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The Light
One night, on their way home, three people have an encounter with a being of light in the cornfields of a rural town. It isn't over once they leave the cornfields. Things begin to happen. The three begin to unravel in different ways. One of the three begins to have prophetic dreams. In the dreams, someone (or some thing) tells him to go to specific places at specific times. He is curious but more than that, he is fearful. This is the story of what happens when the world shows you it's not what you thought it was.
179 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 20, 2017
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Francis Coco
4 books21 followersFrancis CoCo is the pen name for Penni Goode Evans. Penni Goode Evans is an artist and a writer originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 2002 she and her family moved to a small town in the Midwest, population 2,634 and while there she taught herself to paint. While she is back in the South now and appreciates it for the things the Midwest did not have, like pimento cheese and sweet tea, she does miss terribly those heavy snows and northern lights.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 27, 2017
After reading Cheeking My Meds and The Lady on the Rooftops by this same author, I did my utmost to connect for the simple reason that Francis Coco has the strongest literary voice I have come across in a long, long time. I would go so far as to say that the strength of her literary voice for me equals favorites discovered in the course of reviewing books put out by Virago, Faber & Faber and Farrar, and Straus & Giroux for newspapers in the Saudi press while I lived in Saudi Arabia (almost 20 years).
To find an independently published author with such clear, strong messages and such an individual (engaging & entertaining) manner of narrating her stories has marked a happy moment in my literary life. I find her diligence in believing in herself and putting out her amazing books remarkable and admirable, an inspiration to other committed writers. She stands as a symbol of meaning in this new age of independent publishing--proof that talent will not stay silent.
Having spoken with the author several times, I am aware that the story presented in this book is based on a real occurrence. Coco (her pen name--she is in real life also a painter named Penni Goode Evans whose work can be found at artpickle dot com) has done a fine job of fashioning three characters with their own fictitious backgrounds and grafting what happened to her own family onto them.
Therefore, this story falls under "true encounters with UFOs" although the author at no time in her story nor in her conversations with me has ever implied that she believes the light was an alien. The effect of the paranormal on human beings is strong, for when we get some sort of physical proof that there is a world of the unseen, it throws us, particularly as Western civilization takes the unseen so little into account on a day-to-day basis. I personally have no trouble at all believing in the author's encounter because of my own life in Saudi Arabia (Muslims believe in angels and jinn, the latter which may be good or evil, just like humans). I do not think I would want to experience what the character Max does, and what those with him also have the unnerving opportunities to experience.
Coco's voice is every bit as strong in The Light as it is in the stunning Cheeking My Meds or The Lady on the Rooftops (also based on real encounters), but I have given one star less than five in consideration of those readers who prefer a storyline (with events happening) to move them through the pages. The author does a lot of reflecting on past and on meaning--as any sane person would when faced with such encounters! She mentioned to me that someone called the ending "corny," but I did not find it so at all. I find her voice and her reasoning moves into the metaphysical effortlessly and she keeps the reader amused with the characters' prosaic responses to basically scary stuff (that really happened). All the reflections resonated with me. She shows how our life events take on meaning in evaluation and in reference to the other side.
The narrator of the book, Paige, begins by mid-book and increasingly towards the end, to reflect on the relevance of the light in her life as well as in the life of Angela and Max. Isn't that the way it should be?
To find an independently published author with such clear, strong messages and such an individual (engaging & entertaining) manner of narrating her stories has marked a happy moment in my literary life. I find her diligence in believing in herself and putting out her amazing books remarkable and admirable, an inspiration to other committed writers. She stands as a symbol of meaning in this new age of independent publishing--proof that talent will not stay silent.
Having spoken with the author several times, I am aware that the story presented in this book is based on a real occurrence. Coco (her pen name--she is in real life also a painter named Penni Goode Evans whose work can be found at artpickle dot com) has done a fine job of fashioning three characters with their own fictitious backgrounds and grafting what happened to her own family onto them.
