Local architect pens fantasy thriller, offers first 4 chapters free

The Mercury's promotions & marketing boy wonder, Mike Weekley (check out his entertaining blog, Weekly with Weekley), suggested I mention the following book. Mike said, without any hint of irony, that his dentist recommends it ...

Area architect and world explorer Jack Althouse, a principal in a Perkiomenville architecture firm, has published a new book, "Second Sight." Althouse said the book is the first in a series of seven interconnected books he plans to write.

The first four chapters of the "Second Sight," available at select area booksellers, can be previewed on Althouse's website, http://www.jfalthouse.com/ If you like what you read, you can buy the book directly from the author's website for $16 plus $4 shipping and handling. Or you can pick it up at area booksellers including the Trappe Book Center and the Chester County Book & Music Company.

Here is Althouse's description of the fantasy/thriller:

Jordan Wright, former Navy Seal turned architect, has made the discovery of a lifetime. An ancient carving on a sea cliff in Peru points the way to Egypt, where a buried chamber may be hidden beneath the Pyramids of Giza. Legend claims the chamber contains the priceless artifacts and history of mankind dating back to the dawn of time. Joined by a team of archeologists and funded by a mysterious benefactor, Jordan travels to Egypt, where hediscovers more than he bargained for: a portal to a long forgotten time. He is marooned in the Second Age of Man—the Age ofAtlantis. Hailed as a prophet, he is thrown into the midst of a brutal war of epic proportions. There he must not only fight for the lives of his companions, but quite possibly the survival of the human race.

I read the first four chapters Althouse (pictured at left) so kindly posted on his site. I was intrigued by Jordan's story. He's painted as an intelligent man who's suffered a great loss and himself has nothing to lose in the exploration of a great mystery. But Althouse lost me with the sci-fi stuff that followed. It's not really my bag. He does bring up some interesting questions about the pyramids. And that's really all I could discern from the 27 free pages.

According to a press release, "Each race in the story is based on Althouse’s interpretation of true archeological evidence, which gives a new exposition of the Earth having been visited by an intelligent alien race in the past."

The book is published in the fiction/alternate fantasy/ history category by The Wolf Pirate Project, a nonprofit that describes itself as not a publisher, but a workshop that offers limited copies of some participants' books. The suggested price for Althouse's 398 pp. book "Second Sight" is $16.


Althouse has posted upcoming scheduled booksignings at:

• September 8, 10 AM to NOON at JOY Bookstore 4906 Penn Ave., Sinking Spring, Pa 19608 9670 (610-678-7627)
• October 1, 3 to 5 PM at JOY Bookstore (same address as above)
  
• October 17 6 to 8 PM at Hope United Methodist Church, 117 Monocacy Creek Road
  Douglassville, PA 19518 (610-385-7141).
  

Althouse is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of "Second Sight" to The Mission Society.