Highway to the Stars: The Beginning

by B.E. Wilson

John Kemp awoke that morning thinking that today would be just like any another day, he was wrong. It would turn out to be the worst day of his life. With a recession looming and the economy tanking, he and his team of automotive engineers would lose their jobs, their research and have their lives changed forever.Not wanting to give up on years of hard work, they devised a plan to keep their research and their dreams alive. Working for a solution to sustain diesel fuel for extreme mileage, they would call that solution, sustainability. While searching for sustainability, they discovered something that would change our world forever. Others would steal or kill to obtain this new technology. Running for their lives they continued to develop their technology, trying to learn its full capabilities and just what purpose it was to be used for. Treachery and deceit, even from the ones they loved. They found themselves fighting to achieve their dreams…the dreams of touching a star.Follow John Kemp and his unusual band of misfits, as they journey where others have only dreamt of going.

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2014

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I didn't finish the book. I got a little more than halfway through and got too pissed off that everyone gave this a 5-star rating. So, I skimmed. I didn't miss much.

I've got to hide the rest. If you want the whole story in an over-done, Hollywood style preview that ruins the whole of a bad movie, keep reading.

If not, ignore what I have to say and buy this book.



Highway to the Stars: The Beginning, is a sort-of sci-fi, quasi thriller, book that centers around main character John Kemp, and his fellow scientists/car mechanics/super-awesome hackers/spaceship builders/flaccid lovers. This includes his best friends, and indistinguishable characters, Bobby, Robert (yes, there are TWO Bobs in this group), Frank, some Asian dude who adds the suffix “san” at the end of every sentence, and other guys from the military, and -of course- eventually the President of the United States.

The book follows these guys as they race to discover sustainability before their former employer, the big bad evil corporation run by Alex Wright (who is always referred to in the book as Alex Wright. eg: Alex Wright grabbed the gun. Alex Wright called his mum. Alex Wright washed the dishes), is able to find out the secrets.

Despite the fact the book is meant to be sci-fi, and follows these supposedly brilliant minds, there is actually very little science in the book. Most of it is presented as grunt description, and we’re never really given insight into how things work. We’re just told they sort of do. It’s no more sci-fi than Captain America’s super soldier serum, or Wolverines Adamantium claws. Just accept the processes described worked because of the flashing lights, and don’t ask why or how.

One of the problems I have with the book is that the cast is far too large. Furthermore, not enough is given sensory or psychologically wise is distinguish the characters apart. They’re all smart, funny, joke around, down to business, and eventually get everything just right. Always. I think some of these characters could have been combined, and the story would flow a lot tighter. Many of them were just there to perform something minor for the plot-line. Frank and Robert could easily be combined, or disposed, and their actions granted to Bobby (or John himself...but he’s pretty much useless) and the story wouldn’t have missed a beat.

John Kemp isn’t really a captivating protagonist. Had the story been built more for the ensemble aspect, this could have been looked over, however the majority of the story follows John around. Dealing with his cheating wife (this is presented as a shocker, but the narrator tells you right at the beginning. It happens in chapter 2 or three. She’s banging the neighbor), impending divorce, he loses his job... blah, blah, this happens for about the first quarter of the novel. John is both the unsuspecting , nice guy who just gets pissed on, and the raging maniac who beats the shit out of people. John’s character arch is so bi-polar to start the story, that you end up just hating him instead of sympathizing. And boy, are we SUPPOSED to sympathize. The narrator takes a very un-subtle approach towards the story. The narrator has a clear opinion on things, and as such I found myself caring less about John because I had a voice telling me I should pity him. I don’t.

At first, John is presented as this nice dweeb who just sort of sucks at life, despite being very smart. He gets run over by everyone, and you’re left thinking he’s going to be the lovable loser who finally stands up to the mean jock in the end, and gets the girl. Except, the very next paragraph has him being cool and snarky towards his boss, contradicting the description two paragraphs before which tells us that John always acts like a pushover. Then, John gets home and finds..dun dun dun...his wife secreting juices as she's penetrated by the throbbing 8 inch member of his neighbor. This is supposed to shock us, despite the not so subtle hints the narrator tells us in the blurb and the first 5 paragraphs of the book. I could spend hours talking about John, and the way the book needlessly plods along about nothing for the first 1/4 of the novel, but I want to move on.

