Title: Hoodoo Sea
Author: Rolf Hitzer
Publisher: Bluewater Press
ISBN 10: 1604520264
ISBN 13: 9781604520262
GoodReads Description: The government of the United States of America is on the verge of startling the world. Billions of dollars had been invested in its space program . And now, the moment of truth had arrived… Scott Reed is the man for the historic mission. He is the Wing Commander chosen by the elite brass at NASA. The assignment to test flight the first speed of light craft, held top secret, was about to shock the world. The risk? Utter and complete failure. The reward? Being a part of the greatest human accomplishment ever known to mankind. Major James Harrow, second in command of the four person crew, despised his Wing Commander. Harrow was a proud and patriotic American. What was NASA thinking when they selected a Canadian to pilot the voyage? There was no comparison as to who was the better skilled aviator. This was his time, his moment. Major James Harrow was about to prove to everybody they were wrong to bypass him as Commander. The weather conditions were perfect and lift-off for the test flight was text book. The triumphant cheers from Mission Control in Houston were echoed all the way to Cape Canaveral. The silent fear of the first hurdle of the flight had been succumbed. All systems were go! That is, until the crew and SOLT-X1 entered the Bermuda Triangle…
My Take: We now join the preparations for the first manned flight at the speed of light. It is a top-secret mission, known about only to a select few. Let's meet our flight crew:
Scott Reed, Wing Commander, a Canadian with a shaky marriage and two young children. When we meet him he is considering whether or not this should be his last mission, as the time he spends away from his family due to his job is what's cuasing his marriage to disintegrate.
Major James Harrow, second-in-command - a guy a with chip on his shoulder and what I like to call a "stank attitude". He broods over how unfair it is that a 'foreigner' should be in charge of 'his' mission and he continually makes inappropriate comments to:
Captain Deedee Polson, Systems Specialist - she is professional and knows her flight instruments like the back of her hand, but she harbors a crush on her Commander.
Last, but not least, there is Captain John Heintz, otherwise known as "Scurvy" - the flight doc. He is a true-blue, sweet as pie Minnesotan. He is basically along for the ride, unless one of the other members of the flight crew take ill.
"Hoodoo Sea" is a nickname for the Bermuda Triangle. It is also the mission code name for our flight today.
While Franco Zappia, an earthy, chain-smoking, coffee-guzzler in charge of Mission Control in Dallas, readies everything on the ground for the flight, the flight crew straps in and the excitement of being the first to travel at the speed of light sets in.
The first leg of the flight, going through the Bermuda Triangle, is heavily carpeted with fog, and right after the flight breaks out of the fog, they will be heading into a mild electrical storm. After that, however, everything should be smooth sailing while they orbit the earth three times before heading up to MIR with supplies.
The flight begins, the ship heads into the fog. There is extremely low visibility, and Mission Control, of course, no longer has visual contact. The onboard tracking system, however, shows exactly where the ship is. Inside the ship, Polson keeps everything going on it's computerized course. This ship is the latest and greatest in technological advancement, so it practically flies itself.
Back in Mission Control, voice communications with the ship are lost, and suddenly, the red dot that shows them where the ship is .. disappears.
The rest of the novel gives us a possible scenario of what happens to those lost inside the Bermuda Triangle.
We meet Henpo and his friend Ripkin, Tribefeeders (hunters). We meet Freybyn, Tribeking, and get a glimpse into a more 'primitive' lifestyle.
We also meet Therkor, the Alpha of the wild dogs, with blazing yellow eyes and the ability to enter people's dreams. Henpo and his fellows are always in by nightfall, because to do otherwise means to face Therkor and his pack .. and no one meets Therkor and lives long enough to tell the tale.
Henpo is in the woods hunting when he sees a "black moon" land, and as he journeys back to his Tribeking to inform him, he can only wonder whether the people he saw step through the door of the black moon are friend or foe.
I liked the story. I was interested in it from start to finish.
For writing purists, fair warning - there are a few places where you may notice punctuation errors (missing quotation marks, commas, or the like). The dialogue itself is rather choppy at times, and the character development - there's not nearly enough. What makes you want to keep reading is the story, not necessarily the characters, although there are some you will like and one in particular that you will loathe.
I would have liked to see more depth given to the characters and dialogue, especially the dialogue of Therkor, who comes across at times as a comic-book villain.
But the ending ... totally unexpected!
All in all, an enjoyable read with a twist that I don't think anyone could see coming.
QUOTES:
Scott turned. Ten feet before the underbrush, where he'd tripped, stood the two biggest, most savage-looking wolves he'd ever seen. Each animal was easily six feet in length and over two hundred pounds of lean muscle. The canines growled. Realizing their chance for an easy kill had vanished, they turned back into the woods.
With this kind of effort, maybe he would get lucky with the lady tonight? It's all about presentation; a friend of his had explained that concept to him one night over several Budweiser.
Book Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Read my interview with Rolf Hitzer
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Come back tomorrow for Rolf's Author Guest post!
Disclosure: I received a complimentary title of this book to facilitate my review through Pump Up Your Book. No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.
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