Contemporary Americans live in a fascinating time. A time
when audiences are notoriously hard to trick, surprise, or frighten. Authors everywhere
are enduring a constant struggle to keep readers on their toes and shock them
with a twist ending they never expected. This struggle is nicely battled in
Becca J. Campbellās novel, Foreign
Identity, where suspense and horror are balanced with genuine human emotion
and an overwhelming sense of mystery. The novel is, in short, steeped in the
unexplainable, bringing to mind some of the most entertaining episodes of The X-Files and psychological suspense
movies like Shutter Island.
In Foreign Identity,
the two heroes (a man and a woman) are thrown unceremoniously into a horrific
maze of vaguely familiar circumstances, which they must work together to put in
context. The characters are very real
entities, with real, human problems that are eked out in front of the backdrop
of an eerily perfect landscape. This setting throws the drama of human relation
into stark contrast, complemented masterfully with the slow progression of the
charactersā recovering memories of their past relationship.
So how can this book really be classified? On the surface it
might seem like a simple science-fiction adventure, but the complicated drama
surrounding the romantic relationship between the heroes belies the genre. This
could easily be a story taken out of its fantastic context and still found
emotionally evocative. Yet the sci-fi elements are not underdone. The
characters are consistently pursued by otherworldly entities made up of supernatural
elements, put in strange situations of pursuit and capture, and forced to
confront not only their personal struggles, but the technology (or miraculous occurrences)
that lead to their capture and provide the potential for their demise. They
must fight, not only for their lives, but for their essential humanity, and it
is this which is most thrilling for the reader.
These elements come together to provide the reader with a
thoroughly enjoyable reading experience that ends in an exciting and
emotionally satisfying conclusion. This book is ideal for readers teenaged and
above, and the perfect suspense story for both a sunny day at the beach or a
cozy night and a thunderstorm. Enjoy!
For a sneak peak at the novel, visit Becca J. Campbell's blog!
Get a free copy of Foreign Identity in a giveaway here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YjIwNzc2NGQxYmM0OTliNDg0MTAwODc2NzdhZmFhOjA=/
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