Conspirator's Odyssey: The Evolution of the Patron Saint [Paperback]

Conspirator's Odyssey - A.K. Kuykendall

The government is evil, they are sneaky, they are hiding things and we had all better beware. Starting in the future, and then leaping back and forth through the past, we follow Kalista Flaker, a special Ops soldier who has risen in rank due to her ferocious demeanor and obsessive nature. When she and her team are deliberately sent on a suicide mission, Kalista begins to dig into the nature of the government beast that has been controlling her for all of those years, and uncovers a disturbing truth. Determined to bring down the system and expose the lies, she makes it her mission to obtain proof of the vast conspiracy.

Kuykendall has a very distinct voice and an excellent writing style. For conspiracy theorists that border on obsessive, this book will be a goldmine. Beginning with the Area 51 cover up, to the Bay of Pigs, to the tragedy of 9/11, it almost feels as though the author was determined to cover every conspiracy known to man. The author has done their historical research, and much of this book does read as though you are in a history class, giving you almost too much background on events like the Bay of Pigs, or the History of different military groups. But the author weaves his own take on the events into the tale, giving the "truth behind the conspiracy" that he has invented, some times they are intriguing, other times they seem to go a bit overboard.

The opening of the book is a bit muddled in that we leap around in time so much that if you don't carefully read the dates at the top of the chapters, it will be easy to find yourself perplexed. When you get past the initial history lesson, and into the story of Kalista and her team, the book really gets moving. I flew through the middle of the book, which reads like a military espionage tale. I was a very happy reader until about the last 30 pages of the book, when the tale went a bit sideways in my mind. Truly, the Sci-fi aspect had been there from the beginning, we are reading about an alternate reality... the government has created a serum from alien DNA to create super soldiers... I bought it all, but when we came to the end my suspension of disbelief wouldn't stretch that far. I don't want to spoil it, but it seemed almost as if it was a throwaway ending that dumped way too many new conspiracies and sci-fi aspects on the reader out of nowhere.

Now I'm not saying that it's a bad ending, it just wasn't to my taste. I can probably name a handful of people who will absolutely love the ending of this book. Also the book leaves the ending open enough to imply that this may be the beginning of a series, following Kalista and her brother in their attempts to save mankind from ultimate destruction. I would be interested in reading additional entries in this series, the author's writing style is very fluid, and apart from a few lines that irked me this is a very well written book (on of my biggest pet peeves in reading is when siblings address each other as "Brother" or "Sister", I've never in my life heard anyone calling their sibling that).

Final summary: Though I would not recommend this book across the board, I would recommend it to the military/sci-fi crew and to the fans of conspiracy theories. If this becomes a series I can see this book developing a small but rabid fanbase.

With an exciting alternative history novel, Conspirator's Odyssey: The Evolution of the Patron Saint, Aaron Kinte Kuykendall presents his first book in a new "Conspirator's" series.

Why? This one-word question is one that many of us first learn and continue to use throughout our lives. Why was John Kennedy assassinated? Why did 9-11 happen? Why are we in Iraq? We want to know the "why" of it. Only once we know why, will we then turn to the other questions of who, what, when, and where. Alternative history has found a place in literature as we all seek to learn the "why" behind what happens in our world. For many times, we are not satisfied with the answers to questions that are spoon-fed to us through the media.

Mr. Kuykendall presents an obviously well researched novel that moves us through the United States late 1940's history into the future in a thoroughly plausible response to many of those incidents about which we have found no satisfactory explanation. Is any of the book true? Is all of it true? Only readers can match their own knowledge of historical events, evaluate the options found in Conspirator's Odyssey and arrive at their decision. However, this reader can assure you that the concepts are logical, that the story presentation is excellent, and the characters just may haunt you in their respective roles within our government.

Major Kalista Flaker of the United States Army is the heroine of this story. Yes, she is a major in the army; however, she has also now inherited the role of leader of a secret organization, one that reaches across the world, fighting against those who conspire against the United States. It is a bitter pill to swallow that most of those she fights against are found within the agencies of the US government, especially within the security sections. However, facing the reality that she has lived through, she had no choice but to accept and respond to these dangers.

Everything that had happened dated back to before she was born. There had always been talk of UFO sightings and she had scoffed at them along with most Americans. It wasn't until she was sent on a mission to Vietnam, had talked to a war prisoner and received a vial of his blood that she knew the truth. She had tested and studied the blood and found unknown DNA and other elements. The soldier had alien blood in his body!

She would never forget that mission. She had been in charge of a group of rangers and SEALs. Selected to lead the group by General Thimpkin, the man who had guided her, mentoring her almost as a father, she alone had been told of the full extent of the mission. The group was being sent to Vietnam because they had learned that there were Vietnam War prisoners still alive. They were all to be killed. Indeed, everyone on the mission was to be killed, except her. General Thimpkin had made special provisions to get her out. Everything had happened as planned--almost. Following orders, they had killed the American soldiers, prisoners who had lost limbs, who were barely holding on to life. In fact, she was puzzled how they were still living!

But she just couldn't handle having her own team being killed. She tried to tell them what was to happen, but Lieutenant Buckner, thinking she had become unbalanced from what they had just done, stopped her and relieved her of command, only to then lead the group into an ambush. Kalista pulled Buckner to the pickup site, the only one of her team she had found alive, and had saved his life. And then others as she once again ignored commands of her superiors.

Buckner continued in a coma for more than five years. Much had happened during that time and Kalista was ready--ready to seek revenge. But she needed help--she needed Buckner, so while he had been comatose, she had injected him with a variation of the blood the soldier had given her before she killed him. The alien DNA had been test-injected into those poor soldiers and had lived through years of torture and hunger when they should have been allowed to die.
Kalista knew that if her research had been productive that others would have also been working on the same DNA. She was sure she had discovered what would happen in a successful transfer into a human. She and Buckner would be testing her theories.

For, you see, all of it tied together. Project Aneman was still moving forward. They knew the answers to why Kennedy was dead, why there had been bombings at the World Trade Center. They knew who would be elected next. And they knew they had an ongoing mission--to find and destroy conspirators who had sought power and money through abuse of authority and position. The only thing they didn't know yet--were the conspirators human?

As the first in a series, Conspirator's Odyssey should be on the must-read list for those looking for and who enjoy reading alternative historical answers!

A good writer is one who writes often and writes with various techniques and strategies such is the writings of A.K. Kuykendall. His writing is concise and precise with words, he punctuates with ease, and he frames his stories with heart and soul. I've always believed that a story, any story, must reflect the writer's voice and style. When one reads the work of an author, that person should connect in some way with the writer. A novel such as this one should be memorable and it certainly was. This project, I here, is out of print and I had to purchase a copy at a price unheard of because I wanted to acquire all of Mr. Kuykendall's books after I read his new horror novel Writer's Block: The Possession which was fascinating. I purchased them both at the same time and read them back-to-back.

With this book Mr. Kuykendall risks all and comes out victorious. Excuse my passions, but this is one hell of a historical novel of gripping readability, authentic atmosphere, and memorable characterization. Beginning with a flash back to the happenings post the Roswell UFO crash incident casts its shadow, the narrative is a seesaw of tension, suspense, impeccable pacing... action, intrigue, violence, passion, greed, bravery, dedication, revenge, and eventual love. This all wrapped within an even level of fact and fiction. Wow, a novel such is Conspirator's Odyssey: The Evolution of the Patron Saint entertains, instructs, and satisfies on a grand scale. I find myself in great company having had an opportunity to read, evaluate, and review the work of this rising star and I recommend this book without hesitation.