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The Battle to Save History
David Crane Author Interview
Boomerang Will Not Return follows a stealth bombers crew as they travel back through time and must battle for the future in the past. How did the idea for this novel start and how did it change as you were writing?
I always loved the time travel stories starting form the classic tale of the H.G. Wells The Time Machine and movies such as Time After Time, Back To The Future trilogy and the Terminator movie franchise. The idea for Boomerang Will Not Return came to me from two motion pictures featuring time travel, The Philadelphia Experiment and The Final Countdown. The novel had evolved from a short story I wrote titled Sword of Gabriel, which featured my story protagonists accidentally traveling back in time because of the time and space altering comet called Gabriel. I wanted the story to have a broader aspect and therefore the battle to save history happened in both past and resent.
Time travel is rife with paradoxes. Were there any challenges to writing because of this?
Yes, the time travel paradoxes presented an interesting challenge to me as a writer. The general theory of relativity does not forbid the time travel, but there are technological and moral questions that arise from the use of such an invention. I wanted my time travel story design to be simple and straightforward, and let the readers use their imagination as to how the process of time travel in my story had occurred. The best part about working on a time travel story is that it offers a possibility of a new timeline, where temporal interference alters history as we know it. Time travel is a great tool for entertainment and I hoped to make the best of it.
Your characters Stugel, Hartmann, and Crown are interesting and well developed. If Hollywood came knocking who would you cast to play your characters?
Characters are the ones who drive any story and I had a great time developing them to make them realistic and interesting. I am a military history buff and I learned that in any conflict there are decent people on both sides, who were caught in the maelstrom of war and did their duty to the best of their ability even if it was for a wrong reason. And if I was fortunate to be approached by the Hollywood agents with a movie offer and given a casting choice, I would probably cast Liam Helmsworth as Hartmann, Jennifer Lawrence as Crown and actor Alexander Ludwig as Stugel. I think they would be good for the roles.
Do you plan on continuing this series in another book?
Well, I would like to do it, except that I think the story had a definite ending and final resolution. If I decided to change history in my novel, then yes, I think a sequel or two might have been in order. Time travel story ideas are definitely on my shelf for the future projects, and as soon as I am ready, I shall develop another time travel tale with a new and fascinating plot that hopefully will be interesting and enjoyable.
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![Boomerang Will Not Return: A Novel of Time Travel by [Crane, David]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51R9t-PdG8L.jpg)
It was supposed to be a simple mission–deliver six nuclear missiles back to the United States onboard the most advanced Stealth bomber in the world. The B-3 Boomerang is a super weapon that knows no equal. Nearly invisible to radar and lethal, it’s a paragon of present-day military technology. And America’s enemies want its secrets. What no one expected was an aerial phenomenon that catapults the plane and its crew from the present day to the year 1942 into the heart of Nazi Germany.
With their plane disabled and captured by the Nazis, Major Richard Hartman and his copilot, Captain Deana Crown, are forced to fight for survival in a hostile land decades away from home. With the plane’s superior technology and its nuclear onboard arsenal, the Nazis could win the Second World War. The battle for the future will happen in both past and present. The pilots trapped in time now have a new mission: to save history at any price.
Boomerang Will Not Return
David Crane’s Boomerang Will Not Return is a time-travel book set in both the 21st century and 1942-era Germany. It involves three central characters named Stugel, Hartmann, and Crown. One day, Hartmann and Crown fly a secret military plane to deliver cargo to the United States. They were chosen to test it and successfully take off into the skies of Germany. However, soon after flight the bomber gets warped into 1942 Germany due to the influence of a time bending comet. There, they’re intercepted and need to find a way to escape. Hartmann must use his wits and work together with Crown to successfully escape the clutches of their enemies.
You can tell that David Crane has down his research by how in-depth he goes with the weapons and environment of the past. I loved how suspense was kept throughout the book with Hartmann and Deana Crown’s efforts to get through wartime Germany. I personally think the subplot with busting the Russian spies was highly entertaining. However, even with the suspenseful action I didn’t feel it warranted as much attention. It distracted from the main plot line. I would have wanted to see more of the main plot line with our two heroes, as it was much more engaging. There were times in the book where I was left unsure of whether the heroes would actually come out unscathed or not. There was a bit of foreshadowing that let me down, but otherwise the suspense palpable throughout. The interactions that Stugel had with our central characters were interesting, even in the past. Their relationship actually seemed realistic and not forced. Deana and Hartmann were also well-structured, having skills which made them seem balanced and not overpowered. They were also human, having actual worries and even moments of doubt. Emotion like that isn’t seen a lot in spy or government involved movies. Another thing I really found interesting was how the book didn’t represent all of the enemy soldiers as bad, which was a nice contrast from other books which involve the prewar environment.
