded for weeks and months... Yet that serial killer kept killing...10...11... Daryl's eye loss had required a search for a donor. Shortly one was found from a young girl who had been in an accident. The operation went well; Daryl was adjusting to the eye as expected and the doctors were pleased. Until she started realizing that the new eye caused a double image of some sort... Doctors found nothing to document this problem. A whirlwind of action and adventure started as Daryl began to completely see through that new eye. Images of some type of beings were following individuals. A little research made her realize that Daryl was actually seeing these beings that resulted in death to those they followed... Even though Daryl tried to interfere, nothing seemed to work...until... The writer brilliantly, ultimately, interfaces the two issues in Dean and Daryl's lives. Jobo and Abbey are wonderful characters who merge easily into the situations, as needed, to complete a group that comes together to provide an unbelievable climax to the book that could not be foreseen! The creativity of the writer in waltzing through romance, science fiction, the paranormal, and religious supernatural power was especially noteworthy. The book is not a thriller where you can anticipate; rather, it is a mystery to be solved--a whodunit versus "Death Squad" concept that readers may have to stay with the early part in order to fully comprehend the magnitude of the potential of what could be if we allowed our senses open to the possibility. While I'd love to see a series, I'm not quite sure that what occurred could easily be continued. Either way, Earth Angel is an extraordinary "family" drama that is quite memorable... Highly recommended... GABixlerReviews
PUBLISHING CREDITS: BOOKS: Auto Repair Shams and Scams (Forward--Ralph Nader), 1990, Price Stern & Sloan, Los Angeles--226 pages, non-fiction, consumer warning and repair book. Garage Sale Mania, 1988, Betterway Publications, Crozet, Virginia--190 pages, non-fiction--1988. Word Wars, a SF novel, to Rain Publishing, Canada--May, 2007. Once Upon a Goddess, a Fantasy novel, to Rain Publishing, Canada--January, 2008 Planet Janitor--Custodian of the Stars, a SF novel sold to Engage Books, May 2009 Gate Walker, a Paranormal Fantasy, sold Lyrical Press--January, 2009. The Wolfen Strain, a fantasy thriller sold to LBF (Lachesis) Books, February 2009 The War Gate, a Paranormal thriller, to Pen and Press, 10-12-2012 The Girl They Sold to the Moon, a YA dystopian sold to Intrigue Press, August 2013 Planet Janitor Omnibus with shorts added, Engage SF August 2017 Blackmailed Bride, Romantic thriller to Melange Books, Satin Romance, Feb 2017 Screamcatcher Web World, YA fantasy to Melange Fire & Ice MAGAZINE--SHORT FICTION: Stellar by Starlight, to Amazing Stories, 1988. The Lonely Astronaut, to Amazing Stories, 1988. Temperamental Circuits, to Gordon Linzner of Space & Time, 1989. Things that go Clump in the Night, to Richard Fawcett of Doppelganger, 1989. Dance the Macabre and Dance it Well, to Erskine Carter of Ouroborous, 1989. Future School, to Chris Bartholomew of Static Movement, January 2006. The Incredible Mr. Dandy, to Not One of Us--1989 Planet Janitor The Moon is not Enough, to Enage Books, 2012 Planet Janitor Journey Interrupted, to Engage Books 2012 Other magazine appearances from 1988 to 1991 include, Alpha Adventures, Small Press Writers and Artists Organization and Sycophant.
RADIO PLAYS: The Summit, 15-minute horror play to Night Sounds, Embassy Cassette Inc, Santa Ana, California--1990 Night of the Moa, 13-minute horror play to Night Sounds, Embassy Cassette Inc, Santa Ana, California--1990.
AWARDS: Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest, for Temperamental Circuits, 1987. First place, grand prize winner for The Girl They Sold to the Moon, a YA distopian novel, to a Publisher's Novel Writing Competition. Advance and publication offered--June 2012.
JOURNALISM AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES 350 newspaper profiles, stories, and interviews to Sunset Publishing, Anaheim, California, appearing in The West Coast Jewish News, The Senior Citizens Reporter and The Military Review. From 1988 to 1991. Seven automotive and home and garden articles articles to Dollar Stretcher Magazine, from 12-2-2011 to 2-28-2012. Eight science articles to Xiauduo Media, for Chinese translation( 8 -14 year-old audience)--Astronomy, new transportation technology, space, exoplanets, future spaced ship drives, big bang, theory and inflation.
CONTENT AND CLIENT I have written and published over 1,750 non-fiction automotive, aircraft, marine, home and garden and science articles for Demand Media Studios, under the Beta-Automotive and E-How stations. Six automotive articles to Examiner.com--6-2012. Published. 440 automotive and general articles to TextBroker--plumbing, gardening, home improvement, home utilities, electricity--Content writing for a total of three years.
