Rodney Christian Power

The Final Interference

RodPower — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:34:00 +0000

Book three of the Saints and Demons trilogy

Saints and Demons

RodPower — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:36:25 +0000

Book two of the Saints and Demons trilogy

Shadow of Light

RodPower — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:39:45 +0000

SHADOW OF LIGHT—a spiritual thriller

VERNON, British Columbia, June 2011.

Harry Flynn’s face froze when the old lady slapped her cane down on the altar, hard. Before he or Brooks could move a muscle, she swept it across the marble surface in one swift motion, scattering the filled chalice and the ciborium with its sacred hosts across the sanctuary. Blood-red wine sloshed over the tiles while the communion wafers drifted down through the air like tiny wingless angels. (from page 11)

When a junior angel decides to move in with Brooklyn newspaper publisher Brooks Hennessey, his wife Rachael, his dog Reggie and Arcturus, his foul-mouthed parrot, strange things begin to happen. His impulsive decision to take over the body of 82-year-old Kathleen Kelly at the moment of her sudden passing is cause for heavenly concern.

Sarius just arrived, but he doesn’t have permission to be here. What can it mean?

Sarius begins his earthly tenure with a bang: by getting rid of the three hoodlums responsible for Mrs. Kelly’s death. Over the next two days a series of wonderfully quirky incidents result from this intimate relationship with the angel, and great fun is had by all—until a messenger appears at the Hennessey’s gate in the middle of the night.

Ever met God? Want to find out what heaven is like? Even wonder what they do up there all day?

Shadow of Light is filled with poignant episodes that are both heart-wrenching and funny at the same time, an amazing story that will challenge any notions you may have had about where science leaves off and miracles begin.

Ever wonder what it’s like to play golf with an angel?

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Shadow of Light is a heady mix of metaphysics and astrophysics, theology and quantum science, end-of-the-world apocalypse and madcap comic romance, all served up in a great bouillabaisse that is part thriller, part science fiction, part mystery, but mostly good old-fashioned story telling. Mr. Power is aptly named: he casts a potent spell from the first page, and doesn’t break it until well past the last one.

—MARK BUCHANAN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF YOUR GOD IF TOO SAFE, SPIRITUAL RHYTHM AND MANY OTHERS.

After reading Rodney Christian Power’s book, I recognised that he is not only a master story teller, but a gifted craftsman who intuitively knows how to entertain and hold the reader’s attention from beginning to end. What a great read from an imaginative, talented writer. Shadow of Light will make a great movie.

—SARAH NICHOLS, HOLLYWOOD SCREEN WRITER AND AUTHOR OF ONE STEP AT A TIME

Shadow of Light is a terrific story, one I will read again just for the joy of it.

—GORDON PINSENT, AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT

The work of an emerging master who is sure to be soon hailed by all readers, Shadow of Light is rich with insight, challenge and texture. A rewarding read, no matter your literary tastes.

—ROBERT MACDONALD, AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rodney Christian Power grew up in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, joined the Canadian Corps of Engineers at an early age and entered the military survey school in Ottawa. Upon returning to civilian life, he became a Professional Land Surveyor and established his consulting practice in Vernon, British Columbia. Years of international consulting saw Rod traverse much of the known (and parts of the unknown) world. Those exciting and sometimes dangerous experiences (as in minutes away from being lynched in Qum, Iran) prompted Rod to record numerous details about his encounters with the locals. See www.rodneychristianpower.com

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW SHADOW OF LIGHT CAME INTO BEING

The church that comes into play in Shadow of Light is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Brooklyn. One Sunday morning Rod happened to be passing through the downtown area and stopped to attend Mass. OLPH is an imposing structure, and five huge frescos high up behind the main altar made him feel just a touch uncomfortable with all those cold painted eyes bearing down on him.

One idea led to another, and over the course of the next few months, that initial thought worked its way into the beginning of the story that eventually became Shadow of Light. Rod was always fond of the notion that angels play a role in our lives; that, combined with his background in astronomy and a long-standing interest in quantum physics, added sufficient gist to the creative force that was driving Shadow, so when the time finally came for him to put all this down on paper, the whole story simply unfolded in one long beautiful sequence.

