ORB

About the Book

Rookie private investigator Archer Bowman is trying to wrap up his very first official case when an elderly doctor solicits his services in finding a thirteen-year-old boy, a child prodigy named Randy, who’s been missing for a week. At the same time, Archer’s girlfriend is being stalked by a mysterious stranger, and someone has just tried to kill Archer with a red Dodge pickup truck. In addition, Archer sees a very tall bald man at the scene of the attempted “accident.” Has Archer seen him before? Is the bald man involved somehow in the bizarre events that have led Archer from a desolate spot in the California desert to an impossible complex filled with mystery, magic, and mayhem? Is this newbie private eye up to the task of solving these small puzzles, or will they prove too much for his inexperienced mind to handle?

About the Author

I’ve spent most of my life watching and experiencing the dreams of science fiction writers turn inexorably into reality. I spent a career in the manufacturing industry as a quality systems manager with several top manufacturing companies and found it fascinating to be on the leading edge of new technologies. And I’ve wondered, as the steady flow of innovation spread its influence, for good and ill, around the globe, what mankind’s destiny may ultimately be. And for the longest time, I’ve wanted to express my impressions about how some of these changes may be affecting the world at large. Orb is an attempt to convey some of my thoughts on one of these matters. I graduated high school but never made it through college. I joined the marines instead and served a tour in Vietnam. I enjoy books (of course), movies, and poker, not necessarily in that order. I have made several attempts at writing Orb over the years, but now that I’m retired, I’ve actually had time to sit at my computer and let this story finish itself along with several short stories I’ve written along the way. The effort to write Orb spans a thirty-year period of my life that includes a divorce, a second marriage, some job changes, a move to Connecticut and back, and a successful bout with cancer. My wife, Beverly, and I currently live in Southern California, about an hour north of San Diego. I often find it difficult to categorize my stories: strange or weird perhaps, but all share a fantasy edge.