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Four Corners
Martin Keuper must help his oldest friend, Kevin Chung, with the archeological find of the century. As they uncover layer upon layer they discover a conspiracy running through all of known time, one that still exists and endangers them in the present. Can they piece the clues together in time to save humanity? Can they deal with the immediate danger to themselves? How does one cope with an enemy that spans eons?
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About the author
Ian Welke
27 books82 followersIan Welke writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His short stories have appeared in KZine, spacewesterns.com, Arcane II, Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories, and the American Nightmare anthology among others. His first novel, The Whisperer in Dissonance, was published by Omnium Gatherum in 2014. End Times at Ridgemont High is his second novel and has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.
Before writing full time, Ian worked in the computer games industry. He was lucky enough to work at Blizzard Entertainment and at Runic Games. These days, when he’s not at his desk writing, Ian enjoys a variety of games. His favorites tend to be elaborate board games with many pieces and rules to confuse, though he’s happiest going mad with his characters in the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
Ian lived in Seattle for six years, enjoying the rain, but has returned home to Long Beach, California, where he schemes to find shelving to house all of the books he reads.
Before writing full time, Ian worked in the computer games industry. He was lucky enough to work at Blizzard Entertainment and at Runic Games. These days, when he’s not at his desk writing, Ian enjoys a variety of games. His favorites tend to be elaborate board games with many pieces and rules to confuse, though he’s happiest going mad with his characters in the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
Ian lived in Seattle for six years, enjoying the rain, but has returned home to Long Beach, California, where he schemes to find shelving to house all of the books he reads.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 12, 2019
Four Corners doesn’t waste time in getting started: Martin, a geologist, learns that his archaeologist friend Kevin has gone missing near an ancient site located near the Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah touch borders. This geographic crosshairs, as you can guess from the title, is the focal point of the story’s events. There’s shades of Lovecraft here in regards to an ancient, cosmic horror but this isn’t a Mythos story as far as I can tell. But what better place to tell one than this one?
Ian’s done a good job with his research; the Pueblo cultures, Hopi myths, and local geology are given their due here. The exposition is accessible and never gets technical. This information is doled out by characters telling what they know, rather than sharing the information with the reader in a block of lifeless text. I liked this approach, as it felt like these characters were telling a story within a story.
Hints are given that a great secret lies in the Four Corners, something that has been preserved in ancient myths, petroglyphs, and even legends of the Wild Bunch and hippie filmmakers from the 1960s. Kevin has uncovered this secret but has endangered himself—and perhaps the world—in doing so. With the aid of Kevin’s boyfriend and a handful of university students, Martin sets out to find him. In searching for Kevin, Martin encounters Mormon cultists who also want the region’s secret. Car chases and surreal encounters heighten the tension. Martin begins to question his sanity at times due to what he uncovers and the truth Kevin has been trying to tell him about. Eventually Martin and his friends utilize experimental technology to understand and interact with what they have found, something I found pleasantly different in a cosmic horror tale. This tech takes on a certain transhuman element later on, adding another layer of alienness to the novel.
I won’t give anything away, but the story was suspenseful enough that I found the ending a surprise. The pacing is good and the characters get little rest, which fits the situation. Plus it’s nice to have a novel set in this location, using this mythology, to tell a modern narrative that blurs the line between reality and hallucination.
Ian’s done a good job with his research; the Pueblo cultures, Hopi myths, and local geology are given their due here. The exposition is accessible and never gets technical. This information is doled out by characters telling what they know, rather than sharing the information with the reader in a block of lifeless text. I liked this approach, as it felt like these characters were telling a story within a story.
Hints are given that a great secret lies in the Four Corners, something that has been preserved in ancient myths, petroglyphs, and even legends of the Wild Bunch and hippie filmmakers from the 1960s. Kevin has uncovered this secret but has endangered himself—and perhaps the world—in doing so. With the aid of Kevin’s boyfriend and a handful of university students, Martin sets out to find him. In searching for Kevin, Martin encounters Mormon cultists who also want the region’s secret. Car chases and surreal encounters heighten the tension. Martin begins to question his sanity at times due to what he uncovers and the truth Kevin has been trying to tell him about. Eventually Martin and his friends utilize experimental technology to understand and interact with what they have found, something I found pleasantly different in a cosmic horror tale. This tech takes on a certain transhuman element later on, adding another layer of alienness to the novel.
