Untitled Thomas Dahl – Chapter One

The old church had seen better days.  Her worn stone was parched as if it hadn’t been watered for years.  Dirt and mud couldn’t hide the brokenness of the building and the cracks were growing.  It stood proudly at the center of the budding metropolis where it had anchored the birth of the city and held it tenuously together over the last two centuries.  It was once a church of thousands.  Missionaries had joyously flung themselves far and wide from their home with the idea of reaching the world.  And for a time, they did.

The thousands no longer worshipped in her hallowed halls.  There was no pastoral staff. The secretary had passed away last year after a battle with cancer.  Now only one man remained to care for her.  One lone soldier of God left at an abandoned and decaying post.  The Padre smiled quietly to himself as his mind wandered with the thoughts of the last eighty five years of his life.  If he could ever find the time to put pen to paper, it would make a fantastic tale of a life that was never destined to live as long as it had.  Yet here he was, caring for a dying church and a fading Faith with nothing more than the pittance they sent him and the funds he’d put away for a rainy day.  He’d never imagined celebrating each year he was alive with quiet thanks to above but this was how life had worked out for him.

A life that had lived the entire spectrum.  The Padre carefully approached the simple altar and carefully observed the rites and prayers.  And then he stopped.  He turned slowly and met the bright blue eyes of a tall man in a smart suit who held his slick black sunglasses in his right.  The Padre inspected the man.  Broad shouldered.  In shape.  And he followed the Padre’s eyes as they moved.  He was most certainly a curiosity.  And a growing concern.  He continued about his work as he spoke to the mystery man. “Welcome to Church of Coldstone.  I’m Padre Robinson.  How can I be of service?”

The broad shouldered man took a seat in the front row pew and took a deep breath, “It’s been a long time.  I wasn’t sure it was you,” he spoke mostly to the floor as Robinson turned to take in the young man once more, “…and I wasn’t sure I’d make it this far without getting shot at or blown apart.”  Padre Robinson raised an eyebrow and slowly moved down off the altar to stand before the rambling creature, “Who are you, son?”  A chuckle as the bright blue eyes glanced up and met the Padre’s worn brown pupils and shook his head, “You’re the only one I figured I could trust.  There’s a storm coming.  And I’m leading the charge.”  Robinson took a step back for a moment.  He was considering throwing this rambling maniac out of the church and making some very important phone calls.  He’d been a fighter all his life but he wasn’t terribly confident in his ability to manhandle this man.

The Padre shook his head and raised his voice and insulated it with the intensity of his years spent handling the rough and ready, “Son, I’m not going to ask again.  Who the hell are you?”  The broad shouldered one actually burst out laughing, further confusing Robinson.  Standing the mysterious stranger looked around the building and smiled approvingly, “She looks great Doc.  You’ve done a helluva job.”  Padre Javier Robinson felt cold ice suddenly form around his spine.  “No one alive knows that name.”  A mischievous look from the smartly dressed man was his answer followed by, “Name’s Thomas Daniel Dahl.  I’m here to attend my father’s funeral.”

The man who had once been known as ‘The Doctor’ in the city let loose a string of obscenities that gave Dahl a newfound respect for the man he’d known as a boy.  He knew how to communicate nearly every emotion possible.  And then some.  Robinson shook his head, “They killed you.  You were dead.  I had to preside over the bloody funeral!  How in the hell did you live?”  Dahl shrugged, “Dumb luck.  They wanted me dead and they got what they wanted.  Ruby had different plans.”  Robinson’s eyes went wider and he cursed with the talent of a world class surgeon dancing around the nerve endings of the spine.  “Ruby.  I’m guessing she’s with you.” A half nod.  Robinson shook his head and sat down on the edge of the altar, “I’ve lived through the wars of this city, I’ve stayed to the sidelines and followed Him through it all.  I’m only here because it’s better than what fresh hell is being cooked up out on the streets.  Why are you here talking to me?”  He looked up to Dahl, his heart sinking.  Whatever fragile peace had held the city from crossing the lines of war would dissolve and explode.

Dahl sat down next to The Padre and gestured down the long pathway to the doors, “A whole lotta people used to stand in here and follow The Big Guy.  Out there it’s war, sin and blood as currency.  I grew up in a world of darkness.  I got free.  This city is better than this. And I’m going to help it get there, even if it kills me.”  Robinson gave him a strange look, “Mighty big talk for a one man army who everyone thinks is dead.”  Thomas Dahl allowed his wide smile to spread and bring bewilderment to the Man of God.  “Me and the Lord have an understanding.” Robinson rolled his eyes, “Blues Brothers?  Focus for a second.  How you gonna back up all this talk.”

Dahl handed Robinson a business card, “That’s how.  I’ll see you around Padre.  This city needs to know their favorite dead son is back from the edge.”  With that the slick black sunglasses slipped across his face and he was out the door.

Padre Javier Robinson looked to the closing door and to the card.  He turned it over.

And commenced cursing as the card fell from his hand and lay face up next to the altar.

Captain Thomas Dahl. United States Secret Service.  Special Operations Division.

Under the Dome by Stephen King

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are few authors that can literally force to me read their longest books through the night and into the wee morning hours. Stephen King is one of those. “Under the Dome” is a post apocalyptic doomsday story set inside a small town. The kicker is that they’re the only ones in the midst of the end of the world. The Dome, as it comes to be called, holds them all captive. They are cut off from the world.