ORGANIZATIONS/POSITIONS: Served as content editor of Sunset Publication (see above) for three years. Responsible for all writing assignments content editing, filler and artwork and payment. President and founder of Heartland Writers Group, Huntington Beach, California, from 1987 to 1991.
AGENTS: Past agent--Richard Curtis Associates, from 1988 to 1991. Past agent--TriadaUS (Dr. Uwe Stender), from 2006 to August 2009 Present agent--Sara Camilli Agency--2010 to present.
CURRENT FINISHED BOOKS (AVAILABLE): Iron Maiden, a military espionage thriller. Valley of the Mastodons, a non-fiction book involving the Ice Age megafauna discoveries in Hemet, California, during the Diamond Valley reservoir dig. Proposal, chapter outline, and 100 pages available upon request Dispossessed Incorporated, an urban ghost fantasy with time travel The Omega Wars--SF, apocalyptic alien invasion (Sequel to PJ) Screamcatcher, A YA portal fantasy out on agent sub round. Resembles the Narnia world. this includes Screamcatcher two and three. It is currently in discussion with a publisher. Sky High, a YA fantasy in the vein of Wool The Magic of the La Brea Tarpits--a non-fiction children's chap-book.
CURRENT NEWS: BLACKMAILED BRIDE, AN EROTIC ROMANTIC THRILLER HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED. CATCH IT ON MY AMAZON PAGE. IT'S ONLY 4.99
The CSIteam walked up as Jack crouched down and brushed off the rest of the leaves from the body, careful not to disturb any evidence. After a quick inspection, he stood up and stared at Chief McAllister. "Go ahead, sir, take a look, but prepare yourself."
"Son, I've pert' near seen everythin'," He squatted down as much as his protruding gut would allow. "What in tarnation is this?" His breath rasped, "Where in God's creation did this thing come from?" Wheezing sounded. "Talbot, help me up."
The deputy grabbed onto the chief's hefty arm. "I told you it was freaky."
McAllister's eyes blazed. "This here some kinda joke..." He shifted around, his face flushed with fury. "Who's pullin' my leg?" His glare ended on Jack.
Agent Stanwick flung up his hands. "Look I'm just down here doing my job."
"Show me them here credentials!" McAllister ordered. "I wanna make sure I'm not bein' taken a fool."
Jack reached into his back pocket, yanked out a leather case and flipped out his badge. "Here you are, Chief."
McAllister grabbed it, gave it a stern eye then handed it back. He faced Talbot. "I'm not amused."
The deputy stepped back.
Jack edged forward. Now that Chief McAllister had gotten a glimpse of his badge, the game had played out. It was time to enact his authority. "I'll tow the body away as soon as it's bagged and tagged."
"Boys, help the CSI gang process this here crime scene for the agent."
The men scrambled...
The deputy snickered. "I think it's a tranny."
"A what?" Chief McAllister uttered.
"A transsexual," sir," Jack retorted.
The chief's eyebrows crinkled.
"It's a person who has undergone gender reassignment surgery," Jack explained.
Depute Talbot smirked, "Well, I call it what it is--a sex change."
Chief McAllister winced. "My God!" He turned both eyes heavenward. "One day this here sky's gonna open wide and when that happens y'all will witness His wrath."
A solemn expression emanated from Jack's face...
~~~
Take a bit of Weird Science, add a bit of politics, a FBI search for a serial killer, and add a zany set of private detectives, who used to be cops, and you have a unique blend of sci-fi, humor, and, political intrigue that may lead you to end reading with the question, "What...just... happened?!" I was enjoying the book until the Davenport Detective Agency was introduced. This is the debut of a series surrounding the Agency. The concept was fine until the detectives became actual characters and started talking. Frankly, I was caught totally off guard. While admitting I didn't like three of the four members of the agency, as the book went on, I began to understand the overall plot and where the series would probably be going... Think Weird Science... If you enjoyed that movie, I think you'll also greatly enjoy this first and other books... The intriguing string of murdered bodies that was found instantly caused alarm, mixed reactions, and confusion...This was not mutilation--it was something much more--but what?!
