Happenstance — Robert Eringer

Once a popular print columnist, Meechy Blake has settling in to an uneasy retirement. His dream about a major book exposing the dangers of AI have faded, along with his dwindling back account. He reluctantly accepts a reporting assignment from a webzine A seemingly fluffy travel piece about an obscure canyon called Devil’ s Gate. Driving down the coast, Blake takes the opportunity to reestablish contact with a secretive source from the old days— a retired scientist he nicknamed Dr. Boom-Boom. When Blake tells Boom-Boom where he’ s going, the scientist tries to caution him. Blake laughs off the warning. After a few strange encounters, Blake realizes he has become a target. But why— and by whom? Carefully covering his tracks, Blake sets off on a journey to answer these vexing questions. As Blake’ s quest for the truth evolves, certain secrets come to light that may have the reader asking, Is this really just a fantasy— or is the author revealing some hidden truth? That question is made all the more tantalizing by author Robert Eringer’ s enigmatic background in the world of intelligence and espionage— and his journalistic exposures of that veiled community.