The following synopsis, found on the opening pages of The Translators, sets the stage better than I ever could. "Most people think John is crazy. He's not. The doctors think he's schizophrenic. He's not. The government thinks he might be humanity's last flicker of hope. but unfortunately he's not that either. What he is is something no one - including himself - could ever have imagined..."
I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Gord Rollo's new novel from publisher Enemy One and while I expected it to be good, I never thought it would be on par with a new thrill ride at some world class theme park. Wow! What a ride.
The story starts 17 hours before the end of the world and then rewinds a bit over 2 years to show us how we got there.
What we have here is a story of biblical proportion that takes us around the world, but keeps coming back to one man, John Taylor. A rather milquetoast individual, living with his fiance' Shelly and her son Robbie. John hears voices in his head, voices which, among other things, can instantly translate any language he hears, even though John has never studied any foreign language.
The Translators is easily the most original story I have read this year. To return to the thrill ride analogy, the story builds slowly, like the long climb to the top of an extremely tall wooden coaster and then you plummet over the edge going faster than you thought possible careening around hairpin turns and climbing hack up to the top to do it all over again. What a rush!
The journey takes us to Area 51 in Nevada, Roswell in New Mexico, Loch Ness in Scotland, Machu Picchu in Peru and to the ends of the Earth, but trust me, it's not what you think. Every time I wanted to take a break, I'd get to the end of a chapter only to plow ahead, eager to see where the author would take me next. I would love to see this one make it to the big screen someday.
One of my favorite books of 2013 will be released on September 20th and if you're up for a great story and plenty of action, I promise The Translators will not disappoint.
Highly recommended.
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