We are introduced to characters we grow to love, cheer and weep for as the tale is woven through scene after scene. You end up really wishing death on every one of the villains so viciously you can’t help but love how King writes these characters. It is a brutal, painful and heart wrenching story of humanity at it’s worst and best. Be ready for some violence, a very aggressive and disturbing scene involving a woman being taken advantage of by a posse of insanity. The blood flows and so do the lessons. The truth of our humanity (both the good and the bad) is laid out in detail. How humans can be callous, power hungry and dangerous all at the same time.

It is also interesting how King brings the story to resolution. I’ll have to read deeply into the ending once again as I must have missed a few points. King writes for depth and thought and I definitely felt it. If you like thrilling non stop put you on the edge writing, then this will be you welcome friend. If you can’t handle it…well, go read Cujo. That’ll fix ya right up.

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Her site is here and it’s awesomely titled “The Untold Tales of the Average Nursing Student”. Jenn’s married these and living it up in Las Vegas. I’m pretty sure she’s going to make a great nurse and despite all the adventures ahead I think she’ll make it through alright. So go read her stuff and bookmark/RSS/etc her stuff. K? Good.

Below is a review of a book I read this weekend and finally finished in the wee hours of last night. It was surprisingly good!

Something’s Alive on the Titanic by Robert J. Serling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. This book was just gobs of fun for me. I’m an oldschool Titanic geek and parts of this book had me smilin’ wide like a fool. Some good haunting moments and pretty thrilling story combined with a acceptable ending makes this book something I’d enjoy reading again to pick up on details I missed. Fun and historical. Gotta love it!

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It’s sad to see an author go because that voice, that character and unbridled creativity can never be duplicated in complete form.  You’ll see bits and pieces in other books and authors that might remind you of the greatness we once had in our midst, but we’ll never have the full feeling in our hearts again.  Robert Parker, I knew so little of your writing but I feel as you’ve given me a little something off to the side to hold in my heart.

Reading and the worlds that it can create in your mind is something I love so much.  I used to read when I was kid and inhale tomes of books.  Piles upon piles.  My appetite hasn’t slowed but sometimes the demands on my time divert my attention elsewhere.  Part of this project is to drive more reading time to feed my brain.  So far this month, I think I’ve succeeded.  And there’s certainly more to come.

Chapter four is here and Chapter 5 is here.  Both were written today!

To the tale of the tape!

I read “Enemies and Allies” and was immediately drawn in to the story. I enjoyed it to the point that I almost stayed up late last night to read it. It was just that fun. Someday I will be Batman. Someday.

To the tale of the tape!

1 – Lose it or Die
Burned 180 calories on a 30 minute fast walk on treadmill and 20 minutes in the pool for appox 200 calories. Added together I burned 380 today! YAHOO! WIN WIN WIN!

2 – Get out!
Shopping at Whole Foods? FAIL!

3 – Write it like you want it
Writing some more in a few. WIN!

4 – Rock out to more
Such a copout, but I googled “random band of the day” and the first hit was “Dirtfoot”. I know. I’m under the gun here people! WIN!

5 – Get Smart-er

Finished a book, which you can see below. I’m also working on a podcast idea that will involve my brother. Details to come. WIN!

Total Win/Loss for today – 4/5
80% = completion rate.
Grade = B! WOOT!

Enemies & Allies: A Novel by Kevin J. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A great introduction of the characters we all love. Fun, action packed and a fun time for any comic book fan.

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The part about this project is when I do make progress I feel a small spike of satisfaction that indeed I’m going somewhere.  Even if that’s backwards on certain things one day I’m at least getting one of these five objectives whamed bamed thank you officer.  Today was a struggle at the gym because there is clearly not enough treadmills for everyone that wants to play.  So I biked and burned 200 calories.  It felt great (natural highs FTW!) and I’m trying to eat healthy and smart tonight.

There’s been reoccurring theme in my life over the last week or so and it’s startling how often this word comes up.  Lonely.  It’s a powerful word that evokes a palette of images and words that flows as I remember moments in my life where that word and more defined me.  There’s all different kinds of loneliness and I’ll be talking more in detail in the podcast this Friday at 10pm Mountain.  The book that brought the final light to my heart is a mildly amusing but so far uninspiring sequel.  Dracula The Un-Dead is the official sequel to the (I haven’t read this) original and evocative Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  It’s written by a nephew or cousin and it starts off with a mysterious note.  Then it literally gives away the farm, the kitchen sink and the entire Rockette dance line explaining everything so there’s no real mystery as to who the darkness that lurks might be and dashes any hopes of actual mystery or suspense.

This is biased because I’ve read the masterpiece The Historian by Anna Kostova that I think is one of the best Dracula novels out there in my limited view of the Dracula Novel world.  It’s long but seriously rich (some would say over rich) in detail and atmosphere.  It’s a book that requires you to pay attention for all the details help drive the story and drive you to keep reading until the very end when you catch your breath, sanity and sleep.  It’s very good.  Compared to amateur hour with Stoker’s relative, it’s like black and white.

The one thing this book evokes well is the loneliness of each of these legendary characters.  Each has gone their own way since defeating the dark lord of vampires and it hits home how alone each of these people can be in their own way.  How they’re dealing with the loss of old friends and the simple fact that they withstood the darkest darkness the world could throw at them.  It’s a interesting facet to the story that could have been explored further.

Let’s do the thing where we look at how good or bad I’m doing.