Parallel - The Awakening (The raw, un-edited, original edition of the tale.)
Everyone knows how things work, the natural order of the world, right and wrong, good and evil, work hard play hard - everybody knows how that stuff works, don't they? Kenneth Robinson thought he knew all about those things too. He'd been around the block a couple of times, learned a few things and picked up the odd scrape here, the odd knock there. Using all of those hard-won life experiences, and with a lot of hard work, he has managed to start himself a nice little business down in the hell-hole that is Kandahar airfield. Life is looking rosy and it's all going to plan. That was until the storm arrived. Before long, Ken is going to change his mind, he's going to have to as the only other choice is insanity and Ken has never really been into wearing white jackets, especially if they don't have any arms. He is shown a version of reality, an awful mind-tearing truth. The journey of discovery takes him into the past, into the future, and into places he could never have imagined - from the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan, to far away places and unimaginable realities, Ken only has to do three things. Never give up, never stop believing, and above all - try not to go crazy.
I was born in Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) to English parents. I spent the majority of my early days at various boarding schools there, before returning to the UK in 1975. Since then I have lived in many different places throughout the world - at present I live in the sunny climes of southern Spain. My favourite passions are, amongst many others, writing and motorcycles, specifically racing motorcycles.
When I was young, I was brought up on books - there wasn't much TV in those days in Africa - and I still think about all the books I read back then. I loved reading, devouring everything I could get my hands on. I enjoy Stephen King's works, and the 'Dark Tower' series is probably my favourite read of all time. I was also an avid James Herbert fan. RIP, James, and thanks for the great stories - they were part of my life.
These days I seem to write more than I read, and if I'm not writing then I'm thinking about writing. I consider my life experience to be the source of my inspiration, my qualification, if you will, and I call upon all the ghosts of my yesterdays to help me when I write.
I'm an ex-military man, and whilst I served, and also since leaving the forces, I have had the opportunity to visit many amazing countries. I spent the majority of 2011 in Libya - it was a big year for the people of that country and I was fortunate enough to witness some major events unfolding whilst I was there. Being there when the rebels burst into Gadaffi's compound was quite something else...
The experiences I gained on that trip gave me the inspiration for Tears in Tripoli - A Jake Collins Novel.
The sequel to 'Tears' - Dangerous Games - is completed and but a few days away from release.
I have also written a trilogy called 'Hunters'. This is an action-packed thriller with a touch of the unworldly weaved into its page-turning plot.
If you do read one of my books then I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review so that others may see your thoughts.
Lo que nos cuenta. John McGuire ha sido secuestrado en Karachi por no seguir las normas de seguridad y está pasando muy malos momentos. Kenneth Robinson y su equipo consiguen rescatarle con alguna baja. Cuatro años después, en la base de aérea de Kandahar, Ken es testigo de un fenómeno atmosférico muy extraño y peligroso tras el que las cosas parecen haber cambiado aunque parezcan iguales. Recopilación en un único volumen de tres obras previas revisadas y corregidas que forman la trilogía Parallel (The Awakening, The Gift y Demon Hunters).
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Snuck up on me and shook me by the gentleman regions
This is not a book that I'd normally pick up, being in the genre that it is, but the author seemed a good bloke on twitter so I gave it a bash. Within 2 chapters, I hated the book. I was confused as to what was happening and felt no real interest in the subject matter, but as I said, I'm in unfamiliar country with this genre and something kept me reading, (namely the fact that this guy can write) and boy I'm glad that I did. Paul Rice brings humour, action, heart, pace and honest to God excitement to the reader with this novel. Paul describes scenes with no nonsense, succinct sentences, giving exactly what you need to paint an image of the scene, setting or character in your mind, and not a lick more. Paul makes the two main characters in this book, Mike and Ken (never thought I'd read a story with an awesome hero called Kenneth in it, don't they usually collect stamps or something those Kenneth-types?), real and vulnerable and the confusion they share about their predicament helped push me onwards.
The most visible villain of the piece, Red, is one nasty good ol' boy, who'd be just at home in the gator-filled swamps of wherever, picking his teeth with the rib of an unidentified animal while gloating about what deep sheet you were in. Loved this character. the fight scene with Red and Ken was fantastic and reminded me of the great sort of description you'd find in a Try Denning light sabre duel scene.
My only real beef with this book is that I wanted to know more about the characters, as not much of a backstory was supplied. Having said that, doing so may have affected the perfect pace of the book adversely. I'll look forward, hopefully to meeting these guys again in later books and finding out a bit more about them.
The ending of the book (which I won't spoil) was perfect, and as anyone who has read my own book will know is right up my street. Paul executes what could be a let down of an ending masterfully, and the tone is just perfect.
In lesser hands a book of this type in this genre would have lost me very quickly, not so with Paul Rice's wonderfully book.
This story is a fast moving, action packed adventure novel that takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through time and across parallel realms. Ken, the main character, who is an unassuming, but very skilled contractor in Afghanistan suddenly becomes embroiled in not only a fight for his life, but a fight to save the world. The story rolls along smoothly, the action is almost non stop and the characters are well developed. Recommended read!