Sedona: The Lost Vortex

by Mikel J. Wilson

5 out of 5 Stars! - Sacramento Book Review
"Wilson does an amazing job of entertaining the theme of science vs. religion, while at the same time, maintaining a suspense-filled, intriguing novel... Anyone who reads this book will undoubtedly be exuberant, anxiously awaiting Wilson's sequel with anticipation."

Gregor Buckingham, a young man scarred from a childhood fire, doesn't have much going for him, but now Sedona is calling to him. In the Northern Arizona town celebrated for mysterious energy vortexes, UFO sightings and other paranormal activity, Gregor will soon discover a lost ancient power, his first requited love and a mortal enemy he must fight to save them both.

Genres: Romance

424 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2011

About the author

Mikel J. Wilson is an award-winning mystery and science fiction author. Wilson draws on his Southern roots for the international bestselling Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee. The series adheres to a “no guns or knives policy" and includes Murder on the Lake of Fire, Death Opens a Window and A Light to Kill By.

Wilson is also the author of Sedona: The Lost Vortex, a contemporary science-fiction novel centered on the unique mythology of this mystical Northern Arizona town, known for energy vortexes and alien encounters. The novel celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a special new edition in 2021 and the promise of a sequel in 2023.

Reviews

[Casey Nakamura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent characters, excellent story line- real nice concept of religion VS science and very realistic info include on Sedona. this is a must read!!!!!

[Derrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear, this author is a master at developing characters that I really feel like I knew (I realize that sounds cliche, but it's true). The plot was like a slow burn that kept me trying to figure out where it was going (in a good way), and then when it caught fire, I kept hearing myself say, "Oh my god!" out loud. I actually called in sick to work one day so I could finish reading it! When is the next one coming out?

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. There are characters I loved, characters I loved to hate. You may try to guess what is going to happen in the story, but you won't. I laughed, cried, got angry, learned some things. It's one of those books that stay with you even after reading many others.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sci-fi/fantasy blast. Classic good vs evil, enough action and twists to keep me reading, and a few good laughs, as well. (not always sure those were intentional). It's a good read if you like new-age themes, can get lost in the story and go for the ride.

[Brooke Imrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It amazed and delighted me. The story and characters just left me wanting more each time I finished a chapter. I think this writer is so very talented and hope that there are more to come!

[Tim Strouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

New author Mikel Wilson is hot out of the gate with his first published novel Sedona the Lost Vortex like a prize winning filly. The story grabs your attention from the first page and you feel like you're living the story with the characters until the very end. Creating a science-fiction novel set in today's time and world makes the story extremely interesting and easy to read. Wilson's characters are so well established they come to life as you're reading along. The plot is original and fascinating. Wilson has created a world and story people will want more of in the coming years (I hear a trilogy is in the mix?). You will eventually want to see this visually as a movie or TV series. Thank you Mikel Wilson for writing a wonderful new sci-fi novel, I truly enjoyed reading it. You have my vote for sci-fi novelist rookie of the year. I wish your novel Sedona the Lost Vortex and your writing future great success.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet incredibly complex and mystical, this novel captured my attention from the very beginning. The struggle of science vs. religion was so beautifully encapsulated by vivid imagery and emotional energy. I am not a sci-fi fan, or I wasn't until I read this book, but it blends intense characters with eternal questions about life, love, spirituality and science into a story that any reader can enjoy, despite genre biases. It left me wanting more, which is good as I hear this story will continue for us to fall into once again. Mikel J. Wilson is a bright new light in our literary vortex.

[Fayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written with engaging characters, i look forward to reading more by this author. To be honest, I'm a little tired of the bad guy being the crazy Christian.The "religion is nuts" portions seemed a little hysterical, as though the author had a personal experience to work through. (as a religious person I wish the crazies would shut up and stop making me look bad!)

[LindaW]

While reading the rave reviews of this book on Amazon I noticed that the Kindle edition was available for $.99. Our library didn't have it, so got the Kindle edition. Just a few pages in at this point.

[Gary Boriero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by saying, I could not put this book down! Mikel Wilson is an incredibly talented writer. Not since I read the DaVinci Code have I been so gripped by a story. Each character is wholly develped and based soundly in the real world with typical to tragic stories that make them accesible and yes, believable. All are woven into the context of the story beautifully. I loved the way Christianity, spiritualism and metaphisics are contrasted into perhaps the idea that they are the same thing with the same God (maybe even an Alien) in differnt clothes and sets of rules. The idea of Aliens as the reason for our existence has always been a possibility in my opinion and the book just begins to open the door to this (which I hope plays out more in future books). Having a spiritual connection to both Sedona and the unknown wonders of the universe, the book instantly drew me in on several levels. Friendship, the goodness and evil of human nature sculpted by our upbringing, and the bonds of love that develop over a lifetime, even a few days, catapult the story forward on a quest to find meaning in it all. The story asks us to ponder what the unlimited power of God would bring to someone should it fall in their hands. What would it mean if we could save the ones we love from disease, injury and impending death with the touch of a hand and what if the power to do this falls into just anyone's hands? A religous zealot, a wayward lost soul looking for inner peace or a young misguided youth with sociopathic tendencies? The possibilities make for unlimited stories and a world that Mikel's vortex has just barely opened. Not only is this an outstanding novel, it would make a great movie. Hoping to see where this wonderful adventure will take us next!