Crane managed to write a book that captured both sides of the fight. The way he represented the secret government services were all pretty well done. I found this book to be both entertaining and interesting.
Pages: 209 | ASIN: B00LAD30EE
Escape From Kolyma
![Escape from Kolyma: Aborigin Is a Bear Region by [Litvin PhD, Chester]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iGty7PlPL.jpg)
Chester Litvin, PhD has woven together an Orwellian world of doctrine, dogma, and propaganda in his book, Escape from Kolyma: Aborigin is a Bear Region. Psychological warfare has run rampant in the form of super-viruses that attack the psyche. Citizens are forced to beg, steal, borrow, and worse just to get by. Concentration camps and dictatorship have come back into fashion, and the people of Aborigin are suffering. The super-viruses are turning good people bad, and stripping the people of their personalities. They are being brainwashed and turning on each other. Professor Kryvoruchko is aware of the widespread infection, and may be Aborigin’s and the world’s only hope.
Many parts of the book are reminiscent of Hitler’s Germany, complete with propaganda and concentration camps. The cultural rift present is also indicative of a Hitler-like state. Convince one man he is better than another and he will let you pick his pocket. Give him someone to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you. That’s a paraphrase of a Lyndon B. Johnson quote about racism, but it applies here. Readers will draw many similarities between the culture of Litvin’s Aborigin and racism and “otherism” still found present all over the world. This is a divide-and-conquer mentality that worked wonders for Hilter, and still works in politics and socially in other areas.
The book is scary to me in its realism. I don’t believe that these are things that could never happen. I think psychological warfare isn’t a half-step from where we are now. In America, in particular, racism is still alive and well. People still continue to look down on groups of people they see as “less thans.” In the book, groups of people are stripped of every possession and jailed. They are killed. This kind of hatred for others is contagious. This kind of infection continues to spread if it isn’t stopped. I’m afraid we are closer to this kind of thing happening than I’d like to admit.
A part of the book that particularly bothered me was the children emulating the adults that they watched. Apparently, the children were also infected. They, too, were brainwashed. They mimicked what they saw being done before them down to raping and killing others. The children became thugs. There seemed to be an entire loss of innocence. This may be disturbing for readers, but it’s important. Children become what they know. They imitate what they see. This serves as a reminder for people to be worthy of emulation.
I will say that the book is complex. This wasn’t an easy Sunday afternoon kind of read, and with its subject matter, it shouldn’t be. I found myself re-reading parts that I didn’t understand. It was not always easy for me to follow. It requires some time and thought to get through. With that being said, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling were pretty impeccable.
Litvin delves into some unpleasant scenarios for the sake of opening eyes it seems to me. He gives some reminders about how easily it is for us, as humans, to lose our humanity or to follow blindly as sheep. He keeps some underdogs in there for us to cling to as we grapple through the book. It’s not an easy read, but serves as an important reminder. As Churchill once said, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” This sentiment echos through these pages.
Pages: 432 | ASIN: B07N3SXLYV
Price of Life
Immortals have walked the face of the Earth for over 12,000 years now. For the most part they have lived at peace with humans, taking only what they need to survive. A cross between a vampire and mythical healer, these immortals have the power to heal humans or take their life force, ageing them to death. It is from this feeding of a life force they gain their immortality. Most will only feed off the those that cause harm to the world. However, there are those immortals that believe they are a god race and it is their job to purge the Earth of humans and start over. Price of Life by David Crane is the story of how immortals got to present day and the battle between the two factions over the future of the human race.
