The Translators by Gord Rollo

by Gord Rollo

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEARMeet John Taylor, a man plagued by phantom voices – or translators, as he calls them – that have shared his head ever since he was abducted as a 10 year old boy. On that fateful day in 1986 John lost not only his father and his childhood innocence, but perhaps something even more important – his very soul. THE INVASION IS FINALLY COMINGMost people think John is crazy. He's not. The doctors think he's Schizophrenic. He's not. The government thinks he might just be humanity's last flicker of hope, but unfortunately he's not that either. What he is is something no one – including himself – could ever have imagined...

Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Gord Rollo was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, but now lives in Ontario, Canada. His short stories and novella-length work have appeared in many professional publications throughout the genre and his novels include: The Jigsaw Man, Crimson, Strange Magic, and Valley Of The Scarecrow. His work has been translated into several languages and his titles are currently being adapted for audiobooks.

Besides novels, Gord edited the acclaimed evolutionary horror anthology, Unnatural Selection: A Collection of Darwinian Nightmares. He also co-edited Dreaming of Angels, a horror/fantasy anthology created to increase awareness of Down's syndrome and raise money for research. He recently completed his newest horror/dark fantasy novel, entitled The Translators and can be reached at his website www.gordrollo.com

Reviews

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

When John Taylor was a boy, he and his father were out riding a motorcycle when they were abducted by aliens. John was returned with a fuzzy memory of what happened and strange voices in his head that tell him things. His father wasn't so lucky. He disappeared without a trace. Left to grow up without a father and the constant chatter inside his brain that the doctors think is schizophrenia, which John is able to keep at bay by taking psych meds. That is, except for once a month when he uses the voices to tell him the winning numbers at the roulette table in Atlantic City. He thinks that no one is the wiser until his wife is trying to get a promotion at the local radio station and uses John to come on and tell his story of the Translators in his head. Little did John know that the government has been watching him and his special abilities and now they need to cash in on his expertise to be able to translate any language through the voices in his head. You see, the end of the world is coming and it's not going to be from global warming, nuclear war, or genocide. It's going to be coming from outer space and the aliens that abducted John when he was little and the government needs his help. Will it be too late to save man kind?

The Translator is a unique Apocalyptic tale from Gord Rollo, the man that brought us the gems The Jigsaw Man and Valley of the Scarecrow. He uses his imaginative vision to carve out the approaching end of the world using everything from Area 51 and Roswell, NM to the Loch Ness Monster, Manchu Pichu, and his take on the Bible's Revelations. John is a three-dimensional character that you soon feel for and I love the take on the whole Area 51 and Mayan end of the world calendars. However, I wasn't crazy with the biblical battle at the end. It seemed a tad hokey and had the "what's the point?"factor going on. But, that's a small complaint for great characters and crisp writing. Rollo has been MIA the past couple of years and that's sad to see. He is definitely a talent that I have come to know and love and hope that he's able to get back into kicking out more works of his imagination on a more regular basis.

4 Horseman of the Apocolypse out of 5 (or was it 4?)


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https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com

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[Noigeloverlord · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of times done right. Gord Rollo's best book to date gives us a look at The Apocalypse like no others. Just when you think you know what's happening a better twist comes.

[Jeff Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble getting into this one. It's an interesting take on the end of the world, but I felt like melding religious imagery/figures with space ships was a bit awkward. The writing was a bit uneven and small editing errors were frequent. I could have done without the open-ended finale as well.

[Ursula Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I thought it would be.....but it was better than what I expected. That said, I have yet to read a Gord Rollo book that I don't like! This book resonates so accurarely true with what I expect is coming that it's frightening 🫣

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beta copy

The following synopsis, found on the opening pages of The Translators, sets the stage better than I ever could. "Most people think John is crazy. He's not. The doctors think he's schizophrenic. He's not. The government thinks he might be humanity's last flicker of hope. but unfortunately he's not that either. What he is is something no one - including himself - could ever have imagined..."

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Gord Rollo's new novel from publisher Enemy One and while I expected it to be good, I never thought it would be on par with a new thrill ride at some world class theme park. Wow! What a ride.

The story starts 17 hours before the end of the world and then rewinds a bit over 2 years to show us how we got there.

What we have here is a story of biblical proportion that takes us around the world, but keeps coming back to one man, John Taylor. A rather milquetoast individual, living with his fiance' Shelly and her son Robbie. John hears voices in his head, voices which, among other things, can instantly translate any language he hears, even though John has never studied any foreign language.

The Translators is easily the most original story I have read this year. To return to the thrill ride analogy, the story builds slowly, like the long climb to the top of an extremely tall wooden coaster and then you plummet over the edge going faster than you thought possible careening around hairpin turns and climbing hack up to the top to do it all over again. What a rush!

The journey takes us to Area 51 in Nevada, Roswell in New Mexico, Loch Ness in Scotland, Machu Picchu in Peru and to the ends of the Earth, but trust me, it's not what you think. Every time I wanted to take a break, I'd get to the end of a chapter only to plow ahead, eager to see where the author would take me next. I would love to see this one make it to the big screen someday.

One of my favorite books of 2013 will be released on September 20th and if you're up for a great story and plenty of action, I promise The Translators will not disappoint.

Highly recommended.

[A.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the apocalyptic story well enough, but there was a whole chapter with no POV character which was obviously author voice intrusion, so I won't give it five stars, but few tell a tale like this, so I'll give it four. No, scrap that, three. More British opinions. It's not baseball that's boring, it's soccer.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm rubbish at book reviews but this book is brilliant, really exciting with compelling characters..loved every second of it!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Read

Another great book from Gord Rollo. Very imaginative. A real page turner. I'm very thankful I discovered Gord Rollo. I've really enjoyed all his work so far.