Once I decided to seriously pursue my writing aspirations, I purchased several books on writing by various writers. One book contained an anecdote as told by J.A(Joe) Konrath, an author known for his Lt. Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels mystery thrillers. In his short piece Joe writes about his first novel. He gives details of how he worked on his creation, got an agent who shopped around his novel, and never got a sale.
I did not know how others looked at the piece, but I personally thought the synopsis of the book sounded very interesting. So much so that I thought "surely this novel must be published by now."
However, I was wrong.
Various google searches brought me to the author's very own website (http://www.jakonrath.com/ebooks.html). There he gave away a pdf version of this novel (along with a couple of other freebies!) So after printing the pdf I began reading the novel that I had in mind for the last several months.
The story opens with President Roosevelt visiting a site near the Panama Canal. A discovery had been made that warranted his immediate attention. Upon viewing the find, President Roosevelt makes the decision to bring the comatose creature to the States so that it can be further studied.
Fast forward to modern time, when a linguist is recruited to study the afore mentioned life form. One glance at the creature draws to mind the immediate response of several others who viewed the creature before him:
......the government has the devil
......and he's now awake!
Point of View
In several English composition classes across the country, teachers are referring to point of view (pov) as a story telling tool. If that is the case then Konrath wields that took like John Henry's mighty hammer. He switches pov on a regular basis going from President Roosevelt to Andy the linguist and even venturing to show the reader the story through the eyes of the unknown creature. Each glimpse a revelation of motivations, it is through the characters' pov that the reader is able the understand the characters and the impact the proceeding events have on each one of their psyches.
Characters, Characters, Characters
In every story there are characters one loves, characters one understands, and characters that one hates. While reading Origin I may not have loved every character, but I understood them. Well, most of them. Although, each one comes from a different background, there is a commonality that keeps them in the subterranean facility. It is through these characters that an other wise science-fiction-like tale weaves in a theme of penance and second chances.
Trailing Me
It has been quite some time since I have read a book that I literally did not want to put down. As this was a printout of the pdf, every moment that I had found me pouring through the 200+ pages. A trail of pages showed my every resting place all day.
All in all I LOVED this book. It's actually a little daunting to find something so engaging, still not have the support of a publishing house. Almost makes me want to destroy my net book and burn my legal pads (almost.)
In any case, pick up this novel for free at J.A Konrath's website here. Maybe if word gets around of how much readers enjoy this novel, Mr. Konrath can finally get this thing sold.
I am pleased to post that this book gets 5 out of 5 Coca Cola Bottles. The very first book to do so on this blog!!!!
Happy Reading!!
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