Edge of God
Welcome to the home page for the action-suspense
thriller, EDGE OF GOD,
by Beowulf Pels, now available from internet bookstores
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OF GOD online now for delivery
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using this information:
EDGE OF GOD
; Beowulf Pels; iUniverse, 2005;
Large Trade Paperback: ISBN: 0-595-35466-1; Ebook: ISBN:
0-595-79959-0.
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OF GOD including maps, a Glossary/Reference
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In the fast-paced, action-packed thriller EDGE
OF GOD, Christian, Israeli, and
Muslim extremists combine vengeance with religion
in a lethal contest of power, wealth, and faith.
EDGE OF GOD
is about counter-terrorist strategies executed by
individuals unburdened of the requirements adhering
to governments of the civilized world. It's also about
how a man, too familiar with war's savagery, has found
peace in his life only to find that personal tragedy
has once again made him seek to visit brutality and
destruction on new enemies. Finally, it's about how
this man hopes to regain some measure of his humanity
before he passes a threshold from which he may find
no return.
Ex-CIA covert operator Martin Dallas never failed
a mission, not in the jungles of Cambodia or the deserts
of the Middle East. After Wahhabi terrorists murder
his wife, Dallas must put aside his desire for vengeance
and lead an elite mercenary team in a decisive covert
op designed to end terrorism. Financed by an American
industrialist, Dallas secures suitcase nukes for his
mission and prepares to strike at the heart of radical
Islamic terrorism. At the same time, the CIA and a
SEAL team have only hours to save tens of thousands
of Americans from dying in a nuclear inferno triggered
by suicide bombers who have already penetrated U.S.
waters.
While tracking the nuclear-armed terrorists and deploying
the first of his weapons, Dallas finds his repressed
desire for vengeance emerging from its dark hiding
place. He quickly slides back into forgotten habits
like kidnapping, torture, and murder, and discovers
that, far from finding his lapse abhorrent, he finds
he likes it. When it's time to detonate his first
bomb, he realizes he's progressively losing his humanity
and is transforming into what he seeks to destroy.
As CIA and Mossad forces close in on him and his bomb,
Dallas must quickly decide whether he'll incinerate
thousands of civilians…or salvage his soul
by allowing his mission to fail.
Pels has judiciously embedded some of his extensive
research about religion, Middle East politics, Biblical
history, technologies, and nuclear weapons into EDGE
OF GOD to help create a novel
so realistic that it could easily be pulled from yesterday'
s newsfeeds or confidential memoranda originating
from our national security agencies. Pels has also
delicately threaded into the fabric of his book allegory
and nuance to enhance his readers' experience by gradually
revealing sub-themes and layers of meaning that add
richness and depth to the story.
Details of the characters' idiosyncrasies, their
humor, and in some cases their hubris exposes their
souls and motivations as they both create and are
acted upon by the events of the story, in some cases
achieving transformations that reveal the core themes
of the book. With the ever-twisting story line and
sub-plots, readers will find this action-packed novel
informative, suspenseful, and engaging.
Author's
Commentary
EDGE OF GOD
is many things, but first and foremost it's a novel
that's meant to entertain. It's fast-paced, realistic
fiction with what I hope you'll agree are engaging
characters and timely themes entwined in an intriguing,
constantly morphing plot line.
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Part
of what gives EDGE OF
GOD its realism are the many facts
that form the story's basis. Research about history,
religions, technology and fundamentalist Islamic terrorism
contributed the accurate details that give readers both
enlightening information and a sense of realism that
elevates tension in the story. I present these facts
only to support the plot and characters. They won't
burden you with lengthy diatribes which would make you
recall (with dread) your high school ancient history
classes. The EDGEOFGOD.COM
website has a download
page which you can use to obtain files
containing maps, a glossary, and online references which
I used to develop the factual foundations for the book. Much of this research guided development
of the story's central themes. One of these is the way
in which the civilized world contends with the terrorism
threat posed by religious fundamentalists, specifically
the Wahhabi extremists described in the story. In the
middle of the book William T. Carnahan, CEO of a global
energy service company and the mission's financier,
says with respect to the terrorists: "It's time
to stop pretending that they'll respond to please and
thank you. Time to make them understand we can end them."