When the Detective Agency begins, they are to focus on a militia group that could be behind the murders and whatever else was going on... Readers will meet M.A.G.O.C. (Men Against Government Overtaking Control) and learn the basic actions of what this group has begun doing. The book can stand alone, but does leave readers with questions that move into the next book. I must admit I am curious... The author has done a great job in creating a novel that attracts attention from the beginning to the end. It is well written and reflects a certain style of creative genius I've not seen before... I can't help but think of it as a spoof, a parody of the multiple genres included... We think, for instance, that the FBI would never bring in another agency to help solve a serial killer case. Yet, the author manages that by having the family of a victim of those murdered hire the Agency... Then there are the characters in the agency that are overplayed to the point of almost thinking they are similar to Keystone Cops... updated to the 60s... (the only clues I'll give, LOL)
The added political angle is certainly timely as we consider how individuals can take on a specific persona only to have corruption revealed at some point... But the project underway by the villains? Well, it...is...just...weird! Check out other reviews...This is unusual enough that not everybody will pick up on what is happening and appreciate it... It certainly is, though, a novel worth further consideration... GABixlerReviews
Tory Allyn currently resides in Upstate New York. Although born in Syracuse, he was raised in the quaint town of Baldwinsville with his brother and two sisters, who drove him into becoming the zany person he is today. As a child, he made up many a tale. Some funny; others dark and brooding, but all started him on the path to writing. Today, his nephew, lovingly referred to as 'The Monster Child', is his partner in crime. Most days, you will see them playing ball at a nearby park, going for a dip in the backyard pool or snowboarding down a popular mountainside.
Tory has written his first novel, ALTER EGO. He completed a second novel, ALTER BOYS. His third novel, ALTER GIRLS, is in the editing stage. ALTER BOUND will be last. All four are a series entitled, THE DAVENPORT DECREES.
This is an early trailer before the last book's name was changed... but still certainly relevant... Introduction A Note from Sam Good Man
My name is Sam Good Man. By rights, I could use the name Sam Baahuhd. I can claim that name because I am the oldest descendant of the original Sam Baahuhd, the headman of the village when we had to go underground to escape the atomics. I am the headman now, one hundred and five generations later. Legends are told of lives like mine, but my life doesn’t seem legendary to me. It seems normal. Even ordinary. Well, perhaps a bit more than that. I was born in the underground shelter and escaped from it in its darkest time. I was badly wounded when I escaped and am alive only because Jeremy Edgarton— known by my people as the Great Tek— and his mother, the lady, Veronica Edgarton— saved me.
We found ourselves living on a great stone cliff over a river valley. We were joined by those who had gone to the angel Eliana’s planet to escape the great atomic war: Jeremy the Great Tek, Eliana herself, Henry and Lena, and Mel and James. We had many adventures. The battle for the underground when we saved the children was the greatest. I’m not going to talk about those times. I’m going to talk about what started it all.
To understand this book, you need to know that I have another name. I am Sam of Emily. I am the last of the line
of Emily born in the underground shelter. Emily is the woman Sam Baahuhd carried into the shelter just before the bombs went off and sealed us down there forever. I carry inside of me Emily and Sam Baahuhd and Arthur Romero and so many more of the first ones. They sing in me, telling their tales. Every story has a story behind it. This book has one, too.
After the battle for the underground, we went back to the cliff by the river with the
children we’d saved. When we got things squared away so that no one was near dying, we started having campfires every night. We laughed and had fun— the best times I’d ever had. At the campfires, the children sang the way we did underground, humming and warbling deep in our throats. The lady said our songs reminded her of the way the monks in Tibet sang. I don’t know about that. It’s just how we sing. Our voices sounded good in the shelter, bouncing off the cement walls. The sound carried a long way, too. You could put different meanings
into the sound, if you wanted to sneak a message past the Bigs who enslaved us down below. The first time I told a story, I started at the beginning, telling about Sam and Emily and Arthur and all the first ones. I didn’t think it anything special until I looked up and saw that everyone had tears about to spill out of their eyes. When I’d been telling a little bit every night, Mel Abrams started teaching me to read. Mel was a teacher and a revolutionary before the world blew up. He was Jer the Tek’s teacher and friend. He teaches
everyone here, whether they like it or not.
After I had told stories for few weeks, Mel got the “wonderful idea” that I should make the stories into a book. “How can I write a book?” I said. “I cannot write.” “This is what we’re going to do,” Mel said. “I’m going to record your stories and transcribe them. When you can spell the words from hearing the sounds, you’ll do it yourself. Then we’ll start polishing.” I would write a chapter or two, and then he would read it
and say, “Yes, but your POV”— that means “point of view”—“ jumps here, and this goes on too long. You need to watch your punctuation. This doesn’t move the story forward.” Somewhere along the way, I learned to use a computer. That made it easier. Then I wrote this story on the computer, instead of telling it at the campfires at night. I’m glad of that, because I didn’t want to tell parts of this story around the children. There’s nothing wrong with
people knowing that their ancestors were real people and went to bed with each other and made mistakes. But the kids ought at least to grow up enough to read about it, rather than hearing it by accident at a campfire. Some bad things happened down there. I’d just as soon not tell anyone about them, but a record should be kept. Maybe people will learn from it. In the end, I wrote this book because my ancestors wanted me to do it. They’d come to me, raucous like a flock of crows, and flap around in my head until I wrote what they wanted.
