Freakish Friday

Good Evening, Fellow Book Dragons and welcome to Freakish Friday, the start of our weekend. It feels like Autumn, finally. Summer has loosened her strangle hold and Autumn has cooled it down to a lovely 53 degrees with gentle breezes. Time for something freakish to go with this mug of spiced tea. And this Gem fits that description perfectly. This Gem cannot be touched. When I found it, it was in an abandoned lab. I was quite careful to turn my scales to the armored plate. The Gem was in a box of some rather thick, clear material, the Skull and Crossbones on the lid quite prominent and it lit up when I touched it with my claw, though it was unnecessary. The TOP SECRET above the pirate-y icon glowed a fiery orange-red. The Gem itself looks like a bit of brimstone with what appear to be ice blue worms shooting in and out and crawling on the surface. They glow against the pulsing orange-red as if to say, “Open At Your Own Risk. Open And DIE”. Needless to say, it sits here on my desk, unopened. And as soon as we are done talking about it, I shall put this one in the lead line Treasure Chest along with the other Freakish Gems that seem too dangerous to have found, such as that one from Mordor, and the one I found in the ruins on the Usher Estate.

It’s maker, Michael Laurence had made this Gem in that nasty, secret lab by culling a series of essences and chemicals from the nastiest of sources: Nazi’s, Drug Dealers, Coyotes (those who deal in Human Lives), the Deep State and the Man with the Aquamarine Eyes.

I loved this Tale, feasting until it was gone in two evenings, reading until my eyes were blurred and I fell asleep, not even having finished the Knight I had set out for snacking, so engrossed was I in our Hero’s adventure. FBI Special Agent James Mason feels guilt over not saving his best friend and then, a little later the death of his wife. He is pulled into a conspiracy for the ages. What starts out to be a raid of human trafficking and drug dealers turns into a search for a deadly virus by a group lead by one man who has been running the show throughout the world for quite some time, only this time it’s the show to end all show. The end of mankind as we know it.

James isn’t your ordinary FBI agent. He’s the cream of the crop. He’s resourceful. He understands what has to be done to get the bad guys and he’s willing to do what it takes. Laurence keeps him real, which makes the plot plausible, especially considering the headlines of today. One can not only see this happening, one wouldn’t be surprised to hear of something like this being uncovered considered, I believe, how jaded we seem to be getting as far as the news stories we hear each day.

This is also a procedural, which I love. We see how investigations work. We get to see the inner workings of what goes into them. The mechanics, the gears and nuts and bolts and I do love those things, you know. It’s like tinkering with a 100 year old Swiss pocket watch and being fascinated by all the intricate gears.

If you want a Tale that will creep you out, keep you fascinated and make you root for the good guys and happy when the bad guys die, this is it. You will not see the number thirteen the same way again either. Enjoy your weekend. And don’t forget to enter October’s drawing on my Facebook page.

Drakon T. Longwitten, Your Humble Book Dragon