Non Traditional Published
The Pandora Syndrome
The Pandora Syndrome is a fact-based science fiction novel that follows a group of researchers from team conception to the discovery of an extremophile life form to the accidental release of the bacteria in a city outside of San Francisco. Through the skill of first responders, fire fighters, law enforcement and other agencies, a pandemic was prevented saving perhaps thousands of lives.
James Taylor is a veteran of the United States Navy and a trained state certified fire fighter with training in first responder and EMS/EMT and draws on this training and the research skills gained from four published English Renaissance biographies to present a fact-based science fiction on “What could happen.” The Pandora Syndrome presents a very real possible situation including the serious results of a deadly bacteria public exposure.
Checkmate
A retired college professor and his son sit down to play a game of chess. The sequence of moves they made are a key that opened a gateway allowing an ancient Egyptian war goddess Menhit, from the reign of Ramses XI, into their time to form a new dynasty, this time on the campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
During the time of the pharaohs, two meteorites fell (gifts from the gods) into the land of Egypt. Because one of them fell during the day, they called it a sun stone and because the other fell during the night, they called it a moon stone. The origin of the meteors is not known, but each stone contains powers unknown to modern science. The Egyptians broke the sun stone into four pieces and sent them into the cardinal four directions. The story follows a team of researchers who attempt to track down the location of three sun stones (one was seized by a high priest after the gateway was opened) which is the only way to close the gateway by completing the sequence of moves of the chess game. Military and civilian law enforcement soon realize that their weapons are ineffectual against Menhit and her large army as she slowly expands her new dynasty sometimes leaving a trail of death and devastation behind.
The names of the ancient Egyptians, places and time periods are from ancient history, but the story will certainly change the way we think of the game called chess.
Copyright 2018 James D. Taylor Jr.