Rod was fortunate indeed to have one of Canada’s foremost astronomers review his original draft, and he is most grateful to Dr. Ken Tapping for taking such an interest and doing his very best to keep Rod on track. But, as indicted at the beginning of this story, science is science and miracles are miracles, and ne’er the twain shall meet.

Media contact: rcp2@shaw.ca

Website: www.rodneychristianpower.com

Publisher: Sheaf House Publishers, LLC Website: www.sheafhouse.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010938346

ISBN: 978-0-9824832-6-8

Format: electronic version. Print version due to be released September, 2011

Now available through Barnes & Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/shadow-of-light?store=ebook

Amazon Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-of-Light-ebook/dp/B0056HPKF2/ref=sr_1_50_title_1_ke?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309538526&sr=1-50

The Seventh Protocol

RodPower — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:55:41 +0000

Book one of the Saints and Demons trilogy.

The year is 1949. In a small central Newfoundland town, 12-year-old Michael Hanlon finds himself going head to head with a powerful adversary sent to execute Sister Catherine, a young Presentation Order nun unfortunate enough to witness a gruesome execution in New York City. Sister now teaches English at Michael’s school in Mount Peyton, but warriors from the Lower Kingdom soon track her down. When a pair of grisly murders suddenly places the boy in the unlikely role of Sister`s protector, he arranges a meeting between Sister and family friend Sgt Ben Pearson of the Newfoundland Rangers so the officer can learn firsthand what is really going on in the community.

The year is 2011. The forces of evil are but two generations removed from taking control of the earth—if all goes as planned. National Socialism has failed; Lenin’s communist program has failed, and now Radical Islam, Prince Lucifer’s third and most ambitious attempt at world domination, is in jeopardy because of a woman overhearing a secret incantation being used during the course of a bungled execution. Susan Bartlett must be eradicated before this information falls into the hands of Vatican experts who may be able to use the incantation to wreak havoc against the Lower Kingdom.

Dr Victor Romanos is a Church mediary, one of a handful of special envoys appointed to assist those under threat of demonic annihilation. He is instructed by the Vatican to interview a terrified young woman who has taken refuge in a mid-town Manhattan church. Upon his arrival, Victor is able to distinguish the shadows of two demons lurking outside. As Susan reveals the details of her encounter with the Underworld, he is amazed to learn that she actually overheard the demons communicate with one another—an unheard-of occurrence! He is convinced they are waiting around because Susan has learned something that may be a threat to them, which tells him they intend to kill her the moment she leaves the protection of the church. Victor quickly arranges for his heavenly liaison, Saint Sophia, to transport Susan to a far away time and place where she can live out her life in peace.

With demonic incidents steadily on the increase and the Church rapidly losing ground to the Lower Kingdom, the Vatican Curia is growing desperate. But then, a spectacular coup! Antonio Cardinal Bellini, Director of the Department of Scientific Investigation for the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, along with several members of his staff, manage to capture and hold a demon incarcerated in the lowest reaches of St Peter’s Basilica. Pope Benedict is appalled and wants nothing to do with this madness! But Bellini has a serious problem on his hands, as the cost of holding the demon captive is astronomical. Sooner or later, they will be forced to get rid of the creature, which could have disastrous ramifications. His senior scientist, Father Mario, has already tried using multiple versions of the incantation emailed to him by Victor to see how the demon reacts, but little progress has been made. Mario feels their only real chance of success is to bring Susan Bartlett to Rome and place her under hypnosis, where she will hopefully be able to reproduce the sounds made by the Manhattan demons during the course of their murderous activities. But Victor tells them the young woman has gone down a one-way street and will not be coming back. Then, when all seems lost, a hand reaches out from beyond the grave, and the Seventh Protocol comes onstage, which may provide Cardinal Bellini with the means to summon Susan Bartlett to Rome.