The novel reminded me of the Highlander series, there can be only one! But, aside from the beheading to kill an immortal, that is where it ends. The immortals in David Crane’s novel are more like vampires that are sustained by the lifeforce of the world around them. Humans are the “best” quality food, but any living organisms can sustain them. Together they have lived in peace for over 12,000 years. The flashbacks from modern time to tell the story of where each immortal comes from is in-depth. Nonfiction and fiction blend seamlessly in this work. The details about Hitler and the concentration camp will bring you to tears hearing the stories and make you cheer as immortals avenge the death of their families at the hands of the Nazi soldiers. In some novels, flashbacks are too confusing to keep up with, but this is done so well that it is seamless, and you get a full picture. The subplots all tie into the main story line in a way that makes sense. All the lives and stories fit. From early mankind villages, to war torn Europe, to modern America facing many of the challenges we see even still today in the news, it all combines to tell a story that you want to read. The character development is built into the flashbacks and lets the reader really get to know each person involved. There are surprise twists, good is not always nice and on the right side of the law, bad is not always malice. The lines are blurred in a way to a keep the balance in check.
One of my favorite characters is Dina, she is an immortal with a special ability to see the future, it has made her wealthy and she uses her gift to better the world where she can. She saw the horrors of what Hitler would do to the world and she wanted nothing more than to stop it. Her passion is helping people, using her immortality to better the Earth and advance humans, not hold them back. When she has visions of Los Angeles being destroyed and the end of all human life at the hand of immortals, she must figure out how to stop things.
Immortals are left to choose what side they want to be on, they must work together to save the world they helped shape and create. It is a great novel about survival, compassion, history and how it shapes the future. A thrilling novel to see if humans can be saved before they become nothing more than slaves and a food source for the immortals that believe themselves to be gods.
Pages: 318 | ASIN: B00Y424WD6
Time’s Up: She’s Breaking the Ice
![Time's Up.: She's Breaking the Ice. (First. Book 1) by [Steele., Craig]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/510FK-qJTSL.jpg)
Craig Steele’s Time’s Up: She’s Breaking the Ice is a mile-a-minute crime mystery drama. Aussie Matilda is new in town and new to the force. She is teamed up with Jacqueline and makes fast friends with her. The two, along with their team, are investigating a string of murders with odd similarities. Dead and drained bodies are popping up with unexplainable circular wounds. Simultaneously, they are investigating street drug, Ice, and its effects. They want to know if they are connected. Storylines intertwine to connect the dots as they discover something more sinister than they could have imagined is afoot.
I enjoyed the relationship and humor between characters Matilda and Jacqueline. It’s nice to see the silly side of two highly trained and adept women. It makes the otherwise tough characters relatable. It shows their duality. They can have fun and joke and play around. They can also be independent and self-reliant and handle a weapon. I think readers, especially female readers, will appreciate that the women aren’t one-dimensional. Steele did a great job in developing the major characters.
Steele’s writing is very descriptive. This helped me picture the creatures in the sewer before I actually knew what they were. It also helped me picture the victims. This was not a read for those with weak stomachs. That being said, the gnarly details were relevant to the story. They were necessary in filling in details of the mysterious crimes.
The Ice storyline really hits home. It borrows from the front pages of newspapers and doesn’t paint over the ugly parts. Steele pulls in similarities to the current opioid crisis in America while tying it to Nazi-led drug experimentation of the past. The characters’ altered state while on Ice is scary, but an important cautionary tale. It serves as a warning of what could be, and readers will see similarities to our current climate.
I’ll admit the sight of 76 chapters and 600+ pages felt daunting. I’m afraid other readers may feel the same way, but I read the book over a week and it didn’t feel long and the plot flowed well. There are several instances where incorrect homophones are used, some sentence fragments due to misplaced periods, and some plural vs. possessive mistakes. But this does not detract from the overall entertaining story.
Craig Steele’s Time’s Up: She’s Breaking the Ice is well written and the characters are intriguing and deftly developed. The main characters were likeable, and the villains were easy to hate. I’d like to read more work by this author.
Pages: 333 | ASIN: B07F5X4782
Reich
Adolf Hitler ruled Europe with an iron fist. With his political promises to desperate people, he spoke of a reign that would last 1,000 years. Under his command humanity entered a new dark age. Tales were told of horrors taking place in the East – of railroad cars, of ovens, and death. There was just one “detail” he kept to himself.
When Hitler survives an assassination attempt on his life, his secret is discovered by those in command. A secret beyond the realms of reality!
A German U-boat Captain is ordered to transport Adolf Hitler to a secret military base in Norway, during the closing days of the Second World War. While on this mission, he discovers that there is more to Germany’s “Führer” than meets the eye. To his horror, the Captain discovers the Third Reich’s darkest secret: Hitler is a vampire!
