Great Adventure / Self-Discovery Novel

By Running Fool "Rick Eaton" (Chula Vista, CA United States)
This is a great adventure novel. "Owen's," journey around the world in a life & death struggle for survival to find the meaning of life is filled with incredible courage, passion, & hope for mankind. It will stand the test of time.

POWERFUL INTROSPECTIVE ADVENTURE

September 4, 2007 By E. Hunter "aventure seeker" (Raleigh NC)
David Jebb, thorough his protagonist "Owen" (a successful young police officer who abandons his life) takes us inside the mind of a man making his personal pilgrimage across several continents in search of inner peace, understanding, and wholeness. Unknowingly Owen is continually surrendering himself to his environment and the strangers he must encounter to help him each day meet his basic needs for food, water, shelter and more. Not finding his answers, with each step he pushes himself deeper and deeper to the far corners of the earth and into his total dependency on others and his harsh environment for survival. Readers will sense that Owens ever increasing trust in mankind and his own ability to survive anything are driving him dangerously close to the precipice of life. Finally when Owen is extremely sick, exhausted, and as close to death as he can possibly take himself, his long sought after answers are revealed to him in a startling way. A must read for all, Jebbs literary style is completely open, intense, graphic, romantic, action packed, and riveting.

A roaring road trip of self-discovery!

November 11, 2007 By M. D. Jebb "Book Muncher" (Tuebingen, GERMANY)
The character Blue starts the tale of The Thirteenth Time Zone off with a bang. No literally - the familiar "bang-bang" of cops vs. crooks. You get to take a pause from the constant adventures of street officer Owen "Blue" Drew only after 50 or so pages into the book. At this point he begins his transformation from "street officer" into "peace officer." He leaves the force and sets off into the world - and what a world is waiting for him! In reading this novel I found myself flying through the cop stuff (just not my thing, really) in order to get to the juicy "big picture" of the narrative - the search for self-discovery and the lessons learned in traveling. One of David's great strengths as a writer were his unique metaphors used throughout the book. Here are just a few that I relished: "The Eros crashed ahead, taking on wave after wave and throwing back spray that hit my face like the snapping mane of a running horse." (P. 89) "The problem was that every time the Eros fell on her side, bilge water gushed all over the galley. Paper plates and foam cups drifted around me like mocking reminders of what floating was supposed to mean." (P. 96) "I closed my eyes and swayed back and forth like a cobra to the sound of the music." (P. 151) Aside from his colorful descriptions of all that he sees and experiences in his spiritual quest, the novel is not without salacious sex scenes and sharp wit. Again, here are a few tidbits: "Maybe it was the fact that she was offering herself to me the way someone might toss a Kleenex to a friend with a runny nose. Or perhaps it was the little detail of the boyfriend--but somehow, nothing felt right about this." (P. 134) "I wondered what the brothers of the Benedictine Order would say about the idea of promiscuity as a path to Enlightenment." (P. 148) I have no doubt that anyone who purchases this book will be done with it in one to two sittings because it is a true page-turner. Enjoy!