Whatever Mel thinks, I expect that my stories and this book will die on this ledge with me. But, even if they do, those who came before want those who came after to know what happened. I offer you this story with love in my heart and gratitude that I have the life I do. I survived when so many others didn’t. This is the story of my ancestors, Sam Baahuhd and Emily, who loved each other beyond death. Sam Good Man Who is also Sam of Emily,
the last Sam Baahuhd, the headman of the village and the people who live on the cliff by the river. I am the man who wed the lady and will love her forever. ~~~
The Headman and The Assassin:
Earth's End 3
By Sandy Nathan
It was never intended by Jeremy's family that their servants, their slaves, would be saved in the technologically innovating underground bunker that they had created and built across the world. Those to be saved were scholars, scientists, and others with the expertise to continue to work, survive and come out to begin rebuilding all that had been destroyed...
But it had all come too fast, the destruction had already begun and, unless the bunker would remain empty, the only people who could quickly move into the bunker to be closed were all of the farm workers. None of them could read or write. The small community had been inbred for generations. But perhaps worst of all, the rich owners of the property had cared little about the personal lives of their employees.
Jeremy had cared enough to go to the Headman, Sam, and discuss everything with him, placing him in charge. He had also had one of his fellow staff members willing to go into the bunker with them and hopefully work to train some of the people to handle the system created to keep them all alive...
Jeremy was scheduled to travel to another planet but tried to point out as much as he could about problems Sam might face as leader. Off the top of his head, he quickly told him the facts: continuing to marry cousins was ultimately going to lead to genetic issues and he should ensure that no drink or drugs be allowed.
Sam took his new responsibility and immediately tried to proceed with what Jeremy had told him. But since he was one of the last to enter the bunker, and saw a lone woman who was hurt, he picked her up and took her inside...
The first edict that Sam implemented was that anybody who was married to their own relatives were divorced by his decree. That included his four wives...
Of course, all individuals would be provided for with supplies that had already been stored so that divorced wives would still have everything they needed...except a male companion...
In the meantime, Sam took the outsider into his room to recover and he ultimately fell in love for the first time in his life. Yeah...but... He was so sappy in love that the rest of the people became upset and angry...Sam had forced divorces to supposedly stop the inbreeding...but he was also totally involved with a new woman...
Readers will learn about the proclivities of the community; specifically related to drinking, drugs, and multi-partner sex. Shutting up a small group who had lived that way for many generations could only lead to disaster...the type of disaster that we discovered in book 2 when the inbreeding had created genetic deformities of all kinds...
Now, here's the...yeah, but...it could be assumed, at least I did, that the supernatural powers that the villagers all had to a small or greater extent, was caused by the inbreeding. Sam, the Headman, for instance, could heal people and also could control, when necessary, others by simply using "The Voice..."
At the same time, he had been just as involved with the "fun" activities of the village and it was well known that he'd been with every woman that was now in the bunker and deprived of their husbands...
And then there were the criminal types who had been living in the village, making the hooch; growing the weed...and selling to make their money. At no time were they even willing to consider eliminating those activities...
But nobody, including Sam, was prepared to learn that there was already a genetic issue, from Sam, that was now a part of nearly all the occupants... And if they wanted to keep the population fairly stagnant as people died, there should only be certain men and women who could mate together...
And one of those men who could breed was a Black man who had volunteered to go underground with them and try to teach the others how to survive... Now racial tension became part of the mix...
I had to wonder whether, if the scholars and scientists had made it into the bunker, how much different it would have been than with the village people. Yes, they would have been able to read and write, but with the assumption that the stay in the bunker might be thousands of years, would the intellect continue to rule or would those same individuals have dropped back, as Maslow stated, requiring their basic needs and instincts had to be met before a human can ever look upward to higher more lofty goals... I've always believe in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and believe that anybody that was suddenly thrown into a catastrophic, isolated environment would ultimately have at least some percentage of the occupants become disruptive and dangerous people in this situation.
And, here's another yeah, but...you see, Emily had some...ah...mental issues...having been trained by the government...to kill...
I'm not going into the love story...it's the only bright spots of the storyline and though it was an unusual love...Sam is a character that quickly earns respect as he stepped up to the plate to lead this long-term mission...to stay alive...and go into an unknown future... He and Sam Good Man were my favorite characters...
Wow! The creative imagination of the author is well beyond what most of us could conceive. Yet, as a trilogy, the three books come together brilliantly as a study of human behavior in the worst of conditions--to keep on living only to keep from dying...
I've already said it's the best I've read in this genre... Especially, since it is based upon nuclear disaster of man destroying man. We are already there, aren't we? Me, I think I'd stay here in my home rather than move into a bunker with a hundred people I didn't know... What would YOU do? It's a lot easier to consider death when you see what could be the alternative...
An amazing, extraordinary, horrific, and yes, a brilliant wake-up tale of where the world may be headed. Kudos to Nathan for this award-winning trilogy, but, more, for being willing to confront many major issues that would undoubtedly appear...If...or when...