[Doloras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start but picked up 1/2 way through with a great ending with a few twists. Glad I read it and would happily read a sequel.

[Penumbra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was given to me through the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics R2R group for an honest review, thank you.



When I saw the title of this book I was immediately interested in reading Sedona because I’ve been to Sedona and it’s beautiful. The other reason was the idea behind the story about paranormal activity and vortexes. So I was looking forward to reading this story. Sadly, I was very disappointed and could not get more than 100 pages through the book. I actually put it aside for a few days thinking that I just needed a breather from the author’s style of writing. I tried to read it again, but just couldn’t bear it. I usually type out my review notes as I read the book, so my reasons for not finishing the book are written below.

The one thing I liked about this book is that in describing Sedona, and my having been there, the author did a good job so that I could picture the places described very easily.

This book could have been cut by at least 100 pages. There’s too much unnecessary description that slows the pace of the book down and way too much preaching by the reverend August and his son, Mitchell. The sentences are long to the point of almost being run-ons if it weren’t for the commas. It tired me out reading so much filler that didn’t need to be there and I grew bored wanting to skim read the book to hurry past the overly descriptive scenes.

The first chapter, nineteen pages worth, was slow and boring. We are introduced to the characters in an unusual way. We are given very brief snippets of each character at a point in their life that doesn’t really make sense. Then we jump to the next character, same thing happens. Only at the end of the chapter are we shown that these people know each other.

The author switches povs at the drop of a hat. A conversation or scene with one or two characters will last anywhere from a couple paragraphs to a page or two, before abruptly jumping to another scene or character and then another and so on. The hop-scotching of the viewpoints breaks up the rhythm of the story and it’s difficult to get immersed in a scene. The only time the scenes last pages, are when the author has either the reverend August or his son Mitchell, preach on endlessly. They made the book tedious to read.

I always critique on formatting and it’s not good in this book. One character can appear in the same paragraph with another character following immediately after. The added problem is that the second character is in a completely different scene. So you have two different characters in two different scenes in the same paragraph. For example a scene at a campsite starts a paragraph but is immediately followed with a scene with the reverend August ending the same paragraph. This happened too many times to count throughout the book and made reading this story very confusing. Add on top of this the hop-scotching viewpoints I mentioned above, and the povs are an absolute mess.

The erratic pov changes and the formatting flaws are so obvious and sloppy they make Sedona a very confusing and unpleasant read, so much so that I couldn’t finish the book. These two flaws completely overshadow the plot, which is sad because the idea behind the plot is good. However, I read enough to know that I can say in all honesty I can’t give this book higher than 2 stars with the major flaws I found.

[Hazel *Craves the Angst Reviews* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sedona: The Lost Vortex is a science fiction romance written by Mikel J. Wilson. I read this as a R2R with Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Fanatics! As always, a special thank you to the mods and author for allowing me to participate.

The Review:
I had a hard time with this book. It took me twice as long to read it as it usually does with books of the same length. Im not sure why other then maybe I think the sheer volume of event happening warranted time to comprehend and absorb. But even though I had a hard time finishing this book, it didn’t distract from the read itself.

Story:
This well told and complex story had an intricately woven plot with intriguing ideas, theories and multifaceted characters to make one very compelling story with multiple elements of religion, science fact and fiction with a side of romance. There was everything from Sedona vortex history and legends to space aliens. It’s like the author took a bunch of sci-fi and human condition aspects and put them in one book. Every chapter led to a new adventure, a new scenario and never had a dull moment. And though there was so much happening and so many characters playing their parts, the author does an amazing job keeping the stories separate until the moment they need to connect.

Characters:
I really enjoyed the variety of characters presented in this read. I enjoyed Gregor, Travis and Cadence’s friendship but I have to admit as much as I liked Gregor and Travis, Cadence’s selfish and angered personality really grated on my nerves. My dislike for her started when she admitted she couldn’t like Gregor because of his scars, even though she was attracted to him before she saw the scars. And she wasn’t a good friend throughout the adventure they embarked on, weather it was not believing them when they told her something or lying to benefit her own needs.

I really liked the romance between Gregor and Iris. Their story was riveting and kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next.
Reverend August was the perfect villain. He was a pious tyrant bend on forcing his distorted religious beliefs of “kill them all” should they disagree with his fanatical views.

But…….
I loved the vernacular tone of the writing but at times it was sophisticated in the extreme. Though I’m not adverse to flowery descriptions, sometimes I felt like I was swirling around in a thesaurus.

