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Contact Us: A Jake Corby Sci-Fi Thriller (Jake Corby Series Book 1) Kindle Edition
On May 22, 2018, every person on Earth sneezes. Simultaneously.
Hours later, an alien spacecraft appears over New York City and broadcasts a dire message of impending doom. The future of the human race will depend on the whims of a solitary extraterrestrial who appears in the form of Walter Cronkite. Yes, that's right, Walter Cronkite, the deceased news anchor!
Ex-FBI troubleshooter Jake Corby has faked his death and dropped out of sight, living like a hermit in a small town. But the president is convinced Corby's still alive. He wants Jake, with his unique problem-solving skills, added to the team that will try to defeat the strange but powerful alien. Jake needs to overcome his introvert tendencies if he's going to help save the planet.
The alien has some nasty surprises for the residents of Earth, and the race is on to figure out his true motives and the meaning of the sneeze event--before it's too late.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMarch 24, 2015
- File size2471 KB
- The Universe Next Door: A Jake Corby Sci-Fi Thriller (Jake Corby Series Book 3)3Kindle Edition$3.99$3.99
Editorial Reviews
Review
I truly enjoyed the story from every perspective. As the challenges mount and the danger increases, the characters react in different and believable ways. Even the alien has a distinct personality, adding additional flavor to the already engaging tale. Macy has masterfully weaved together the characters and plot into a satisfying adventure you won't want to put down.
From Cy Wyss, Author of Dimorphic:
I liked Contact Us a lot. From about 10% I couldn't put it down. You'll find there's a lot here. At points it reads like a dystopian fantasy. At other points, like a straight-up thriller. Yet Macy ties everything together well. The pace is good---fast, but not too frenetic. The characters are well drawn, but not to the point of slowing down the story. Jake Corby himself is a man with a past, and a sympathetic figure from the start. It kept me awake at night, just what you want from a good story.
From Readers' Favorite (Scott Skipper,Reviewer):
Every time Contact Us veers into the absurd, Al Macy pulls it back to the straight and narrow. He strikes the right blend between the silly and the sensible. The story rotates among subplots showing how individuals cope with the disaster of[Spoiler Removed] and how world leaders strategize ways to defend the planet. Great minds and pragmatists are thrust into desperate roles as two threats, one overtly and insanely hostile and the other aloof but menacing, push the human race to the brink of destruction.Contact Us is a multi-faceted tale well worth a read.
From the Author
Greetings,
We here on BubbleOne enjoyed reading your Amazon Kindle, but didn't encounter her in the story, though she would have fit right in, we believe. Please consider adding her in your up-and-comings because she could provide love-interest competition and enhanced flavourableness to reading experiences of beings such as we, who are ideal market force for increased production volume and enhanced status size for you.
We have sent a copy of your excellent otherwise literature to our space-rovering neighbors, who also are lacking in excitement possibilities. We hope you will not be displeased by this undertaking of ours and we will sent you a percentage of saleable recuperations. Please advise in what format you want these. We offer many potentials.
Yours, most sincere beings, also likeable,
Prothus IV, for itself and others on craft which themselves are not advanced totally in Englishableness
Product details
- ASIN : B00V73HKOI
- Publisher : Amazon Digital Services (March 24, 2015)
- Publication date : March 24, 2015
- Language : English
- File size : 2471 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 289 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,186 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,092 in Humorous Science Fiction (Books)
- #5,056 in Alien Invasion Science Fiction
- #5,959 in General Humorous Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Al Macy writes because he has stories to tell. In school he was the class clown and always the first volunteer for show and tell. His teachers would say, “Al has a lot of imagination.” Then they'd roll their eyes.
But he put his storytelling on the back burner until he retired and wrote a blog about his efforts to improve his piano sight-reading. That's when his love of storytelling burbled up to the surface, along with quirky words like “burble.”
He had even more fun writing his second book, but was bummed by nonfiction's need to stick to “the truth” (yucko). From then on it was fiction all the way, with a good dose of his science background burbling to the surface.
Macy's top priority is compelling story lines with satisfying plot twists, but he never neglects character development. No, wait … his top priority is quirkiness, then compelling story lines, then character development. No, wait …
Customer reviews
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I like the characters Macy has created. Jake Corby, the protagonist, is introverted and self-deprecating, yet he is outspoken and courageous. He occasionally comes off as slightly sexist and then redeems himself by laughing at his own egotism when bested by a woman. I found it easy to relate to him. And, of course, there is a love affair woven into the plot. The romance proceeds slowly and haltingly as Jake and Charli (both seemingly shy when it comes to intimate relationships) decide whether they are right for each other. Eventually though . . . . . . . . . well, I’ll let you read it yourself. Suffice it to say that we are spared the tawdriness of a series of one night stands, but the details of their eventual coupling struck me as a bit too explicit.
The story takes place during the current era and much of it is based on modern day science. In some respects it is almost like a brief refresher course on the structure of the universe, astrophysics, and current computer technology—not to mention a smattering of biology and nanotechnology. The advanced science and fantasy stuff comes from the alien encounters. None of it, however, requires a science or math degree to get the general idea.
Contact Us is a precursor to Macy’s follow-on thriller The Universe Next Door. Although the latter provides enough background material to be read independently, you will probably enjoy it more if you read Contact Us first. I highly recommend either book.
His novel addresses the perpetual sci-fi controversy: what if the aliens find us, and they aren't friendly? Within Al's first six chapters he introduces a slew of interesting characters, produces not one but two alien vessels, and kills off 80% of the world's population. Humanity's prospects go downhill from there.
As the protagonists deal with their new alien overlord, they realize that something just isn't quite right about "him". They're also given the blueprints to create fascinating alien tech devices, but no user manuals. They can build them (sort of) but they're not sure what to do with them. This confusion turns out to be an important aspect of the alien's behavior.
I love Al's sense of humor, and in this book it takes some very dark and twisted turns. The alien's true form is even more quirky than its Walter Cronkite avatar. One of my favorite White House characters was killed in a comical scene, yet it turned out to be a pivotal plot point. A protagonist makes a snarky comment with horrifying consequences-- but it offers another important clue to the alien's agenda.
Fan's of Al's Internet posts (and readers of his "Drive" book) will recognize some facets of his personal life in this novel's scenes. But I'm not sure whether there's a personal connection with the alien or Jake Corby.
This is a unique first-contact story, and it's also Al's first book with dialogue. That's a tough leap for any author, but he pulls it off with an entertaining tale. You should buy this book just to enjoy another ride.
Speaking of characters, Jake Corby and Charli seemed to me to be well-drawn, but don't expect any growth or development. What you see at the beginning is what you get. In the final analysis, it is the humor and plot twists that keep the reader's interest. So this is not great literature, and it does have weaknesses, but it is still a fun read.
Top reviews from other countries
Imagine, if you will, Jack Reacher meets Star Trek The Motion Picture and you'll have an idea of how this gets going. It's smart, witty and may end up being how we get contact by ET.