Review - Flashpoint by Frank Creed
Move over, Matrix, here comes the Underground. An explosive futuristic thriller infused with humor and spirituality, FLASHPOINT delivers the goods. Set in a dark future where technology has nearly usurped faith, FLASHPOINT grabs hold and launches the reader into a mind-bending race for survival, never letting go until the final breath-taking moments.
Already an award winning novel (Winner of the 2006 ELFIE for best sci-fi novel), Frank Creed’s FLASHPOINT should garner more attention in the months to come. Representing everything that’s good about fiction, FLASHPOINT draws the reader into an unfamiliar world and makes the unexpected familiar. The technology and social structures of this future world are explained without burdensome detail or distraction from the don’t-stop-or-they’ll-get-you action and suspense. The characters live and breathe, fail and succeed, stumble and triumph just the same as all of us—well, except for the part about being bulletproof, able to run with superhuman speed, fight with superhuman reflexes, etc.
FLASHPOINT’S author, Frank Creed, founded the Lost Genre Guild (www.lostgenreguild.com) because of the general lack of quality speculative fiction (an umbrella term used to identify genres dealing with supernatural, futuristic, fantastical, impossible, etc) on Christian bookstore shelves. Classified as cyberpunk, FLASHPOINT should certainly do its share to help fill that void. The thing I liked the least about the story: how long I’m going to have to wait for the sequel.
Of course, it would certainly be a calamity if I didn’t tell you a little more about the story, so here goes. FLASHPOINT follows two ostracized youths on their journey of faith. Living in a world that has banned their very belief system, Calamity Kid and e-girl (Dave and Jen Williams Reformed names) start their tale on the run. Peacekeepers (the bad guys…isn’t that the way it works? The bad guys always SOUND like the good guys) have raided and arrested their home-church. With everyone they know and love incarcerated, Dave and Jen join the Body of Christ Underground, hoping to find the means to save their friends and family.
Every good story has a Judas character, and FLASHPOINT is no different. I won’t give the surprise away, but let’s just say that Calamity Kid doesn’t have all the answers all the time…at least until he starts letting the Holy Spirit guide him. The betrayals and trickery in FLASHPOINT make for great plot twists and build the action to insane proportions.
The science engine used (thus the CYBER aspect of cyberpunk) for FLASHPOINT rivals the likes of the Matrix movies for both its WOW factor and originality. We end up with a band of almost super-human heroes coupling their faith with technology (in a world where faith seems at war with technology) and becoming weapons for God’s glory. Super human strength, speed, intuition, cognition, perception, etc. The stupefying arsenal of divine powers makes for an amazing ride. FLASHPOINT would make one heck of a movie!
Published by the Writer’s Café Press, FLASHPOINT will not only be available for sale this fall, but is also currently being transformed into an RPG video game and graphic novel. For more details, visit www.frankcreed.com or www.thewriterscafe.com
Already an award winning novel (Winner of the 2006 ELFIE for best sci-fi novel), Frank Creed’s FLASHPOINT should garner more attention in the months to come. Representing everything that’s good about fiction, FLASHPOINT draws the reader into an unfamiliar world and makes the unexpected familiar. The technology and social structures of this future world are explained without burdensome detail or distraction from the don’t-stop-or-they’ll-get-you action and suspense. The characters live and breathe, fail and succeed, stumble and triumph just the same as all of us—well, except for the part about being bulletproof, able to run with superhuman speed, fight with superhuman reflexes, etc.
FLASHPOINT’S author, Frank Creed, founded the Lost Genre Guild (www.lostgenreguild.com) because of the general lack of quality speculative fiction (an umbrella term used to identify genres dealing with supernatural, futuristic, fantastical, impossible, etc) on Christian bookstore shelves. Classified as cyberpunk, FLASHPOINT should certainly do its share to help fill that void. The thing I liked the least about the story: how long I’m going to have to wait for the sequel.
Of course, it would certainly be a calamity if I didn’t tell you a little more about the story, so here goes. FLASHPOINT follows two ostracized youths on their journey of faith. Living in a world that has banned their very belief system, Calamity Kid and e-girl (Dave and Jen Williams Reformed names) start their tale on the run. Peacekeepers (the bad guys…isn’t that the way it works? The bad guys always SOUND like the good guys) have raided and arrested their home-church. With everyone they know and love incarcerated, Dave and Jen join the Body of Christ Underground, hoping to find the means to save their friends and family.
Every good story has a Judas character, and FLASHPOINT is no different. I won’t give the surprise away, but let’s just say that Calamity Kid doesn’t have all the answers all the time…at least until he starts letting the Holy Spirit guide him. The betrayals and trickery in FLASHPOINT make for great plot twists and build the action to insane proportions.
The science engine used (thus the CYBER aspect of cyberpunk) for FLASHPOINT rivals the likes of the Matrix movies for both its WOW factor and originality. We end up with a band of almost super-human heroes coupling their faith with technology (in a world where faith seems at war with technology) and becoming weapons for God’s glory. Super human strength, speed, intuition, cognition, perception, etc. The stupefying arsenal of divine powers makes for an amazing ride. FLASHPOINT would make one heck of a movie!
Published by the Writer’s Café Press, FLASHPOINT will not only be available for sale this fall, but is also currently being transformed into an RPG video game and graphic novel. For more details, visit www.frankcreed.com or www.thewriterscafe.com
posted by Daniel I Weaver at 9:55 AM
5 Comments:
Great review, Daniel. It's hard to come up with enough superlatives to describe it, isn't it? You did a fantastic job though.
Hi Daniel!
I have not personally seen The Matrix (I know, I know, but I've seen Monster's Inc. several hundred times).
From what little I've seen of Matrix, Flashpoint is similar. It's non-stop action. You did a great job describing it, but there was never a doubt of that.
Good work!
Great job Daniel, and yes, I agree, FLASHPOINT would make a fantastic movie. It would be interesting to see a Christian company try to pull this off and then show Hollywood up at the box office. This story certainly has all the props to get it done.
David Brollier
Christian studios can't afford Matrix FX.
What's a superlative? Come from a reaaly big oyster? 8D
me<--hiding behind humor
Faith,
f
All the production companies say the special FX would be too costly. The offer a "flip-book"--you know, the stick man on the top of a notebook?
I'm holding out for crayons.
Caprice--
If a Superlative left Paris tarveling at 190 KPH and the rail-magnets went out in a stretch of track . . .
*phone rings*
Hello?
Caprice, I was just reading . . .
Huh?
A high speed train, you ninny. Yes, I went to high school.
Really? I did NOT know superpearl divers wore space-suits. You're sure about that?
Okay, I'll tell everone I know.
*click*
Caprice?
Faith,
f
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