Except, I don't want to move on. I'm going to needlessly harp on John Kemp for a few more minutes, just like the book. The narrator says John is typical, and has a typical day (yes, the same word is used about 5 or 6 times in the first two pages). John is just your typical guy, because all typical guys are late to work, scatterbrained, rage-a-holics, push overs and are being cheated on by their wife. Very typical. I should go all Ray Rice on my wife now, because I'm a typical guy like John, so she must be porking the neighbor.

Here is a funny line from the book:

“John found himself standing in front of a framed picture from his wedding day. He stared at the picture, his face turning a bright crimson red, his anger boiling hotter, thinking about the Previous days vision of his wife with another man. He picked up the frame, gave it one last glance, and smashed it on the hardwood floor...”

A good sentence. Stop there. But the narrator can't. The narrative then continues: “...at his feet. The glass shattered in a thousand hateful pieces, the frame mangled from the impact.” Really, because where else would it be? You just said it was smashed on the hardwood floor. I'm glad you clarified at his feet, because I thought he was standing on his head. If you think I'm nitpicking, just wait.

Also, what is a hateful piece? Is that different or more miniscule than simply shattering it?
The next paragraph continues the same way as the previous “John found himself...” Run out of interesting things to say? John finds himself a lot. He must be Buddhist.

Getting on with it...

The story doesn’t actually start until much later. You begin to get sprinklings of the plot in about chapter 8 or something like it, when John and his friends decide to secretly work on the secrets of sustainability, despite the fact they have no equipment, notes, and signed a no compete clause. However, have no fear, Frank or Robert or some inconsequential character knows how to hack computers (of course he does) and has sticky fingers. Frobert, I’ll call him, steals three samples of sustainability (I still don’t know what they’re on about with this sustainability), from the company because he’s a cool dude and knows he’s getting fired. Then, Frobert hatches a plan with some guys in security to hack his old bosses computer to get these pictures of him "fucking" (as the book puts it) the secretary. Voila, they now have equipment.

Then, Frobert’s wife is super rich, and can bank roll the project, but they have to wait 6 months until the funds hit the bank, and then they buy a shitty house in the middle of no-where, instead of some place in town...then Froberts wife leaves him...ugh, you get the point.

The book has a seriously hard time with “focusing the camera” so to speak on the correct things. Far too much time lingers on John and his woes. Far too little time is focused on the correct things, like wtf is this sustainability crap? Somehow, focusing a laser on a diamond with a water drip creates this ultimate propulsion system. Screw you OPEC!!!

Then, the story starts to span a long time period. You get through John’s whole divorce (because nothing could be more interesting), they meet some Japanese dudes, entire scenes from the 1986 movie “Gung Ho” are recreated, then suddenly John and Bobby know how to fly a space ship...and Frobert, of course, knows how to hack Air Force Satellites... these guys should just work for Russia or some shit.

(Gung Ho is an 80's movie staring Michael Keaton. It's about a failing car plant that gets purchased by crazy Japanese people. If you've seen the movie, and read the book, you'll understand the irony).

As if all this wasn’t enough, you have Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright. The dude is supposed to be some Lex Luthor badass, but is really just a moron, but so are our heroes.

Here's the gist:

Alex Wright wants to control the secret to sustainability. He owns the company John and the like work for. However, for some reason we’re never given, he fires the ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN UNCOVER THIS SECRET, and moves the project hundreds of miles away, and then puts this idiot in charge to run the thing. After we’re given the 10 chapter drubbing of John getting in cars, waking up drunk, living in squalor as every stereotypical bad thing happens to him (he's typical, remember), we’re introduce to Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright. We’re wandering down the halls with Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright as he hollers every cliched 80’s mob threat at the moron he put in charge of the sustainability project. Of course, this guy doesn’t know anything, so the hunt is on for John and his friends as they uncover the secrets to getting a diamond to fart fire by sprinkling water on it.

It’s at this point that I go “Why the heck didn’t Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright just keep John and the crew hired? I mean, they’re his best bet at finding the secrets. They had no motivation to NOT work for him until after they’re inexplicably fired. Just pay these guys a bunch of money, and they’ll work for you, happy as clams, and you’ll get your fire shitting diamonds. Damn, your problem is solved. But no, Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright wants to metaphorically twist his mustache and tie the girl to the train tracks.”

