Impact: A James Grider Novel

For years fifteen year old James Grider hated authority and oppressive laws of the present-day United States. For him it is an obsession that makes him an emotionally-tortured misfit. Most of his peers see him as deranged and a potential danger to society. Now he was given an ancient artifact introduced by an alien civilization that can cause any person he wishes to die. There is a small catch. He must wait thirteen days before the victim of his choosing is finally dispatched. No other victims can be targeted within those thirteen days. During those thirteen days the victim will have premonitory dreams which display their killer’s face and his intent. For his first victim James chooses the most challenging subject, the president of United States. As he grows ever more paranoid that James Grider might inexplicably harm him in the near future, the president sends an old military buddy to spy on the boy and his family. Soon James and his fraternal sister Carmella will be fleeing into the forest of northern California from a great threat that James is certain must be after him and his alien weapon, but cannot begin to guess who or what it might be. Prone to episodes of bipolar rage, James will stop at nothing to tear down the establishment to preserve his freedom, even if it means spilling the blood of not only his enemies, but also the innocents who might inconvenience him. If you are looking for a story of a hero with stereotypical qualities who always does the right thing, James Grider is not it. James Grider is more of an anti-hero, an anti-social idealist with highly libertarian views. He is emotionally disturbed. If someone stands in his way and upsets him enough, he does not care that it is immoral or unjust to kill them. He doesn’t care about society as it is now. He would prefer to watch the world burn than to have it this way. Think of the famous school shooters and mass murderers from history. Emotionally James Grider is very similar to them. He can be unpredictable. He is also extremely intelligent for his age. He tolerates those he loves, yet has no qualms destroying the innocent who may get in his way to protect himself even if they only did so by happenstance and not on purpose. This is the character that you will have to root for, someone who intended to shoot up his own school, selecting his victims indiscriminately, because he despises the establishment. James Grider is a psychopath with a heart of gold.

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