What Vatican officials do not yet know is that Prince Lucifer is fully aware of what is taking place, and will go all out to prevent the Upper Kingdom from squashing his third and perhaps final attempt at world domination. Lucifer orders one of his senior generals, Hadrian, to ignore all protocols and to execute Susan Bartlett and this interfering youngster at once!

At the heart of this (128,300 word) story is a forbidden love that continues to flourish as the action moves back and forth between both eras, finally culminating in a heart-wrenching denouement that will turn the whole concept of time inside out and leave the reader breathless.

The Exordium

RodPower — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:46:58 +0000

In the north east sector of the Yemen Arab Republic, American archaeologist Arnold Colwell is hard at work digging up the Queen of Sheba’s summer palace, when his students unearth a copper cylinder filled with forty sheets of parchment. During the course of translating the minute Jewish script, Colwell is at first puzzled by the writer’s reference to certain events that took place in seventh century Baghdad. But when the horrifying premise of the final ten pages sinks in, he contacts the U.S. Ambassador in Sana’a to request that he come to the site at once. Four days later, before the ambassador arrives, a team of Bedouin sweeps in from the north. Their leader, Sahallah, demands the scrolls. Knowing the danger they pose, Colwell refuses. Minutes later, fifty Yemenis and two of Colwell’s students are dead and mutilated.

Dr Sam Bloom and his ill-fated botany team arrive at the Marib site while the carnage is still in progress. One of his men is shot down while Bloom and his two remaining colleagues are taken prisoner with the others. Bloom, a former Navy pilot, has carried around some heavy mental baggage since Vietnam, and the sudden shock of witnessing so much bloodshed poses a very real danger. Over the next few days, in a dark dungeon in an unknown land, he becomes increasingly unstable, and only with the intimate help of brave and beautiful student Julie Newman is he able to keep it all together.

Across the ocean in Nairobi, Bloom’s friend Charlie Bannerman learns of Sam’s fate and leaves at once for Yemen, but arriving there, the former NYPD detective finds there is little he can do on his own. When field agent Nick Manzoni arrives to take command of the search, Bannerman decides to join forces with the CIA. At the Marib site they are met by Saudi and Yemeni officials who assume al-Qaeda is behind the slaughter, although they have no proof of this. A note pinned to the dead botanist warns that all Americans must leave the country within five days, or know the wrath of Allah.

One of few respected conservatives left in Iran, Ayatollah Hasam Shariyaat is under constant observation by the hierarchy. He has just been summoned to Mecca, where an urgent and dangerous mission awaits him. Forbidden to leave, he is forced to strike down the party’s number two man in order to escape the country.

Prince Khalid is the Head of Saudi State Security. He begs his uncle not to allow this Shariyaat to attend the annual Muslim conference in Mecca, but the King feels with Khomeini well out of the way, Iran is making a genuine attempt to rejoin the world. Khalid’s advice is ignored.

Now the stage is set, the players are in place, and the curtain rises…more bodies appear, Bloom’s life is constantly on the line, Manzoni and Bannerman grow desperate, the House of al-Saud comes under attack. The pace continues to escalate until it becomes clear that the entire world Islamic community is about to be ripped apart and then put back together again by the evil and mysterious Sahallah. One man can stop this madness, but Sam Bloom has his own devils to conquer before he can go after the real one.

Read the first 11 pages of The Exordium

The Golden Orchid

RodPower — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:45:29 +0000

NYPD detective Lieutenant Charlie Bannerman ignores specific orders to treat the recent spate of druggie deaths as accidental overdoses and enlists the aid of Columbia biology professor Gary Carswell to go over some DNA samples taken from the bodies. When his big Cray mainframe suggests the mysterious presence of a rare species of orchid, Carswell contacts Dr Sam Bloom, former Navy pilot in Viet Nam and now a leading expert on exotic Orchidaceae. Their combined research soon reveals the orchid to be native to the Island of Madagascar.

