Spotlight: Steal the Lightning: A Field Ops Novel by Tim Lees

Steal the Lightning: A Field Ops Novel

by Tim Lees
January 17, 2017
Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse
Genre: Paranormal & Urban
In the newest Field Ops adventure, god hunter Chris Copeland must track down an enigmatic figure distributing shards of deities to unwitting citizens across the country

Chris Copeland has a bizarre job, seeking out gods to convert into energy, but when he’s tasked with retrieving a deity from an elderly woman in New York, he’s truly out of his element. Before he can learn who sold her the dangerous object, she swallows a piece of it and goes into painful convulsions in front of his eyes.

Calling himself Johnny Appleseed, an elusive man has stolen fragments of gods and is traversing the country, peddling the contraband as a miracle cure to anyone desperate enough to believe him. With the help of his colleague, Angel, and a documentary filmmaker intent on exposing the Registry’s secrets, Chris must chase down the culprit and recover the stolen gods before all hell breaks loose.

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Sheep Review: Devil in the Wires: A Field Ops Novel

About the Author:

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Tim Lees is a British author now living in Chicago. He is a regular contributor to Interzone, Black Static, and other titles. He is the author of the much praised novel, "Frankenstein's Prescription."

Book Review: Devil in the Wires: A Field Ops Novel by Tim Lees

Devil in the Wires: A Field Ops Novel
by Tim Lees
Kindle Edition, 272 pages
May 19th 2015

by Harper Voyager Impulse
"It's a perfect circle, Chris. The god receives his audience, the grid receives the power—and we light up Chicago."

After the perilous retrieval of a long-dormant god from Iraq, Chris Copeland—professional god hunter and company troubleshooter—is about ready to quit his job. But his employers at the Registry have other plans…plans to build a power facility on the shores of Lake Michigan. Adam Shailer, a rising star at the Registry, thinks he can cage the god, drain its energy, and power the city.

It's Chris's job to make sure nothing goes wrong. And at first, everything seems fine. Great, even. But when ecstatic devotees start leaving human sacrifices on the beach near the god-house, it quickly becomes clear that the god is not as contained as the Registry would have everyone believe. The devil's in the wires, and there's no turning back now.

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This is one of the most original stories I’ve come across in a while. Chris Copeland is a Field Op at the Registry. He goes out to collect ancient power from the land. Places where people have worshiped have an energy that can be captured and used to create electricity. But what exactly are they capturing? And should they?

There is action, mystery, betrayal and a little bit of romance thrown in. Chris is the best at capturing gods and when an old friend offers him a job that is “too good to be true” he knows something is wrong, but can’t pass up the opportunity. Manipulated from square one Chris, an Englishman, finds himself in Chicago trying to connect a god’s power and serial killings taking place in town. Not to mention the ice age conditions that hit Chicago in the middle of summer for a day. Then there is a mistake from his past stalking him.

The story moves at a good pace, but sometimes the dialogue is cumbersome. Making dialogue sound the way someone would actually speak, with all the stops and starts, doesn’t translate well in written form and ends up breaking the flow of the story. There was some repetition and an over use of “OK” and “yeah” in the dialogue.

This book is a great read based on the originality of the storyline.

“There are people who will tell you that gods are nothing without us—literally nothing: that they’re a residue laid down by centuries of worship, of wailing, moaning and wringing of hands. Emotional fallout, nothing more. And there’s truth in that: these are the things that make them strong, that make them grow. But they were here long, long before. They were here before us all.

Rousing one, as I was planning to do now, is like taking a stick and poking at a sleepy bear. Maybe it’ll just roll over and doze off again. Or maybe it’ll yawn, reach out and take your head off.

Maybe.

One other possibility, however, was the one Dayling had held out to me. Maybe, and in what way I could not, so far, imagine—maybe it would want to talk.”

Check out Tim's guest post with I Smell Sheep: Ten things you should know about gods

3 3/4 “powerful” Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:

website-twitter-amazon

Tim Lees is a British author now living in Chicago. He is a regular contributor to Interzone, Black Static, and other titles. He is the author of the much praised novel, "Frankenstein's Prescription."

Tim Lees guest post: Ten Things You Should Know About the Gods

Ten Things You Should Know About the Gods

1. Gods are dangerous. If you haven’t read the instructions, don’t open the tin. It’s as simple as that.

2. Even if you have read the instructions: don’t open the tin. I mean, these are gods, OK? We’re not just talking about a bunch of horny old Greeks here, or a gang of drunken Vikings. Or that Big Guy from the Middle East. No. These are gods. They sit around for centuries, millennia, just soaking up the power, doing nothing very much, till some fool comes along and wakes them up. So think about that, will you?

3. Don’t prod them with a stick. Don’t call them names. Don’t do anything that isn’t exactly what the job requires. And if you’ve any sense, you won’t do that, either.

4. Oh yes. You know the other thing that’s dangerous? More dangerous than gods? Super, super, SUPER dangerous?

5. People.

6. They’ll get you in real trouble.

7. So let’s sum up. Firstly, do not on any account go to Iraq and dig up some primeval entity your boss is keen to get his hands on. In spite of what they told you, Iraq is still a war zone. You could die there. Or worse. Secondly, when said entity is relocated to Chicago by people who imagine they can drain its power to light the city... Stay out of the way. Do NOT, under any circumstances, agree to act as a consultant, advisor or general troubleshooter for the project. (The clue is in the name, on that last one: trouble. Understand?) And while you’re at it, you might think twice about getting back with your old girlfriend there, since she’s undergoing a few problems of her own, including a malicious ex who – oh, but what’s the use? You’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?

8. Well. Don’t say you’ve not been warned, that’s all.

9. Chicago is the third most highly populated city in the USA, with 2.7 million residents. The question now is, who’s going to warn them?

10. Because someone needs to. Quickly, too.

Devil in the Wires: A Field Ops Novel
by Tim LeesKindle Edition, 272 pages
May 19th 2015

by Harper Voyager Impulse

"It's a perfect circle, Chris. The god receives his audience, the grid receives the power—and we light up Chicago."

After the perilous retrieval of a long-dormant god from Iraq, Chris Copeland—professional god hunter and company troubleshooter—is about ready to quit his job. But his employers at the Registry have other plans…plans to build a power facility on the shores of Lake Michigan. Adam Shailer, a rising star at the Registry, thinks he can cage the god, drain its energy, and power the city.

It's Chris's job to make sure nothing goes wrong. And at first, everything seems fine. Great, even. But when ecstatic devotees start leaving human sacrifices on the beach near the god-house, it quickly becomes clear that the god is not as contained as the Registry would have everyone believe. The devil's in the wires, and there's no turning back now.

About the Author:

website-twitter-amazon

Tim Lees is a British author now living in Chicago. He is a regular contributor to Interzone, Black Static, and other titles. He is the author of the much praised novel, "Frankenstein's Prescription."