The Butcher’s Daughter: A Memoir
![The Butcher's Daughter: A Memoir by [Grende, Florence]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51rD%2Bkt6PyL.jpg)
Florence Grende’s parents survived the Holocaust and managed to settle in New York City to provide a new life for their children. The horrors of their past, however, never leave them and infiltrate every aspect of their lives in the United States. Florence, their daughter, grows up watching her parents keep their demons at bay as she learns as much about her family’s haunting past as she learns about herself. Grende’s questions about her mother’s outbursts and her father’s deep, dark sadness lead her to answers she is afraid she already knows but is not willing to admit.
The Butcher’s Daughter is Florence Grende’s own recollection of her life in New York City and her struggle to come to terms with her parents’ own battle with the memories of their lives in Germany during the Holocaust. Grende’s memoir is written in a unique and gripping style. Her words flow from page to page in the most poetic fashion with emphasis placed on short, striking bits of text highlighting especially difficult memories.
Grende pulls her memoir together with short chapters, each focusing on specific situations, distinct memories, and her own analyses of events from her childhood and teenage years. I looked for the memoir style to follow a sequential order but, in Grende’s case, the random scattering of memories and the jumps she makes from one time period backwards and then forward again works well. Her own confusion and the turbulence dictating her life as a result of her family’s past is reflected effectively in the style of writing chosen by the author. Short bursts of memories are easy to read, engaging, and incite the reader’s curiosity.
It is not often readers are afforded a look into the author’s own experiences. Grende gives readers a particularly vivid picture of the trauma and the lasting impact the Holocaust had on the ensuing generations. Her father’s behavior and neediness are sad in a way I find it almost impossible to describe. She underscores the way he seems to emotionally cling to her in a markedly poetic chapter in the second of the book’s three sections. Never is her father’s tragic past more clearly defined than in his sadness and desperation at losing her to her new husband.
Closure being the goal for Florence Grende, I felt relief for her as she details her journey for answers and the meeting which brings her face to face with people on all sides of the Holocaust. Her writing experience begins with her trip to Berlin and the diary that starts it all. I felt the tension as I read of Grende’s meetings with fellow survivors and descendants of Nazis. The horror stories flow, and Grende, at last, shares her own with those who can, not only relate, but wish for the same closure as the author herself. Grende writes of these meetings with raw emotion and does more to help readers absorb the truth of history than is ever possible with any textbook.
Florence Grende has bared her soul and shown readers a perspective on history that most of us will never fully grasp. She walks readers eloquently through a minefield of emotions and tackles the savagery of the Holocaust with truth, directness, and poetic prose.
Pages: 148 | ASIN: B01M751TN4
The Decline of Democratic Society in the New Age
![The Decline of Democratic Society in the New Age by [Soriano, Giovanni]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Tx23d7aNL.jpg)
In The Decline of Democratic Society in the New Age Giovanni delves deep into the failures of the US government since 2007 and the international effects of these failures. It has been a decade of relentless borrowing to cover ups economic gaps. No real steps have been taken to pull out of this hole.
In these times of confusion over politics, finance, economy, and social status, one needs a guide. Something to help understand the detriment of the decisions made by the governments. There is need for a collective uproar against fascism and other social injustices. This book is an essential tool for the awakening required to start the discussion.
The Decline of Democratic Society in the New Age is a critical analysis riddled with intellectual argument of the world today. It covers every facet of life. There are frequent references to Hitler and his leadership ways. This is meant to illustrate the slow decline into a fascist society where the governments deviate from the responsibility of protection of its people.
Giovanni Soriano does a great job of laying out his ideas and arguments without aggressively pushing his agenda. This book is very thought provoking. One will often find themselves pausing to agree to the ideologies. It is a vast subject matter presented in a simple format that appeals to people in all walks. This book is an eye opener.
If read with an open mind, this short rational analysis of the different societal factors will help start a conversation that is well overdue. The book and ideas presented are controversial and will leave one disconcerted; having had their eyes opened to the realities.
There is a good flow to the book. One will easily glide through the pages. The writing is good and the ideas quite interesting. The language and tone are simple. The author takes on a serious voice, which is apt for such serious matters.
Giovanni opens with some very shocking numbers that effectively communicates the severity of the situation before one has gone any further. The author is well informed and intelligent, which lends depth to his content.
This book is impeccable and the authors passion clearly shows. It is a treat for free thinkers and others who have previously been deaf and blind to the current political and social situations.
Pages: 95 | ASIN: B078NY51G3
LITERARY TITAN 