Police Commissioner Hennessey has just learned of possible Interpol complicity involving the movement of cocaine from Bolivia to Europe via Madagascar, then on to the U.S. The DEA has been monitoring one particular vessel, the Lucinda V, which just might fit this pattern. Hennessey calls Bannerman and other senior officials into his office to discuss what action the NYPD might take under the circumstances. The outcome is that Bannerman, together with Sam Bloom, will travel to Madagascar’s main port, Toamsina, to meet the Lucinda V when she docks in three day’s time.

After Swiss physician Dr Anna Grenier learns of the accidental death of her husband in Madagascar’s Tsingy Nature Reserve, she decides to conduct her own investigation into Lind’s death. In Madagascar’s capital, Tana, she runs into Sam and Charlie under dire circumstances, after which the three discover they have something in common and decide to join forces.

The prestigious Zurich International Association of Naturalists (ZIAN) is run by Dietrich Brower, who answers to a board of directors comprised of eight former generals in the German Wehrmacht These men are wealthy beyond reason, thanks to ZIAN’s secondary source of income—the heroin trade. But recent activity by the Columbia drug lords has put this lucrative enterprise at risk, and dramatic steps must now to be taken to protect their interests. Brower has just learned of disturbing events in Madagascar that prompts him to contact his friends at Interpol Paris to enlist the aid of agent René Simard, Anna Grenier’s cousin. Simard is instructed to travel to Madagascar and liaise with the covert ZIAN team working in Tsingy. His orders are to get rid of the three interlopers before their nosing around causes problems.

In Toamsina, part-time CIA helper Giles Lamont arranges for the two Americans to inspect the cargo intended for the Lucinda V, where they soon uncover evidence confirming ZIAN’s involvement in the movement of cocaine. The following morning, upon exiting the storage shed, their rental car is blown up and Lamont’s son killed. Later that evening, Sam and Charlie are set upon by two professional assassins and barely escape with their lives.

Anna is puzzled but delighted when her French cousin shows up at the Swiss forestry camp where her husband worked, but when Bloom and Bannerman arrive the following day, they quickly grow suspicious about Simard’s intentions. Meanwhile, Bloom falls in love with Anna Grenier and even confirmed bachelor Charlie Bannerman receives an offer he can’t refuse. The outcome of Bannerman’s status report to Commissioner Hennessey sees Charlie and Sam heading off to Zurich, where Bloom, himself a long-time member of ZIAN, pays a surprise visit to Dietrich Brower. As directed, they interact with the local police to begin looking into the probability of ZIAN’s shipping this deadly cocaine to the U.S. But what they discover on Christmas Eve while searching the basement of the old opera house used by ZIAN is not cocaine, but something that shocks the hell out of the two Americans.

The following day, as pieces of the puzzle fall into place, Sam and Charlie head back to the island where Giles Lamont has arranged for several of his old mercenary buddies to help penetrate the world’s most forbidding piece of real estate. Here, a final terrifying twist of fate not only puts everyone at risk, but reveals the true evil that lurks deep in the heart of Tsingy’s deadly limestone labyrinth.

Deadly Comes The Dawn

RodPower — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:43:33 +0000

November 1990: Somewhere in East Africa, hidden within the shadow cast by the unfolding Gulf crisis, an experiment of truly terrifying proportions is poised to begin its preliminary phase. Five men meet secretly in Geneva to make the final decision. The experiment is sanctioned. They name it Operation Dawn.

March 1991: A Red Cross nurse working in North Africa has not been heard from in months. Desperate, Jennifer McDougal’s parents ask her twin brother to go to Somalia and find out what is going on. But the country is presently in the midst of a brutal tribal war, and Andrew McDougal is soon caught up in a series of sadistic encounters. A registered conscientious objector, the American geologist is quickly forced to shed his pacifist veneer in order to survive the maelstrom of terror that takes over his life.

Elizabeth Worthington Kent (Maggie), veteran African war correspondent, helps McDougal out of a tight spot. The following day she takes him to the Las Dhure refugee camp, where his sister worked. Here, McDougal bears witness to the aftermath of a horrific massacre. But his sister’s body is nowhere to be found. When local warriors explain what happened, Maggie realizes there is more at stake then a senseless butchering of innocent refugees. She must now choose between helping McDougal follow his sister’s trail, or running away to safety. She makes the wrong decision.