Therefore, this story falls under "true encounters with UFOs" although the author at no time in her story nor in her conversations with me has ever implied that she believes the light was an alien. The effect of the paranormal on human beings is strong, for when we get some sort of physical proof that there is a world of the unseen, it throws us, particularly as Western civilization takes the unseen so little into account on a day-to-day basis. I personally have no trouble at all believing in the author's encounter because of my own life in Saudi Arabia (Muslims believe in angels and jinn, the latter which may be good or evil, just like humans). I do not think I would want to experience what the character Max does, and what those with him also have the unnerving opportunities to experience.
Coco's voice is every bit as strong in The Light as it is in the stunning Cheeking My Meds or The Lady on the Rooftops (also based on real encounters), but I have given one star less than five in consideration of those readers who prefer a storyline (with events happening) to move them through the pages. The author does a lot of reflecting on past and on meaning--as any sane person would when faced with such encounters! She mentioned to me that someone called the ending "corny," but I did not find it so at all. I find her voice and her reasoning moves into the metaphysical effortlessly and she keeps the reader amused with the characters' prosaic responses to basically scary stuff (that really happened). All the reflections resonated with me. She shows how our life events take on meaning in evaluation and in reference to the other side.
The narrator of the book, Paige, begins by mid-book and increasingly towards the end, to reflect on the relevance of the light in her life as well as in the life of Angela and Max. Isn't that the way it should be?
September 18, 2017
Liked this book though the ending wasn't what I had hoped for. I expected more of a scifi vibe being revealed.
February 25, 2018
This is the book that makes you question everything you thought you knew about the world.
Who are we? What are we? Why are we here? Is there an actual purpose of our existence?
While living in the small Minnesota town of Fallcrest, Paige wonders why she hasn’t moved back to her family after the death of her love. She has two good friends, a decent job, and an apartment all to herself. Just as there’s no real reason to stay, there’s no reason to move, either. She continues to live her day-to-day life. She continues to exist.
During a late-night adventure, the trio notice an oddity. A choice needs to be made. Should they give in to their curiosity or ignore it and continue with their lives none the wiser? As we are aware, human nature dictates the need to investigate the unknown. We need to find answers to questions that may, or may not, exist.
This curiosity leads the group down a spiritually challenging road. It was interesting to see how differently each person reacted to the same experience. People do tend to have different reactions and take-aways from the same events. But what caused such extreme variances to this oddity? Did it have to do with what was currently residing inside their soul?
I love books, like this one, which make a person stop and think. What is my take-away? Try to be the best person I can be. I don’t know what’s up ahead, but I’m not going to dwell on what-ifs or if-onlys.
Who are we? What are we? Why are we here? Is there an actual purpose of our existence?
While living in the small Minnesota town of Fallcrest, Paige wonders why she hasn’t moved back to her family after the death of her love. She has two good friends, a decent job, and an apartment all to herself. Just as there’s no real reason to stay, there’s no reason to move, either. She continues to live her day-to-day life. She continues to exist.
During a late-night adventure, the trio notice an oddity. A choice needs to be made. Should they give in to their curiosity or ignore it and continue with their lives none the wiser? As we are aware, human nature dictates the need to investigate the unknown. We need to find answers to questions that may, or may not, exist.
This curiosity leads the group down a spiritually challenging road. It was interesting to see how differently each person reacted to the same experience. People do tend to have different reactions and take-aways from the same events. But what caused such extreme variances to this oddity? Did it have to do with what was currently residing inside their soul?
I love books, like this one, which make a person stop and think. What is my take-away? Try to be the best person I can be. I don’t know what’s up ahead, but I’m not going to dwell on what-ifs or if-onlys.
September 12, 2017
Not a bad story. The ending was a bit corny.
October 9, 2020
This book strikes me as real because the paranormal never happens in a neatly tied up package. It happens like real life happens, and there will never be an ending that explains everything to everyone's satisfaction. I have friends who have experienced things almost as strange as this, but honestly, folks, everything about The Light rings paranormally true. Not for people with second sight who don't want that ability triggered.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews