The Enemy Unseen...
In the Winter of El Niño, a violent storm shatters the tranquility of a small, uninhabited atoll south of Vanua Levu in the Fiji Islands. Amidst the chaos, death washes ashore, quietly settling on the bleached sand. A mysterious, ancient vessel, adrift for millennia, reluctantly releases its deadly secrets on this fateful February night.
Maggie and Brad Montana, fledgling associate professors on a long-awaited vacation in Fiji, stumble upon the aftermath of the storm. They discover a pearl-black cone at the water's edge, unveiling two bizarre instruments that set them on a worldwide quest for discovery. The journey takes them to the alien landscape of the Devil's Marbles in the Northern Territory of Australia, guided by Backpack Bill, a charismatic local tour guide.
As the Montanas unravel the secrets of the cone, their pursuit unwittingly triggers an ancient alien trap, revealing Earth's intellectual threshold to a distant star system. In a maddening environment, the couple deciphers a death message, inadvertently initiating a time-delayed sequence for the obliteration of the planet.
Hope dwindles as the Montanas grapple with their spatial sepulcher, attempting to halt the countdown. Just when all seems lost, Backpack Bill stumbles upon the ancient portal, inadvertently unlocking their prison. The Montanas emerge to find themselves in a changed world, their wristwatch showing a mere fifteen minutes elapsed since their imprisonment, while the calendar declares it is now 2023.
The couple, shocked by the four-year gap, must navigate a world transformed in their absence. Unsure if the sequence for termination continued after their release, the Montanas face the daunting task of reclaiming their lives amidst the echoes of time. Death Message explores ancient mysteries, the resilience of the human spirit, and the uncharted territories of a future shaped by the unintended consequences of their extraordinary journey.
Meet Stanley Dial, an average shmoe, who also happens to be the world's best and most unlikely time traveler in the year 2044. Saddled deep in debt, and sweating the details of an all-or-nothing bet that could seal his family's fate, Stanley finds himself caught up in an epic battle between two secretive organizations striving to control Earth's future.
On one side, the government-run Ministry aggressively employs its "Big Brother" Sweeper program to routinely scan the near future for society-altering anomalies. Armed with this information, agents return to the present and covertly neutralize any undesirable outcomes that would adversely disrupt the status quo.
Meanwhile, the much smaller and resource-challenged Underground use their own time travel technology and advanced scientific simulators to thwart Ministry efforts to manipulate the natural order of societal free will.
Amid the chaos, Stanley becomes a pawn in their deadly game of cat and mouse. Will his hidden skill be enough to save Mankind from a decidedly dark and desperate future?
[Complete: 56,872 words; 40 Chapters]
Wattpad Shortlist Selection - October 2021
Wattpad Editor's Choice - February 2021
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Ensemble Book Reviews (Spoiler alert caveats apply!) -
Review by: Sapphire's Review Store - @ray_of_sunshine9
Link to review:
https://www.wattpad.com/996467053-sapphire%27s-review-store-4-0-review-by-sunshine?utm_source=email-story_mention