In the post-Nine-Eleven era, he's suggesting that the
civilized world's very polite, very civilized ways have
no meaning for terrorists, so why would they listen?
To pull from the movie COOL HAND LUKE: "What
we have here is a failure to communicate."
We cannot expect tyrants and terrorists
of Osama bin Laden's ilk to respond to communication
and courtesies common in the civilized world: they simply
do not process information the same way that we do.
They differ from Hitler, Stalin, Tojo and their followers
only in that they reject the political notions of 'nation'
favoring instead the concept of Umma, or the
entirety of the Islamic world (according, of course,
only to their version of Islam), and the strict
adherence to what they believe are the pure teachings
of God. Therefore, there is little to enable any sort
of meaningful communication between the radical culture
of fundamentalist Islamic extremism and the civilized
world.
Carnahan calls for a different, far
more direct approach to dealing with terrorists than
has ever been employed or even suggested. The story
contains a message that the measures being used today
aren’t effective—anybody can read a newsfeed
or watch CNN and figure this out—and that strong
measures are required to end terrorism.
What would Carnahan consider a “strong
measure”? Note that before Nine-Eleven, the only
surprise attack on US soil occurred at Pearl Harbor.
The government of Imperial Japan directed its military
to conduct the attack, and four years later the Allies
dropped two nuclear weapons after conducting massive
fire-bombing raids on Japan’s cities. The war
ended nine days later. Nuclear weapons qualify as strong
measures—perhaps too strong, but their use in
1945 quickly halted World War II and prevented future
world wars because everybody was scared of nuclear weapons,
with very good reason.
Strong measures in the context of
EDGE OF GOD
include anything that makes the consequences
of terrorism so severe that people will stop engaging
in these violent activities. Strong measures ended the
war against Imperial Japan: the consequences of continued
nuclear bombing by the Allies were simply too severe
for the Japanese to consider prolonging the war. The
lessons taught at Hiroshima and Nagasaki have persisted
in the civilized world, but unfortunately they have
no apparent meaning for the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists
in large part because although they know we have the
power, they also know we fear to use it. Our
past behaviors have successfully demonstrated that no
such measures would ever be used against them…at
least by governments of the civilized world.
But where is the line drawn between strong measures
and an unrecoverable loss of man's humanity? The other
main theme embodied in EDGE
OF GOD exposes the very personal,
intimate hell that men can impose on each other and
on themselves.
Men do not arrive at the gate of hell quickly. Rather,
it is a destination towards which they glide down a
slope, slowly at first and picking up speed as they
close upon its door. Everybody knows which road is paved
with the best of intentions. And so it is in EDGE
OF GOD as Martin Dallas finds his
unique counter-terrorist mission changing and taking
him, unknowingly at first, more closely towards a murderous
hell that he would desperately wish he had long since
renounced forever. As he sinks deeper into his mission
he drives himself towards his perdition, slowly gaining
awareness of his ultimate destination but unable to
do anything but continue. Part of his doggedness comes
from dedication to duty and mission and part comes from
his desire for vengeance. But Dallas also has help from
others who urge him on 'for God and Country'' with primary
emphasis on 'God'. The men he works with, as well as
the men he works against, have combined their revenge
with their religion, and Dallas finds himself mired
in the middle of it all.
Dallas lapses back into killer, kidnapper,
and grand inquisitor as he proceeds with his mission
to deal 'strong measures' to the terrorists who menace
civilization. Ultimately he must find for himself where
the line between strong measures and the loss of humanity
lies before he passes beyond the threshold from which
he may find no return.
I end my commentary with my thanks
and gratitude to the very capable men and women who
courageously serve their country in the armed forces
and intelligence services of the U.S. Our politicians
and bureaucrats would be well-advised to give them the
resources and latitude they need to do their jobs properly,
and then get out of the way.
Beowulf Pels
June, 2005
United States of America.
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