Houston-area teacher Cheryl L. Daniel tackles the frequently plumbed Roswell UFO crash in her first novel, Catch a Falling Star. The book opens with a prologue set in 1947 where a boy scout troop witnesses the infamous crash that has spawned conspiracy theories about alien visitations ever since. Illness sidelines Robert and Molly Clark in Sage Wells, New Mexico while on their way to visit the artist colonies in Sante Fe. Local doctors determine that Molly’s cancer has returned with a vengeance. Rather than go home to Houston, where Molly has undergone recent, harsh chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant treatments, they decide to stay in Sage Wells, a small town in the middle of the desert near the White Sands Missile Base. It’s a good place to be, because there have been several cases of miraculous and inexplicable remissions among terminally ill patients in the local hospital. While roaming the corridors late one night, Robert sees a mysterious blue-green light emanating from beneath the door of the hospital room next to Molly’s. The next morning, he learns that the elderly patient has checked herself out against medical advice and walked out of the hospital. In the library, Robert stumbles across an old newspaper article describing a similar occurrence. Robert witnesses the events that lead to another sudden recovery first hand – a mysterious figure enters a ward late at night and administers a phosphorescent drug to a patient intravenously. Robert trails the diminutive person out of the hospital but loses him at the edge of the desert, near the off-limits military base nearby. When Robert discovers who and what this mysterious curer of serious ailments is, Catch a Falling Star enters the realm of The X-Files. There is a government conspiracy, a cover-up, but it takes Robert the rest of the book and almost costs him his life to discover exactly what is being hidden from the public. Robert is helped by his new friend, Al Fuller, whose wife he saw cured of advanced cancer. The two venture into forbidden territory to track down the substance that might cure Robert’s rapidly declining wife before it’s too late. The Hard Shell Word Factory, one of a number of new Internet-based publishing companies that produce books-on-demand and eBooks, published To Catch a Falling Star. This is a relatively new venue for authors to see their works in print without going the more traditional agent/New York publisher route. While Hard Shell has an editorial team that works with its authors, I’m not entirely sold on this mode of publication yet. A strong editorial hand provides an author insight into his or her work and helps point out weaknesses in story or structure. I’m not sure these ventures provide that service as fully as a conventional publisher. For example, one plot element that strains credibility is the unconvincing reason the Clarks remain in Sage Wells after Molly’s relapse. Robert rationalizes that New Mexico is where Molly wants to be, but since she is unable to leave the hospital–or even her bed–it hardly seems to matter at all where she is, and with the seriousness of her condition it makes little sense for them to stay in this rustic community other than to advance the plot. A more aggressive editor might have encouraged the author to bolster this element. Still, Daniel’s book is a cut above the average in this new realm of publishing. The characters are strong and the plot is compelling. She is currently working on a sequel set in Houston. Web site and all contents © Copyright Bev Vincent 2023. All rights reserved. |
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