The Wrap Up:
I liked this read. It was original and exciting. It seemed to have left off with a small cliffy so I’d be interested to know if there is a book two in the works. If so, I’d definitely be in line to see where the story goes.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very much looking forward to reading this book, both because of the descriptions I'd read and on-line recommendations based on other books I've liked that are judged to be similar. Also, I always like trying and supporting new authors. I'm afraid, however, that I ended up not liking this particular outing all that much. While the opening scenes introducing the main characters and some of their back-story were intriguing and showed promise, unfortunately, I ultimately found the characters to be mostly two-dimensional, largely unlikable and often portrayed in a way that made them seem either incredibly fickle, taking actions that seemed to go against both common sense and their characters as they had been previously established. I also found the vocabulary of the narrative and dialogue to be distractingly stilted and unnecessarily oblique. It often seemed as if the author were writing with a thesaurus at his elbow and the philosophy that an obscure synonym would somehow add gravitas to the narrative. Finally, while the physical descriptions were often quite vivid, they frequently seemed overly detailed - again, to the point of being distracting. In fact, it often felt as if I were reading stage direction, which I'm sure lent to the overall impression that this book was written specifically with the idea that it would become a movie. That impression was only enhanced by the ending, which screams: sequel. I honestly do not mean to be overly harsh. These are merely my impressions of this particular book. I also must readily admit that my assessment may well be colored by the fact that this author seems to have hit a number of my own particular "buttons" all in a single outing. Take it for what it's worth; your mileage may vary. I sincerely wish Mr. Wilson all the best i his future endeavors.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting mix of aliens, religion (and some pretty heavy anti-religion talks), and 'earth energy'. There were times when I lost the thread of the plot, but was usually able to pick it up pretty quickly.

I enjoyed most of the characters except for Cadence and Mitchell - they were both pretty horrible, and not even in a really interesting way. Mitchell was so preoccupied with what his father thought that he was completely unoriginal, even in the bounds of the story. Cadence spent the entire book looking for some way to save her life, or make her death worthy - which could have been interesting, but really just turned her into a liar, a cheat, and a fake. And the budding relationship between Gregor and Iris was adorable! Travis was also a fun character, and seemed like a really good person (without being a perfect person, because that would be boring) - someone I would be happy to be friends with.

I found the plot idea of an umbilical cord for the world to be an interesting one, and it certainly created a lot of conflict! I also found August Briar, our villain, to be perfectly evil, while still thinking he was doing the right thing like refusing to heal a child who was Jewish, and not Christian. August and Mitchell had some interesting conflict at one point, but, sadly, I felt like Mitchell freaked out about disagreeing with his father, and instead became his clone. Not so great.

The whole alien thing? Not sure I really get it. They seemed to be a late addition, and not really fleshed out.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It seemed a bit long to me, and the Bible quoting got a little heavy, but it worked.

[Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Sedona: The Lost Vortex

5 Stars

“Sedona: The Lost Vortex” is a long and complex novel, covering elements of paranormal, science fiction, quantum physics, astrophysics, dimensional travel and much more, while still remaining firmly grounded in the “human” range of romance, health, friendship, contempt for those “less than,” arrogance, egotism, and megalomania. Yes, I said it’s complex.

I almost cannot pull out any single thread from the book because all are so tautly intertwined. So I’ll attempt a short summary of the plot and then simply recommend that the reader try this out for herself or himself; I consider it well worth the reading.

Gregor, Cadence, and Travis are Los Angeles friends who take a vacation to Sedona, Arizona. Travis befriended Gregor in middle school, and Gregor met Cadence when she was a cancer patient at the hospital where he is a technician. They’ve just entered Sedona when they encounter Lily and Ivy, mother and daughter storekeepers of a “New Age” shop, and Mitchell Briar, fundamentalist evangelist and son of the extremely strict pastor of Sedona’s Christ Church, August Briar. Almost instantly the lives of these seven individuals become inextricably intertwined, in ways that bring both blessings, and serious danger. Author Mikel J. Wilson demonstrates a deep knowledge of psychology, of quantum and astro-physics, and of the differences between Old Testament stricture and New Testament “forgiveness” (a divergence some of his characters can’t comprehend).

[Valerie Mcqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of Sedona :The Lost Vortex
By Mikel J. Wilson

Rating 3***

This book was provided free by the author in exchange for honest literary review.

I received this book as part of a r2r through Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics. When I read the blurb I had high expectaions related to ghosts or alien or other great paranormal activity to be the focal point. There are many legends and stories which follow the Sedona area and I had hoped Gregor's journey eould in fact take me there. Unfortunately the never happened.
I found this work to be confusing and wordy. I waited and waited to be drawn in to the story but it just fell short. Several times I became actually distracted by the biblical verses. Also after a while it is hard to discern which point of view that you are reading. I felt like the author tried to use a lot of fillers instead of grabbing the story by the horns. I do give the three stars because I did find Gregor and Iris's love story cute and endearing. I restate this is simply my honest opinion

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so stupid I couldn't even finish it.