But, I digress...

Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright is a clichéd, and tired, villain. He shows up at the end with a gun, and takes the women and children hostage. Frobert, of course, plays it super cool while Bobby and John are flying their spaceship around the earth at 60 thousand miles an hour. Yes, they built a freaking spaceship and can fly it...at 60 thousand miles an hour. But don’t focus on that, Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright has a gun and just shot Frobert in the leg and chest. But, of course, no one dies because they’re all too cool, and the Air Force or some shit shows up and kills Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright with an anti-climactic shot to the head.

Right about now, you may be wondering why I gave this book 1 stars. Well, I felt obligated to be the beacon of truth with all these false 5-star reviews that duped me into reading it. The author must have found 20 friends to come on here and give him a false rating. However, the joke is on him. After a while, people will catch on and just ridicule you. That hurts the author way more, deep down, than having a friend just say "hey, it's not ready."

H2TS is an incredibly boring novel that could be so much more. If it didn’t take itself too seriously, I could see how this could become a real fun book. The author had a fun journey in mind, and he built one. He just layered it with boring crap, and shit that takes us on wild, meaningless tangents. I think if Alex Mother TRUCKING Wright was cut from the story, and the whole wife cheating on him cliché was removed, or given less screen time, this book could be entertaining. It had some good descriptions, interesting concepts, but it just got lost along the way. The author seemed to have a bunch of people pat him on the back and tell him how good it was, when really he needed someone to take a red pen after it.

H2TS gets 1 stars and one diamond fire turd.

P.S. Why the heck does every chapter seem to pick up EXACTLY where the previous one left off?

[Mike Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

B.E. Wilson was not an author I was familiar with. Who is this guy? I wondered. But the concept sounded interesting. A new clean energy technology discovered in a garage by a bunch of engineers. It turns out the story in "Highway to the Stars: The Beginning" is way better than that. The chief protagonist is John Kemp, a auto company engineer who heads up a team trying to get sustainability from diesel fuel. I'm not exactly certain why they were pursuing the challenge other than to potentially boost fuel economy. But that's made quickly irrelevant by the quickly unfolding yarn. Kemp and his team are fired. It's an immediate dismissal. I can totally relate. The only one kept on is the young guy who is a schmuck and doesn't know anything. Again, I can relate. The young guy takes over the project. Kemp goes home in a fugue state, sort of, and finds his wife boffing the next-door neighbor. He punches the guy. His wife dumps him and he's stuck without a home. Kemp gets back with his former co-workers and they proceed to get drunk. The crew is made up of a bunch of characters, who Larson writes with good dimension and personality. Still, they're a bit Stooge-like. I really liked them and their banter. Larson is an excellent dialogue writer. Much of the story is told through conversation. And he moves it along. He injects substantial action and suspense. He introduces some random characters throughout that make it even more interesting. And the technological angle and how the heroes of the book deal with it are superb. One thing to note: The editing is not the best. He's got some serious issues with punctuation. But I just read over that. Quickly. As a former newspaper editor, they didn't bother me. It's not like Larson left any holes in his story. I recommend this and am looking forward to the sequel.

[L. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Paper thin, sitcom quality characters. Repeated ellipses abuse (one of many Crimes Against Grammar to be found in this book.) And the cardinal sin of all - boring.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story with lots of thrilling moments. I didn't know what to expect to happen next. It's one of those books that you can't put down once you start reading.

[Nathan Wall · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I would Like to point out that I received this book as part of a read-and-review swap. (edit: see bottom for details).

I want to start with some of the negatives. Highway to the Stars covers a pretty decent span of time, however that doesn't mean it always moves quickly. The beginning of the novel is pretty slow. You spend too much time following John Kemp (the protagonist) and his many MANY woes. It got to where I wanted to tell the narrator that I get the point, his life sucks, please move on with the story. Once the book finally gets on with the story, it moves pretty quickly.

Another thing that I found odd was that just about every chapter picked up where the last one left off. For instance, chapter 5 may end with the characters deciding to go some place and getting in a car. Chapter 6 would be the car ride over there, and chapter 7 would be them arriving. Sure, there might be an interesting tidbit in each chapter, but not enough to make every single one of them worth keeping in. To me, it just took away word count that could have gone towards more interesting stuff.

