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Author: Jeffrey A. Friedberg
ISBN: 978-0-9789247-2-0
Publisher: Indi Publishing Group
I am not a zealous enthusiast of the cross genre paranormal
thrillers, as I have difficulty believing in a tossed salad of
witches, ancient and native prophesies, aliens, biblical tales,
science of superstition, and far-flung adventures that are
intertwined with mystery. I would probably attribute this to my past
experiences where these novels seemed to lack passion, letting me to
be engulfed in the atmosphere and the inherent feeling of dread.
Nonetheless, when Jeffrey A. Friedbergs Black Road 2012: Empire of
the Gods-Book 1 The God Conspiracy crossed my desk, I thought, what
the heck, I would give it a whirl and see what turns up. I was not
disappointed.
This is an intense novel, involving a protagonist with deep
feelings and attitudes, who is hounded by mysterious and
bloodcurdling forces. The monstrous global plot is set in a
landscape that is continually rife with danger. One important
caveat, plan to read it in short bursts in order to savor not only
the tale, which at times can prove to be a trifle overwhelming, but
also to absorb some of Friedbergs off-the-wall philosophical
musings. More than once, just as I thought I grasped the essence of
what is happening, Friedberg pulled me back to take another look. You
can never anticipate where the story is going, as it will come back
to bite you.
The narrative unfolds with a bizarre opening paragraph where
Friedberg describes how his protagonist, Jack Vane is slammed against
a wall by a Lieutenant Warchovski and accused of killing his wife
with his own knife. Vane then goes onto inform us that his destiny
trapped him, and that he knew too much about powerful worldwide
forces that hunted him.
In the next couple of sentences reference is
made to a terrifying Mayan prophecy-Doomsday December 21, 2012 which
happens to be the birthday of Vane. And as Vane asks himself, But
what difference could I possibly make at the end of the world? At the
end of Time....
You are now probably wondering what is the Mayan
prophecy? According to the ancient Mayan calendar, there will be an
alignment of the sun with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, on the
winter solstice, December 21, the year 2012 AD. This happens every
25,800 years and apparently, the mathematics of this conjunction is
100% accurate. It is predicted that the current world Age will end,
and a New World Age will begin.
From here the story plunges ahead and more fully introduces us to
Vane, who lives in New Mexico. He is a retired private investigator
married to a beautiful Indian woman, Diana (Little Red Moon), who is
pregnant with their twin girls. Vane is portrayed as a tough hombre
who walks with a cane and a patch over his eye, as he is going blind
from diabetes. It appears, however, that the wrong people always
seemed to get hurt around him or died or as he describes himself, a
prophet of harm and death.
One day, his eye specialist, Dr. Lafayette informs him that he
sees a terrible destiny in him, and that he is doomed to the darkest
hell. In the next sequence of events, Vane is lured into meeting
with his lawyer and friend, Nicholas D'Agostino (Nick Dago), who has
a very lucrative assignment to offer him from one of his clients that
he can't refuse.
On his way to meet with D'Agostino, Vane senses he is being
followed, and he is uncertain who and why he is being stalked. When
Vane reaches D'Agostino's office, he is introduced to his four
clients, the leader being a Ms. Jones. Vane is next asked to locate
an important item for her and his retainer will be a box full of gold
coins. After a lengthy explanation concerning Nazi pilots and World
War II American clandestine activities, Vane is told that he must
find an ancient solid gold Sumerian relic, the size of a basketball
that is over five thousand years old. It seems ut can be used to
control certain things-scientific processes. Furthermore, Jones
believes that the relic can be made to control forces that run the
universe. Vane debates with himself if he should take on the
assignment. What materializes next is horrendous, involving the
murder and mutilation of Vane's wife and unborn children. This leads
him to a relentless dangerous chase to find out who murdered Diana
and their unborn twin girls and also in finding the ancient relic.
And as we discover, Vane is not the only one after the invaluable
relic.
There are paranormal thrillers and then there are authentic
paranormal thrillers that not only talk the talk but also walk the
walk. Black Road 2012: Empire of the Gods-Book 1 The God
Conspiracy falls into the latter category. However, this is not
to say that this debut novel is perfect. I felt that it was
overwritten by about seventy-five pages. Also, at times I found the
writing style not easy to swallow. Nonetheless, I have to admit, it
is quite innovative and it is unlikely these
imperfections will hamper the reception of this original creative work of fiction.
Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Jeffrey A. Friedberg
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