It's the beginning of a new year and Petra is back after her breakdown with more questions than answers. She has been unable to find out who she is or who she was before she woke up in a hospital bed with amnesia or why she needs so many drugs to keep her alive. Why is there a second entity in her head and why did it try to turn her into a psychotic killer? For the moment though, Petra has more important things to worry about. One of her new friends is being abused and the discovery has disastrous consequences for Petra. A near death experience on holiday unexpectedly uncovers some of her past and results in a holiday romance. Her relationship with Jenny becomes more complicated. Inspector Fransson is still searching for his elusive serial killer. Why were two French Gentek scientists murdered and where is their daughter? Why did their German colleagues disappear, only to reappear in England as University Professors? Where is Petter Ulfson, his prime suspect, and who is Petra Connell?
"The prelude to the Exchange announced itself with a gust of ionized air, a shift that made Sharon Mack's skin tingle. Eleven fifty-eight. Two minutes early by Sharon's watch. Hot sunlight poured from a cloudless sky onto strip-mall parking lots running along both sides of Highway 25 on the outskirts of Rockport, Illinois. Under the supervision of surveyors, a team of hastily drafted civilians stretched the yellow and black warning tape at the boundary of the Exchange Zone--the EZ. A curved line of white stakes stretched left and right--marking the calculated fringe of Bear Country."--Page 4 of cover.
Who are you when your brain is not you?' Jane Lapotaire is one of the lucky ones. Many people do not survive, let alone live intelligently and well again once they have suffered cerebral haemorrhage. In the long haul back to life - 'nearly dying was the easy bit' - she's learned much, some of it very hard lessons. Some friendships became casualties; family relations had to be redefined; and her work as an actress took a severe battering. The stress of living is felt that much more keenly when 'sometimes I still feel as if I am walking around with my brain outside my body. A brain still all too available for smashing by noise, physical jostling, or any form of harshness'. But she has survived and now believes it herself when people say how lucky she is. This is a very moving, darkly funny, honest book about what happens when the 'you' you've known all your life is no longer the same you.
Dr. Josh Okelly is a handsome, former OHL player, who lives on the edge and never gives a damn about the consequences of his actions. Josh was sentenced to five months in jail for drinking and driving with a suspended license. The authorities tried to charge him with crimes against humanity during the civil war in Liberia and failed. With help from Lock Washington, Tia Carter will make a powerful movie loosely based on Joshs experiences during the Liberian civil war, portraying good men witnessing violence becoming the kinds of persons capable of horrible acts of violence. How is Josh going to charm his way out of this mess?
Her entire life Tara has had a need to expose the dark side of the soul. She was exposed to the occult by her family growing up and suffered deep personal loses. She dealt with the grief and pain by becoming an undercover agent for the FBI. She teams with two other women who share a similar background. They are only called to action when the FBI needs a team of experts to investigate occult crime. Taras team is called to Denver, Colorado to deal with a cult involved in child prostitution and the drug trade. As Taras team comes close to exposing this cult the danger grows. Before it is over they will experience the full impact of the cults cruelty and violence. Through this experience their lives are changed forever. Join them as they face the gentle hell that is true evil.
I find this book a beautiful piece of retrospective writing full of sensitive insight and tender descriptions. The introduction is quite breathtaking as an anticipation of the events that will come later and is also a glimpse into the authors thoughts and, especially, his character. The introduction is also important in the way that it starts the question about the arrogance of society in relation to the painful misfortune of a person enduring a so-called mental illness. Society lifts its shield of indifference in order to build its precarious opulence out of the pain of the mentally ill person. I became familiar with the way that events are communicated so powerfully and particularly enjoyed witnessing the journey through the hardships and wonders of the authors adolescence in Africa. I was taken by the miracle of his description of the mysterious landscapes and places that inhabit his many memories. His work in various farms, weekends with friends, the awakening of love, his impressions of the Zulu workers, and the motorbikeall early memories that have a mix of innocence and candid enthusiasm colored by tender sensuality. The episode with the girls in the bus leaves the impression of being at one with the author in being fully aware of the experience while being acutely conscious of his feelings and meanings. In another chapter I found myself dramatically touching his experiences as a schoolboy in England and the difficulties of learning and relearning the peculiarities of the culture and the feelings of vulnerability finding his place in a foreign country. The author shows a lot of courage enduring this moment in his life. Another one of my favorite chapters was the unforgettable journey across Australia as a hitchhiker. A journey colored by freedom and friendship. Everything in the book is an anticipation of the authors meeting with Belinda. All women (including Beauty) are only affinities that have led to the real essence of love, all preparations for it. It is not difficult to understand the authors good fortune at being capable of holding in his mind and dreams the power of love and to be loved by a woman. This is the heart of the book. The mix of styles and poetry is powerful strength of the book. Many great authors have tried these combinations (Goethe, Emerson, Flaubert, and even Shakespeare) with amazing aesthetical results. The poet knows the language of the spirit. Life and death; love and sadness, loneliness are all mystical reflections which are the nourishments of the poems. All elements of the authors reality are beautifully drawn in a rhythmic space. This book travels beyond the intentions of comprehension of a medical condition. The mental pain experienced during the outbreak of depression is the material which gives birth to a reflective piece of art. Beauty comes from unexpected sources and this book is about the beauty of life.
ON ALERT… A nuclear bomb has gone missing. At the same time Room 59, a covert unit of the International Intelligence Agency created to fi ght terrorist cells, intercepts a communiqué from U.S. Border Patrol agent Nathaniel Spencer. A known terrorist, thought to be dead, is back in business. …AND UNDERCOVER Tracy Wentworth is working for the Department of Homeland Security when she’s contacted by Room 59 for an inside job. Aligned with Agent Spencer and backed up by Room 59’s considerable resources, they are to assess and eliminate the threat, using any means necessary. But as they delve deeper into Mexico’s criminal underworld, it soon becomes clear that someone is planning a massive attack against America…one that would render the entire nation completely defenseless!
As I write this (2013), it is about one and a half years since Fran died and I moved into my present apartment. My life appears to be settled into somewhat of a routine nature. Each morning when I awaken, I go through a mental exercise of reminding myself of activities or events for that particular day....if this is Tuesday, after breakfast, pick up the recyclables in Hampton Square ; if its Wednesday, is this the Wednesday I print the semi-monthly news bulletin, The Pioneer, if it’s Thursday, I better get my butt in gear and get ready to deliver meals on wheels and print out a joke to read to the Thursday night Pinochle group.... Each new day is obviously different from any previous days, but there is a certain repetitive nature to them all. During the course of my unique journey from infancy to my now twilight years, I witnessed and/or experienced a plethora of events. In the preceding pages, I have written about a scant few of them and I know I have not even come close to covering many of the things that happened in my life. They are the result of thoughts that came into mind as I was writing and followed no specific pattern other than a rudimentary outline of the flow of my life.