Jamal Abu Hammel, eighteen years of age, has already killed seventeen men in battle. In setting out to avenge his father’s murder, the trail leads him to a vast estate outside Nairobi where he not only encounters the mastermind behind Operation Dawn, General Lucian Rochelle, but the monstrous Eled Adi Wau Shammar, known as the Beast! Even though revenge is denied him, Jamal feels compelled to remove Jennifer McDougal’s pitiful remains from the house, but in the final moments before her death, she makes a strange request of the youth. Returning the following evening, Jamal is surprised to find the dead woman’s identical twin waiting outside Rochelle’s gateway. Later, he follows the brother and his lady friend into town where he rescues the woman from Kurt Browdy, the same man who executed his father. The three take the South African mercenary to Jennifer’s grave where he is forced to tell them everything he knows about Operation Dawn.

Sgt Malcolm Ross, Royal Marines Third Airborne Regiment, is assigned by British Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya James Kilpatrick to keep McDougal and Maggie alive. But powerful forces arrayed against them make this an impossible task.

Operation Dawn. Thirty million people. Three brave men and one extraordinary woman. Can they stop the insanity?

Day of the Resurrection

RodPower — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:53:46 +0000

In the spring of 1988, during the final year of the Stroessner era, an old woman begs God to avenge her daughter’s murder by General Erwin von Hoth, commandant of Paraguay’s notorious La Colmena Centro de la Internación Nacional. That’s his day job. At night he takes on a more serious role: head of Stroessner’s Urban Guards–the dreaded pyragués!

American structural engineer Jon Granger has come to Paraguay to carry out emergency repair work on the new Itaipú dam. He is 36 years old, single, known to his friends as the Happy Cajun. His primary interests are music, women and the deep Catholic faith of his French ancestors, but there is also a darker side to his nature known only to family and close friends. His assignment complete, Granger returns to Asunción to catch his flight back to New Orleans. It is late evening when he strolls over to a nearby plaza to listen and then participate in a musical gathering. A mugging incident out on the street brings the proceeding to a halt. The intended victim is a prostitute. Despite dire warnings from his employer, Granger is unable to resist getting involved. Minutes later the American is whisked away by the prostitute in her tiny Fiat. He has just killed a man–who turns out to be a member of the secret police. Thus begins Granger’s descent into Hell.

Shortly after Jimmy Carter took office in 1977, he arranged for Julio Rafael to open a chapter of Amnesty International in Paraguay. The elderly attorney’s dream of bringing an end to government atrocities soon dissolves in the face of Alfredo Stroessner’s repressive tactics. Rafael is all but ready to call it quits when a miracle occurs–two, in fact.

Highly intelligent and articulate, 21-year-old Marianna von Hoth is well aware of her father’s loathsome reputation, and senses the time has come to distance herself from his heinous activities. Her painful decision becomes the catalyst that will lead to the demise of her entire family. In the midst of this shameful betrayal, Marianna finds herself caught up in a web of conspiracy where paranoia takes on a whole new meaning. She also meets and falls in love with a perfect stranger.

Chief of State Security Ramon Chavez is El Presidente’s friend and trusted advisor, a man so powerful that nothing of consequence takes place in Paraguay without the Undertaker’s personal stamp of approval. Chavez has a thorny issue to address: an oversupply of political prisoners. A brilliant strategist, he manages to devise a solution that will not only resolve this outstanding problem to Stroessner’s satisfaction, but at the same time allow him to accomplish his longtime goal of seducing Erwin von Hoth’s beautiful young wife. His obsession helps fuel the horrific dance of destiny and death that will trigger the downfall of his government.

This (114,500 word) story of betrayal and loyalty, of greed and sacrifice, of deep personal love and love of country, takes place within the framework of an Amnesty International investigation into the mysterious murder of a Mennonite youth up in the Chaco Boreal, Paraguay’s desolate wild west. Two interwoven subplots help heat the pace to a final denouement where powerful vengeance is unleashed against the leaders of South America’s most malevolent regime.