I won’t give anything away, but the story was suspenseful enough that I found the ending a surprise. The pacing is good and the characters get little rest, which fits the situation. Plus it’s nice to have a novel set in this location, using this mythology, to tell a modern narrative that blurs the line between reality and hallucination.
January 27, 2019
This book has many elements I find irresistible in fiction -- it's set in the Four Corners area, it references Edward Abbey and John Wesley Powell, it mentions geology, and it includes Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and not one but two mysterious books. The author weaves all these things together into a thrilling fictional ride. And it's literally a ride; the point of view character, geology prof Martin Kueper, spends an awful lot of time driving from place to place in the region where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. Sometimes he's alone; in other scenes he's accompanied by archaeologist Kevin Chung and/or journalist Helen Ferraz and computer geek Abe Dixon. Abe is the black sheep of a family who belong to a local cult. These characters seem to have interesting backgrounds, but they're lost in the whirlwind plot. Martin himself is always exhausted yet sleepless, and seems to subsist on coffee, gallons of it.
Even though the book starts with an urgent summons by Kevin because he needs Martin's geological expertise to date an astonishing site, we don't get to see much of that site before being whisked to another site, and then another. Kevin disappears immediately after we meet him, and a good deal of the story is spent trying to track him down. There are intriguing references to past events in the canyons that have a bearing on the present, but there are no opportunities for anyone, including the reader, to think about them and develop explanations before rushing off to another spot. A nice eerie touch is having Martin hear Kevin's voice talking to him through the radio in his car. Quite a lot of the scenes take place in motel rooms and involve computers. Toward the end, technology, especially virtual reality, assumes paramount importance.
Don't get me wrong; Four Corners is packed with good stuff. For me, it didn't include enough about the locale and its unique elements, and the pace verged on chaotic. But it's definitely a fast read with plenty of thrills and momentous revelations.
Even though the book starts with an urgent summons by Kevin because he needs Martin's geological expertise to date an astonishing site, we don't get to see much of that site before being whisked to another site, and then another. Kevin disappears immediately after we meet him, and a good deal of the story is spent trying to track him down. There are intriguing references to past events in the canyons that have a bearing on the present, but there are no opportunities for anyone, including the reader, to think about them and develop explanations before rushing off to another spot. A nice eerie touch is having Martin hear Kevin's voice talking to him through the radio in his car. Quite a lot of the scenes take place in motel rooms and involve computers. Toward the end, technology, especially virtual reality, assumes paramount importance.
Don't get me wrong; Four Corners is packed with good stuff. For me, it didn't include enough about the locale and its unique elements, and the pace verged on chaotic. But it's definitely a fast read with plenty of thrills and momentous revelations.
August 31, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed Ian's setup for this story: a geologist pulled into a mystery surrounding unique paintings that do not fit within the established timeline of prior archaeological studies. Ian keeps the narrative on full throttle and does not let up, mixing in a full serving of tension delivered by the main protagonist who is in a constant state of exhaustion and sleep deprivation. The presence of the Southwestern sect provides Ian the venue to weave in the contemporary history of the area, for example, the Wild West, mining, and even filmmaking.
I will not provide spoilers, but I did find the ending diving into a head space that was challenging. I was reminded of the film Primer, which I also found difficult to follow. That aside, I enjoyed the ride that Four Corners provides and the cosmic elements horrifying.
I will not provide spoilers, but I did find the ending diving into a head space that was challenging. I was reminded of the film Primer, which I also found difficult to follow. That aside, I enjoyed the ride that Four Corners provides and the cosmic elements horrifying.
March 9, 2019
Ok. after reading all three of Ian Welke’s novels to date, I am most definitely a fan.
Four Corners (his latest as I review) is a cracking good read. Four Corners draws from Lovecraftian cosmic horror, archeology, anthropology, geology, physics, treasure hunting narratives, and history.
Arcane books and rituals, doppelgängers, multi dimensional physics, time travel, doomsday cults, monsters. Only a writer of Ian Welke’s talent and vision could weave such threads together to form such a coherent and intelligent slowburn thriller.
A ripping yarn with an ending that I never saw coming. Five stars.
Four Corners (his latest as I review) is a cracking good read. Four Corners draws from Lovecraftian cosmic horror, archeology, anthropology, geology, physics, treasure hunting narratives, and history.
Arcane books and rituals, doppelgängers, multi dimensional physics, time travel, doomsday cults, monsters. Only a writer of Ian Welke’s talent and vision could weave such threads together to form such a coherent and intelligent slowburn thriller.
A ripping yarn with an ending that I never saw coming. Five stars.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews