Book Jacket

 

rank 5445
word count 81476
date submitted 07.07.2011
date updated 17.02.2012
genres: Literary Fiction, Fantasy
classification: universal
complete

Another Christmas Tale - Maui to Phoenix and Beyond

G. Rodgers Brinner

A Maui artist on holiday in Phoenix faces his own demise when an old somnambulist unravels the mystery of his fiancée's disappearance.

 

Offbeat literary fiction/urban fantasy - ‘Christmas Tale’; the reality of illusions and dreams.

On Christmas day in nineteen sixty eight, the fiancée of Maui artist, Gille Barker, vanishes from her family's country estate. Though thoughts of her occasionally cross his mind, it's been years since Gille believed he would someday learn why, or even how, she disappeared that Christmas Eve. He certainly has no reason to suspect his holiday flight to Phoenix will lead to an old friend who has held the answer close for seventeen years.

And there is a new problem waiting for Gille in Phoenix this year. As his plane glides toward Sky Harbor Airport, he's on a collision course with police sergeant, Jake Wellaby, a chance encounter that will send Gille and his alien friend, Zargon Ron, time traveling by helicopter across the Phoenix night sky.

The novel is complete on authonomy.



 
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tags

aliens, art, crime, destiny, fantasy, fate, literary fiction, magical realism, maui, mystery, offbeat, phoenix, zargon

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3 comments

 

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klouholmes wrote 188 days ago

Hi G., I don't recall many stories set in Hawaii on Authonomy. You've established this setting so well and with the visual sights while giving the right tension to Gilles thoughts. The effect is that as an artist he uses the visual to escape his haunted feelings. Good balance that made me want to read on.
The narrator's intrusion during Jake's story came a little abruptly but it also created suspense and I'm wondering what you're going to do with that.
I like how this contains both a protagonist's loss plot, the sorrow well-handled, and a detective plot. Well-written and high stars - Katherine

silvachilla wrote 279 days ago

Hi Brinksie

I’ve never heard the term handsome used for a woman before...

‘I answered every [k]nock at my door expecting her to be there’....
‘I picked up the phone each first ring’ – this sentence jarred

One thing I am noticing, is that this is a very long prologue. It feels like it should have ended immediately after you start talking about Jodi but it appears to keep going for quite some time....

The background info on Ricardo, do we need this? I’m beginning to feel like the pace is slowing down after the work in about Jodi.

Although the prologue was a bit long for my tastes, your writing is very descriptive I found. It felt like I was in Hawaii, I could smell the sunbathers coconut oil. I like writing that can do that.

Bit confused with the beginning of Part 1. As you introduced Jake, I thought this chapter would be his POV, but then you slipped in ‘I, Gilles Barker’. So I don’t know who’s POV I’m reading from. A little further in, it becomes clear this is Gilles POV. I find myself wondering how this can be? The level of detail you’re going into seems to sit at odds with it coming from anyone other than Jake. 90% of this chapter seems to be about Jake – to me it would make a lot more sense to keep it in Jake’s POV and it actually seems to be written that way aside from where you make a point of it being Gilles.

I’ve come away from this feeling a little confused. I like the premise of the story and your writing, but the confusion over the POV has really stumped me. It also feels like a lot of info dumping with regards to Jake, and I’m wondering how much of it could be teased out over later chapters.

Five stars :)

Silva

zenup wrote 322 days ago

Very atmospheric. I have a feeling I've run into your Zargon before (the Einstein book?) In Ch 1 I don't understand that line 'I know who they are' and the title, IMO, conjures up images worlds away from Maui, but that's only one reader's reaction. Backed.

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