Imagine you are on Earth in present day. Doing your own thing, minding your own business. Suddenly sucked through a black hole 1500 years or so into the future and millions of light years from Earth. And then, you meet a stranger who suffered the same fate. And then, you find out you both are the key to the survival of millions in a galaxy where humans are the enemy of all other races.
Imagine you are on Earth in present day. Doing your own thing, minding your own business. Suddenly sucked through a black hole 1500 years or so into the future and millions of light years from Earth. And then, you meet a stranger who suffered the same fate. And then, you find out you both are the key to the survival of millions in a galaxy where humans are the enemy of all other races.
The tall man stood silent as a stone atop the small hill, with his head bowed and a very rare tear running down his cheek as he looked at the tombstone in front of him. It cast a long shadow on the grass in the early morning sun. ‘Shannon Wells, loving wife to Jake, sister of Bill, Steve & Mark, daughter of Marie and Tom. 1995-2021. Rest in peace,’ read the epitaph. He shook his head in disgust, and then sighed deeply.
“I failed you Shannon,” he whispered, and sighed again. Slowly, he raised his head, wiped away his single tear and looked around the large graveyard. Stones, mortuaries and mausoleums filled the scenery as far as he could see. The small hill he stood on sat in a corner of the graveyard, and he glanced briefly at many of the other stones and epitaphs nearby. Giant maple trees lined the roadway back to the front gate. The budding branches swayed violently in the early spring wind. A Robin sat on a nearby branch singing it’s song, as a squirrel ran past and up a nearby tree. For a moment Jake felt at peace, surrounded by the sounds of nature. He sighed again, remembering that day just a few months ago when she was taken from him. His faced hardened, and he whispered, “I’ll get them for this. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get them!” Jake took out his cell phone, held up it in front of the stone, lined it up, and took a picture of the epitaph.
Suddenly his serenity was broken by a voice behind him, from his car radio. He whirled and began hurrying back toward his black Mustang on the gravel road. As he jogged down the small hill, he heard the radio again. He got to his car a few seconds later and reached in through the window, grabbing his cb radio, and calling in.
“2516 here, say again.” The voice spoke back almost immediately.
“Detective Wells, dispatch here. I have an address on that name you gave me.”
“Go,” he replied, and hopped into his car. Writing down the address, he hung up his radio and turned the key in the ignition. The powerful engine roared to life and interrupted the serenity of the empty graveyard. Thin waves of smoke blew out of the dual exhaust, and he took one last look out his window towards her grave as he shifted to drive and hammered the accelerator, shooting up a trail of gravel from his tires all over the grass. “I’ll find him Shannon, I’ll find him!” he promised her as his car sped around the corner. Heading for the front gate, he slowed momentarily as a little old caretaker waved to him as he drove a little cart along the path towards the grave. He pointed in the back of the cart to a tombstone for Jake to read, and the big man scanned it, nodded his approval, and then sped off, under the archway that read, “Restful Gardens Cemetary and Moratorium.”
As he turned onto the road, his mind raced, remembering all the facts of this case. He had been tracking this gang for months, and much more diligently now since he believed they were responsible for Shannon’s death. It had become an obsession actually. He would bring them down, one at a time, until they were all either dead, or behind bars. “I prefer the former,” he said out loud, as if he was trying to justify it. This most recent lead was the address of one of the youngest gang members, and now he was headed in that direction.
He kept his window down as he sped along, enjoying the morning brisk wind on his face. His long black hair waved on his shoulders, and blended in with his black leather jacket. He focused his attention on the road ahead, as the shops and houses whizzed by, and he was determined only to reach the address as fast as possible. He weaved in and out of some early morning traffic, but had a pretty clear path as he turned here and there towards his destination. Reaching down to the seat beside him, he rifled through some loose papers, empty pizza boxes, food wrappers and file folders and found the paper with the address and read it again, 23 Sycamore. He scanned the next street sign as he approached it, saw it was the one he wanted and turned onto the street. He knew this part of town well and slowed his powerful car down and approached cautiously. This was not a good area, and there was no need to draw more attention than necessary. He remembered the lecture he had just received by his captain last week about calling for back up and how imperative it was, and he tried to count how many times he had had that lecture. He smiled to himself, realizing it was too many to remember.