Right about now, you may be wondering why I gave this book 2 stars. The book is not without its merits. First off, it had some good descriptions. When John first gets the sustainability to "sort-of" work, the explosion is well done. When he figures out how to control the flames, the description of the fire shooting out was pretty cool. Visually, the details were worked out. When the bad guys are after them on a high speed chase, I could feel their car spinning out.

One of the key relationships in the book was between John and Bobby. I was left feeling that they actually cared for each other. Also, I have to admit I was mildly entertained when the space ship was reentering earth’s atmosphere. I was glued to the pages, though you know they're going to make it out alive because, well, they're the main characters, and the title says this is "The Beginning," so you're not going to kill John Kemp.

As with any novel, there was good and bad. I wish the editor would have helped the author focus the main crux of the story a little bit more. Also, I think this would be better described as an adventure-thrillerish novel instead of sci-fi. Readers looking for a relaxing, simple good time will be pleased with this novel. Readers looking for a hard core, sci-fi flick with dubious turns, will be disappointed.

Highway to the Stars gets 2 stars.

Edit contd: I agreed to a review swap. After posting my review, which wasn't a glowing 5 star recommendation, but clearly not a bashing of the book, Robin (who claims to be the author's biggest fan, but has all sorts of executive power to give away free copies and act on the author's behalf) asked why the review wasn't better. I simply stated it wasn't my cup of joe, that it had some errors, but other people may enjoy it. She then trashed my book, wrote a review imploring people to not buy my book, and then she and the author both contacted me stating we can delete the reviews and walk away. This was a shake down. I don't care if she rated my book a 1-star. The other reviews from independent blogs speak for my book.

If you read this book and have one of your own, be fully prepared for swift backlash and a shakedown. If you're an independent reviewer, prepare for a lively debate, or comments/reviews that directly call you out.

I remain firm that Highway was an ok book that could have been better. Some concepts were crazy, others were too tame. You may or may not like it. Most independents don't. Then again, that's their opinion.

[Thomas Everson]

John, Rob, Bobby, and Frank are automotive engineers working on a way to chemically alter diesel fuel for better miles per gallon. Or rather they were until they were fired under the premise that their department no longer had the funding. Their livelihood and research for a decade had just been ripped from them and their lives flushed down the toilet. Upon arriving home to tell his wife, John finds his wife in the arms of another man.

With his life upheaved completely, John slips into a depression, only to be brought out of it when his friends find a way to continue their research. They obtain materials from their old job by devious means, and through an accident discover something much more than they had been shooting for. Something to revolutionize more than just driving. When their former employer learns about their creation, they seek it with extreme measures.


This book has a bit of everything to it, good, bad, and ugly.

The good - It was addicting:
•I really liked the image used on the cover. It's simple, but eye-catching. I couldn't put this book down. I started reading it on Monday the 29th and finished on Wednesday the 31st. It's not complicated, and mostly easy to read.
•It was generally entertaining, and I found myself eager to find out what was going to happen. I rooted for the main characters when they made advances, and cringed when the villains interjected themselves.
•The story concluded in a manner that I found gave just enough closure, but being the first of a series keeps that opening for the next.

The bad - It could use another round of editing:
•There are a number of awkward sentences that were meant one way, but read completely different due to wording and/or lack of punctuation.
•There's mild overuse of information and words within short spans of time.
•The narration also takes a few odd turns that really snapped me as the reader from the story to ask "why was that in there?".
•The cast was way too large. Too many characters were introduced to conceivably keep up with.

The ugly - I asked myself out loud "really?":
•There are many clichés used in the book, and it makes for a few flimsy scenarios and shallow characters. I won't go into detail, but if you have an eye for these things you'll see them. If you don't, then you won't have to worry about this.

My conclusion is that this book is a fun light read if you don't take it too seriously. Though it comes off as sci-fi, there's really not a whole lot of science, so don't worry about the technical side of it.

[Kardinalratz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately i have to give this book 2 stars. The 5 star system has a very unstatisfactory fine control for ratings.
My reasons have to be a bit vague because i want to avoid spoilers.

Reasons:

- No one would blink if this bad guy was the villain in a kids cartoon. In a serious book however this bad guy is a bad joke (he is like a male adult version of Cruella de Vil..)

