‘Particle energy formats with a quantum root system, that bypasses time and space’
Florida author Kyle Keyes books combine tales of America’s past with today’s paranormal science, creating a new and unique genre that can only be described as historical science fiction. He offered substantive information about this book in his notes to the next installment QUANTUM ROOTS II – ‘Monkey see, monkey do. Headline grabbers are often followed by copycat artists, seeking attention in a world too busy to notice anything but crime. Olan Chapman put Hobbs Creek on the national map when the slender computer programmer reverted back to a former identity as Jesse Joe Jacks. Chapman used this alter ego to avenge the rape/murder of his childhood sister. Chapman then went over Niagara Falls in a small outboard and a rain of bullets. After which, copycat vigilantes sprang up in dark alleys from sea to shining sea. Noted psychologists of the day believed that Olan Chapman was a sign of the times. The message was clear. The commonwealth had lost faith in the system, and public sentiment was now ready for a vigilante.’
Stepping into this strange novel, suffused with sidebars of quantum mechanics, and in Kyle’s inimitable style, the story follows federal agents, Alexis Grumman and Jeremy Wade track down a current day vigilante, whose fingerprints match those of a Korean War veteran. Sample the opening moments of this story to appreciated the author’s writing style: ‘ “Olan Chapman!” cried wife Ivy, “Slow down!” “I’m not speeding,” replied her husband, "It’s this weather. Bad weather creates and illusion that telephone poles and other are flying by faster than they really are.” “Olan, that’s Bulls**t.” “Actually the objects are aren’t moving at all,” said Olan Chapman in slurred tongue, “It’s the car that’s moving.” “Thank you Albert Einstein.” Said Ivy Chapman. They fought verbally as they barreled through the driving snow, and weaved wildly between oncoming cars. A snowplow loomed form nowhere and the bony computer geek slid into the blurry shoulder to let the giant steel scraper pass by. Chapman cursed this early season storm and went on to say, “I really wasn’t ready to leave, Ivey…’ So much characterization is developed along with hints of phenomena to come provides a glimpse into the success of this novel.
The author’s provided Preface provides the scope of plot – ‘Jesse Joe Jacks was born sometime during the snow blizzard of 1923. The Lower Elk County, game warden died from a lightning strike on July 23, 1959, while wearing a sheriff's star. Olan Chapman came to life in August of 1974 and found a computer career with a center city, electronics firm. Chapman drinks heavy and is haunted by flashbacks of an older sister, lost to an unsolved case of gang rape and murder. Jacks loved nature and lived to protect wildlife. He stood tall and fought to uphold justice. Jacks was also a crack shot with a firearm - any firearm. Chapman attends the theatre, plays piano and at one time led a march against the National Rifle Association. Both men have the same fingerprints.
For those who hunger for science fiction/fact in a marriage that sheds life on the may we may all be viewing the universe, this is a fine if disturbing story. Here is a book that should join the list of new adventures in literature. Fascinating and instructive, the book is still highly entertaining.