There it was, 23. He stopped his car in front of a dilapidated house, with different colors of aluminum siding in a bad state of repair. He shut off the engine, reached inside his coat, took out his gun, checked his clip, and pushed it back into place. He stepped out and looked around, making sure no one was outside and had seen him. He started walking up the driveway, and noticed a beat up red car sitting there beside the house. It didn’t even look like it would run. All the curtains were closed and he saw no lights on. ‘Maybe they’re still sleeping,’ he thought. The brisk wind blew the branches of a small beech tree in the front yard. As he approached the stairs to the front door, he reached out to grab the rusted metal railing and it almost fell off in his hand. He let it go and proceeded up the four stairs to the front door. He opened the screen door with a loud squeak, and knocked hard on the inside door. BAM! BAM! BAM! No answer. He waited several seconds and tried to peer in through the small curtains covering a small window in the top of the door. Still no answer. BAM! BAM! BAM! again. If they were asleep, they were surely awake now. A minute passed and then he heard a door open inside the house and someone shuffling towards the door slowly. Through the curtains he saw the silhouette of a short, old woman, at least in her sixties, wearing a blue robe and her grey hair in curlers. She opened the curtain slowly, peered out at the chiseled face of a huge man on her doorstep and yelled through the door in a raspy voice,
“What do you want?” He tried to see past her but it was too dark inside. Quickly he flashed his badge through the window and said,
“Police Ma’am, open the door, I need to speak with you, it’s urgent.” The woman knew her rights, and was no stranger to police at her door, but something in this man’s eyes told her he was not leaving, and he was coming in, one way or another. Slowly, she unlatched the door and opened it slightly.
“What do you want?” she said quietly. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“Good for you,” he shot back. “Does Jimmy Spartan live here?”
“No, now go away,” she answered, and shut the door quickly. Before it could close fully it was stopped but Jake’s shoe, and he pushed it open with his hand.
“Listen Ma’am, I know Jimmy lives here and I need to speak with him.”
Just then he heard an engine sputter to life, and saw the red car in his peripheral vision zoom by. He whirled, and saw the car race out of the driveway and screech loudly as it turned onto the road and sped away East. He left the woman standing at the door, hurtled the railing in one leap, raced down the driveway, back to his car, and took off after the thug. “You think you’re getting away from me kid, think again!” he said to himself as he screeched his car around and raced after him. He flicked on his flashing lights to get anyone out of the way, and hammered the accelerator. The old, beat up car was no match for his souped up Mustang, and within seconds he was close behind it. He could see the driver well enough to recognize Jimmy and pulled up right behind, and waved Jimmy to pull over. The young adult was too busy bobbing and weaving frantically to notice. He was trying to stay ahead of the cop, and was desperate to get away. Jake took out his gun and put it in his left hand and stuck his arm out of the window, preparing to shoot a tire. Then he saw a young woman on the sidewalk walking her baby in a stroller, and some children playing outside in front of a nearby home. He was reminded that a car skidding out of control from a flat tire could be very dangerous to innocent bystanders. He knew that wasn’t an option until they were out of this residential area. So he continued to follow the car, and checked his ego long enough to realize now was a good time for back up to get this kid to pull over. He wanted to question him after all, not kill him. At least not yet.
Grabbing his radio, he spoke some instructions to the dispatch, gave his location and requested some backup to corner this kid. Within minutes there were three cruisers roaring along behind them, and he grabbed his radio again and instructed them to go ahead and block off certain streets to force this kid to go a certain route. He knew where he would make him go. The officers obeyed and raced ahead, blocking off intersections just in time as Jimmy tried to make a few turns and was unable to. There was one turn left, and Jake smiled as Jimmy took the bait and whirled around the corner. A minute or so later he whirled around another corner, and Jimmy suddenly screeched his car to a skidding halt when he saw it was a dead end. The road ended at a field across from which were some woods. As soon as his car stopped, he jumped out and raced across the field, heading for the woods, figuring he could lose the cop in there.
Screeching his own car to a stop just behind the boy’s, Jake lept out of his car and took off sprinting after the boy. He took out his gun, this time and fired a warning shot in the air with his right hand.
“Freeze Jimmy!” he yelled, but it had no effect. This young man was obviously not afraid enough of the police to stop, and the youth suddenly noticed a young girl playing with her cat in the backyard of a nearby house on the edge of the field. He drew a small gun out of his trousers and ran towards her. Jake saw her as well and yelled at the girl to run inside. She couldn’t have been more than ten years old and she stood stunned and didn’t react. Jake thought about shooting Jimmy at that moment but the young man was only a dozen or so yards from the girl and if Jake shot him he could endanger the girl’s life if Jimmy’s gun went off on the way down. He couldn’t risk it. Jake sprinted towards the girl as fast as he could. Jimmy got there first and grabbed the child around the neck and used her for a partial shield.
“I’ll kill her Pig! Drop your gun right now or I’ll kill her!” Jimmy started pulling her towards the woods, with his gun to her head. She was crying and calling for her Mother. ‘This situation just went from bad to worse,’ Jake thought. He replied,
“Ok, ok Jimmy relax. Don’t hurt her!” and Jake dropped his gun into the dewy grass. To the girl, he said, “It’s ok sweetheart, I’m a police officer and I will take care of you. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” But he knew his words sounded hollow and they had no effect on her as she just kept crying. Jimmy pointed the gun back and forth between Jake and the girl and dragged her to the woods with his arm around her neck. He stayed cautiously behind her with the big detective following as close as he could.
“You don’t want to do this Jimmy. I just want to talk to you, ask you some questions. You don’t want kidnapping or assault on your rap sheet. That’s a long prison sentence. Let her go, you’ve got the gun, let her go and we’ll talk.” And he kept inching his way closer to Jimmy, slowly but surely, as his training had taught him.
“Stop right there Pig!” Jimmy shouted back. “That’s far enough. One more step and she dies.” Jake knew he was serious. On Jimmy’s arm, just visible under the edge of his T shirt sleeve, he saw the tattoo of a knife crossed by a gun, and recognized the familiar sign of the Sons of Evil gang. Jimmy was sixteen years old, and already had seen and dished out more violence and suffering than most people encountered in their lifetime. Jimmy wiped his brow with his forearm. Jake saw the sweat dripping from his forehead and realized how nervous and scared the teen was. Jimmy was only wearing a T-shirt, a pair of track pants and running shoes and it was a cool morning with a brisk wind, so he should be cold if anything. ‘An advantage perhaps’, Jake thought, though he would not underestimate this youth, as he could not risk this little girl’s life. Finally, he spoke, raising his hands in the air.
“Ok, ok, I’m stopping Jimmy. I’ll stay here, let her go.” And with that Jake did stop and waited for the boy’s next move. Jimmy looked behind him and saw now he was only fifty feet from the woods and he did not want to have to drag a screaming and crying little brat around with him if he was going to escape. He hit her in the head with his gun and threw her to the ground. Jimmy pointed his gun at Jake and shot him directly in the chest, knocking the big man down, and then turned and dashed for the woods. Jake fell back with a thud on the morning grass and winced from the pain of the shot. It hurt more than it should have, and it took him a few seconds to get his strength back and stand up. He took off his leather jacket and quickly removed his bullet proof vest. He saw a hole in his shirt underneath but luckily the bullet just left a small bruise on his skin. The girl started crying again and Jake immediately forgot his own plight. He threw his vest down and ran to the girl, kneeling and gently examining her head. He saw a bump on the girl’s head but there was no blood and it didn’t look like serious damage, but he was no doctor. The girl’s mother was calling and he looked up to see a woman in her mid-thirties running towards them. She arrived, knelt and grabbed her daughter from Jake and hugged her and began crying herself.
“I’m a cop Ma’am, and I think she’ll be ok,” he said. Just then he turned as he heard sirens of his fellow officers who had been providing the roadblocks. As they jumped out and ran towards Jake, he pointed at them. “They’ll help you, I’ve gotta get that kid,” he told the woman. He raced back to grab his coat and gun from the from the moist grass, ignored his vest and shouted some instructions at the officers.
“This girl was hit in the head by the perp with his gun! Take care of her!” and he turned and raced into the woods, more determined than ever now to bring Jimmy in. Jake heard the officers call for an ambulance on their radios as they ran towards the woman and her daughter, and was relieved at least that he had called for backup this time.
Jimmy had a good head start now, as he raced through the woods, not really knowing where he was going, but there was a walking path that he ran down, every so often looking over his shoulder for the detective. His short brown hair was caked in sweat, as was his goti, and he was scared and tired, but he knew he had to get away, and could not stop running. Jake bolted into the woods just a minute behind and smiled slightly to himself at his foresight. He had brought Jimmy here on purpose, knowing that if he fled into these woods, Jake would catch him easily. The big man grew up not far from here and knew these woods extremely well, and guessed correctly at the path Jimmy ran down and chose another nearby and raced down it. He was covered by enough tree cover that Jimmy wouldn’t be able to see him, as the woods were very thick. He raced along, listening and looking ahead for a sign. Meanwhile, Jimmy had no idea what Jake was doing and kept looking behind him. And he wasn’t familiar with these surroundings so that made him nervous as well, and he stumbled on roots or uneven ground several times, and that allowed Jake to close the gap significantly.
Several minutes passed, and Jimmy was growing tired. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, trying to be quiet as he panted heavily. It actually turned out to be a good idea. As it was still early morning, the forest was pretty quiet and there were no other people around, just some birds singing in the trees. He heard running, or so he thought several yards back and a short way to his left. He thought it must be Jake, and he hid in a nearby bush, desperate to catch his breath and not be seen. He was right and several seconds later Jake emerged from another trail onto this one just a short way down the path. Jimmy was hoping the detective would be as tired as he was, but the big man was breathing normally, and didn’t look winded at all. Jake looked around and had his gun out and listened. He looked for footprints in the soft ground, and Jimmy couldn’t see him with the thick foliage of the bush he was hiding in, but figured by the sound it must be the cop and knew it would only be a matter of time before he was discovered. Behind him, he saw a small path through the bushes, and didn’t know where it went, but he figured it looked good, so he made his way quickly down the path, away from his pursuer. And he was right, as several seconds later, Jake found his footprints, saw where they ended, and guessed at his direction. He raced after the boy once again. The path was short and went up a small hill and onto a railroad track. The track was surrounded by bushes and turned abruptly away from the woods so Jimmy figured it would be a good place to hide. He ran onto the tracks and around the corner. Jake instinctively guessed right again, and raced up the hill and onto the tracks after him. Jimmy was only yards ahead around the corner and sprinted down the track. After a few more yards, the incline on the side of the tracks became very steep, and the bushes ended and the hill down below got much bigger, and he suddenly realized it was not a good area to be. He heard Jake behind him around the corner, and knew he couldn’t go back. And on either side of the track now it was at least a thirty foot drop to the ground below, almost straight down. Jumping was not a good idea. So he forged ahead, up the track, and hopefully soon would find a place to hide. Jake came barreling around the corner and Jimmy was only about fifty feet ahead of him. He pointed his gun and ordered, “Freeze Jimmy, it’s over, you’ve got nowhere to go! Drop your gun and put your hands on your head.” And he kept walking towards him as he spoke. Jimmy frantically spun around to face the detective, looked from side to side for an escape route but realized there wasn’t one. He held his gun at his side and didn’t dare raise it for fear of being shot. His mind raced with what to do, as surrender was not an option in his gang.
Matters suddenly got much worse, because Jimmy heard a train coming from up the track behind him. He whirled to see it speeding at him, and realized he had maybe ten seconds or so to get off the track before it was upon him. He looked at Jake, looked at the train, looked at the ground down the embankment, and decided to jump. Jake guessed at his decision and raced towards him hoping to catch him before he did. But it was too late. Jimmy launched himself off the track, into the air, and fell at least thirty feet onto the grass, and Jake heard at least one bone break as Jimmy hit the ground hard and cried out in pain. Suddenly he realized his own peril. He was in the same situation. The train was very close, and he had run up to Jimmy oblivious of his own safety, and now was facing the same decision – jump or get hit by the train. The train conductor blew his whistle loudly as he saw the man standing on the track a short way ahead. Jake knew he had no choice. He sheathed his gun and jumped just in time as the train whizzed past, and felt the rush of the breeze on his back as he fell. He saw Jimmy writhing in pain on the ground, and braced for his own impact, fully expecting a better landing. Just as he was about to hit the ground, in an instant there was a sheet of pure blackness below him, and he fell into it, and he didn’t hit the ground, and everything went black.
*TRIGGER WARNING. SENSITIVE CONTENT INCLUDED (SCHOOL SHOOTING)*
Jake Wells is in mourning and he's determined to catch the members of the gang he believes are responsible for his wife's murder. Using his standing as a detective, he's directed to the home of a 16 year old gang member; a thrilling car chase and race through the woods follow before everything for Jake goes black.
Paula Campbell only started her job four days ago, and is in the middle of teaching one of her science classes, when suddenly, there's an active shooting situation. She tries to make sure her class of students are huddled safely behind upturned desks when the shooter barges into her room. Thankfully, the police arrive before the shooter can hurt anyone, but the school governors still decide it's a better idea to close for the week. Still in shock, Paula heads home and later that evening is urged to go on a mini-break with her friends. While on the mini-break, her friends encourage Paula to take on a rope swing over a lake. It's high on a cliff, and despite her reservations, Paula decides to go for it. So, clad in a skimpy bikini, she leaps and then, everything goes black.
Confused? Good. So was I.
The two opening chapters of Galactic Adventures Series: Unexpected Heroes - Book One were clunky and without focus. There were times when I didn't quite know who's perspective I was reading from as it would change from sentence to sentence. It just didn't flow, and I found it becoming a chore to read. Which is a shame, because the synopsis had me intrigued and excited. Unfortunately, the writing didn't quite live up to my expectations. There were too many clichés; Jake - the 'big' detective, hell bent on justice for his murdered wife. Paula, the new school teacher thrown into an impossibly scary situation and regrets her choice to teach at an inner city school where, of course, there's an active shooter situation. Oh, not to forget, she's recently been wronged by a man who doesn't deserve her, so she's going to treat this mini-break with friends as a chance to introduce a New Improved Paula to the world, which involves wearing skimpy bikinis.
I may have rolled my eyes quite a lot.
So, although I'm sure someone, somewhere will love Brian Bowers' offering, I'm afraid this one was most definitely, not for me.
S. A.