- A probably minor point for most people is the science behind this discovery, unfortunately it seems the science was also a minor point for the author. THe Book should be in the science fiction category.
I understand that no science in such a book is proven or necessarily even realistic but the Author didn't even try here (can't say more without spoilers)

- A very strange and completly unnecessary stab at transgender people, why is this even in the book? An author should not include his personal politics in his books.

- "Treachery and deceit, even from the ones they loved." The Author spoilers his own book with this sentence in the blurb. He even repeats it in the book, the placement of which is so bad that everyone instantly knows which person is the "bad apple".

Even with all this stuff its a decent book to read, i could give it 3-4 stars with a clean conscience. But there is one more reason i can't:

- This is the worst ending i have read in a very long time. The persons (and agencys) appearing in the ending are so utterly out of character that the whole book takes a dive into the bizarre. Even Disney could not have written a cheesier ending.

[Dwayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST READ

What do you get when you take an unemployed engineer, a shady mysterious financial backer nicknamed "The Dragon," some illegally acquired cash and an accidental discovery in a garage? The makings of a kick ass novel that's what! B.E. Wilson started his novel with his protagonist having possibly the worst day of his life. It starts by him losing his engineering job, followed quickly by his wife packing up his whole house (except for his bed,) and leaving him a note saying she wants a divorce. in an effort to pick himself up, he continues his research on a project he was working on at former employer, and the discovery he makes is nothing short of revolutionary. Financed by stolen money by a possible member of the Yakuza nicknamed "The Dragon," our protagonist going on a wild ride which takes him all over the country. Will our hero survive to see his discovery come to light? Will the stolen money's former owners come back to claim their cash? Will we truly find out The Dragon's true intent? I guess you will just have to read the novel and wait for the second installment. B.E. Wilson knocked the cover off the ball on this one! This is truly a must read!

[Leigh Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly recommend!

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highway to the Stars by B.E. Wilson is the story of a group of guys that work together trying to develop alternative fuels that will yield much higher mpg's than conventional gasoline. When layed off by their employer, the team decides to continue their research on their own. During a testing mishap they turn a potentially disastrous error into the discovery of a life time.
Many times I am reading multiple books at the same time, switching back and forth as my interests seek different stories. It just so happens that I started reading Highway to the Stars as I was also reading another book that turned out to be similar enough to mention in this review. Saucer by Stephen Coonts was my other read.

Now, usually I reserve my book review blog for featuring the works of indie authors or small publishing companies. However, I enjoyed both of the stories so much and found them both to be similar without being the same, that I thought that I would make an exception here.
The great group of guys in Highway to the Stars harness their new found technology and develop various crafts to be powered by said alternative fuel source. Eventually, as the title suggests, they even design and build their own spacecraft.
This is where the two stories become very much alike. Saucer and Highway to the Stars both feature a sought after piece of technology that both world governments and criminal businessmen are willing to go to great lengths to acquire. This delves our heroes into a race that puts them out of their depths and demands that they find the courage and resolve to rise up to their calling.
If at all possible, I would recommend to my readers that you read these two books as a 'double feature'. You will see for yourself how two very different authors have both devised action packed books with great characters, while spinning similar tales, yet different enough to not be the same story.

[Ed Tinkertoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read through this book very quickly as it was an easy read. It is a nice story but has very little science fiction in it and the story line has a lot of holes. As the story goes, four guys who were fired from their jobs as engineers decide to undertake with their own money the project that they were working on while with the company that fired them. One of the problems that I had with the story was they did not document any of their work like I believe real engineers doing research work would do. And the second problem I had was that after they made their discovery they made no effort to patent it to protect it from otehrs. They just went ahead to the next step without trying at all to protect what they had already accomplished. In addition, I could understand their former boss wanted to get at the technology that they had developed. But It did not seem real to me that the former boss would go to the extremes that he did, hiring thugs to track down the engineers and kill them to steal the technology. And finally, I did not feel that a former Ninja hit man would suddenly change his mind on his mission and join with the engineers.

So of you can believe all of that was real life you will be mostly fine with the story line, but maybe not with the science in the story. At the end of the book there is mention of a follow up book. That may be interesting but I am not sure that I would read it.

[Aaron Jackowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very good story, though not truly sci-fi. The storyline is both plausible and outlandish. I found it very entertaining and read the book in just a couple of days.

[Robert Burford · Rating 4 out of 5]

very very good book hoping for a sequel