EPIC JOURNEYS. INNER AWAKENINGS. STORIES WITH SOUL.
For readers of Paulo Coelho, Neil Gaiman, Richard Bach, and Charles de Lint — anyone drawn to stories where the adventure is as much internal as it is external, and where good people are asked to make hard, human choices.
He didn’t ask to be chosen. But fate doesn’t ask permission.
Each mile outward mirrors a mile inward.
A 3-novel series of slow-burn, mystical suspense and adventure –
CAN YOU CHANGE THE WORLD WITHOUT FIRST CHANGING YOURSELF?
SOME CHOICES CAN’T BE UNDONE.
Some men spend their whole lives looking for freedom. Jake Barnes found it — and then had to decide what it was worth.
The Dream Messiah Series is a cross-genre journey through the wild edges of the world and the wilder edges of one man's soul. Beginning on an Alaskan homestead in 1980 and ending in the ancient jungles of Borneo, the series follows Jake Barnes — a man running from his past, toward his destiny, and never quite sure which is which.
These are not comfortable books. They ask hard questions about freedom and responsibility, survival and conscience, the life we build for ourselves and the life we are perhaps built for. They follow a man through fire — literal and spiritual — and refuse to let him off easy.
But they are also books about redemption. About the stubborn, improbable human capacity to become something better than what the world made us. About the possibility that the journey — however brutal, however long — was always pointing somewhere worth arriving.
For readers who believe that the most dangerous journeys are the ones that change you. For readers who want their suspense to mean something. For readers who have stood at the edge of the life they built and wondered if they were brave enough to walk into something bigger.
Act 1: Alaska, 1980
He left everything behind to build something real. A homestead. A future. A life finally free of his past. Then one piece of news changed everything — and Jake Barnes discovered that freedom is not a destination. It's a test. And the test had only just begun.
The 540 page, 6 x 9 inch paperback in moderate-sized print, is available from Amazon.
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Here’s what readers are saying:
-Mystical mixes with physical in this adventure tale. I would recommend it most for people who yearn for an escape from reality, while keeping their feet on the ground. - Jessica Lucci, Reedsy Discovery
-If you liked Jack London, Carlos Castanada and such, you will be hooked on the melding of reality and dreaming in this trilogy, and the wonderful characters that help Jake resolve his place in the universe. - M. Hill
-What a story! What an excellent Book! You'll be on the edge of your seat, as I was, the entire time you're reading this book.This book reads so vividly, it's like a movie. I can't wait to read the second book. -Ryan, Canadian reader
-An Alaska adventure that bustles with activity, both earthly and otherworldly, throughout. -- Kirkus Reviews
Act 2: On the run. Morally cornered.
Jake is a fugitive now — from the law, from his past, from the man he used to be. When a stranger offers him true freedom in exchange for one act of ruthlessness, Jake must decide how much of himself he is willing to burn away to survive. And whether anything worth saving will be left.
The 466 page, 6 x 9 inch paperback in moderate-sized print, is available from Amazon.
This Amazon button is an ‘Affiliate’ link. There is no extra cost when you buy through Amazon using this link. I will make a few extra cents.
Here’s what readers are saying:
-No wonder it's titled 'Into the Fire'. This story really cranks it up after Jake Barnes goes to jail. The characters are so vivid. Most of the characters from 'Freedom' are still with us, but the writer adds; bikers, a priest, a psychotic convict, a crime family, sailors, and lots of cops.
Jake made bad decisions in the first book, now he can't seem to catch a break. Fortunately he still has friends who can help him out of the mess he's made. He's offered a door to his freedom, but at what a price! There's a lot of deaths in this book. I'm glad Scott put a warning before a very violent chapter. I skipped ahead as he advised and didn't feel I lost any part of the story. The dreams get pretty bizarre, they'd fit right into a Stephen King or Neil Galman novel.
There is a sort of redemption at the end, but we know the story goes on. I need to know what Jake is going to do next. He still hasn't found the Dream Messiah. Looking forward to Awaken !
-It’s like Carlos Castenada’s adventures in his Don Juan books mixed with Breaking Bad. Jake is going psychotic while a bizarre cast of characters are populating his dreams. Jake still thinks he's a ‘good guy’ but a lot of character's die in this book. Through most of the book he has some morals intact. In the end he does some pretty nasty stuff, but it is justified. - Kevin Phillips
Act 3: Borneo. The edge of the world.
Borneo. The edge of the world.
Jake Barnes has survived everything. Now, deep in the ancient jungles of Borneo, he is about to find out why. Following visions he can no longer dismiss, apprenticed to the shaman of a lost tribe, Jake stops running and starts listening. The truth, when it arrives, does not look the way he expected. His role in all of it turns out to be something other than the story he had been telling himself. And that, at last, is what sets him free.
The 354 page, 6 x 9 inch paperback in moderate-sized print, is available from Amazon.
This Amazon button is an ‘Affiliate’ link. There is no extra cost when you buy through Amazon using this link. I will make a few extra cents.
Here’s what readers are saying:
-What a conclusion! The ending is satisfying, the circle is complete, but I can still see the story continuing. Haven’t heard of another book in the series so maybe this really is the end. It should be a series on HBO! - Kevin Phillips
-So many twists and turns, and such great descriptions of all the places from Alaska to Borneo I felt like I had been there. I like the last one best, it moved at such a fast pace. Can't wait to see what he writes next. - Sharon Krueger
—This is the last book in the series and I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. I learned a lot more about Borneo and what’s really going on there. I didn’t know it was so big and how they’re devastating the forest faster than the Amazon.I got a much better understanding of this whole dreamtime and Dream Messiah business, and the arc of the whole story became clear.
There’s a kinda good reunion with Jake’s nephew and Jake’s son. Finally a good ending. I wonder if there’s going to be another one in the series. I recommend you read the whole series, don’t let the first book stop you. -David A
This Amazon button is an ‘Affiliate’ link. There is no extra cost when you buy through Amazon using this link. I will make a few extra cents.