Starpassage: Honor and Mercy: Book 3 by Clark Rich Burbidge Pages: 320
Published by Deep River Books LLC on June 21, 2018
Series: StarPassage #3
Genres: Middle Grade, Paranormal, Time Travel
In Book One, teenagers Tim and Martie are desperate to end their parents' downward spiral. Then an ancient Christmas ornament reveals its secrets, sending the siblings across the centuries on a search for hope. But Tim and Martie aren't the only ones hunting through time. They're being watched by dark figures-Trackers doomed to haunt history. These Trackers believe the teens' ornament is their key to freedom, and they will do whatever it takes to steal it.
In Book Two, Bobby and Mike are struggling after a tragic accident rocked their family. With the help of the Carson family, they go on a dangerous adventure to solve riddles, save lives, escape the stronger, faster Trackers, and experience some of the most dreadful and exciting moments in history.
Now, the Gold Medal winning saga continues with Book Three. Mike longs to help a struggling new patient who may hold dangerous secrets. An evil Tracker has escaped to the present, bringing with him plans to end the world. New and more deadly passages await. Is there a traitor in their midst already? How can they fight what they cannot see? Is it safe to use the relic at all? Or...does the relic have its own secret plan? Join our growing band of travelers as they resist the powerful Trackers at every turn while trying to solve the relic's riddles and guard against the ever-growing risk of betrayal. It's a wild ride where hope and survival hang by a slender thread, woven by an ancient relic that becomes more mysterious with every page turned.
Books that Have Significantly Influenced My Writing:
There are too many to list them all. I will provide a quick list of ten for your information. I enjoy stories both true and fictional where the characters must reach inside themselves and find their greatness. Overcoming is a powerful read for me. It is the personal struggle during the challenge that makes a difference. Monsters in literature can be internal or external. But however they are constructed they are key to the story. No hero becomes such without overcoming something. It is the monsters that allow heroes to become heroes. This is true in our own lives as well. We too often see trials, challenges or disruption as overwhelming and by obsessing on our loss or the sudden change or bad luck we lose our way. But understanding that it is these very trials or personal monsters that provide us with the tools to become great changes the game. Our darkest hours then are seen in a new light as a path that allows us to become something more and better than we otherwise might have been. We have these examples all around us in history and contemporary life. When we choose to dwell on the hope and possibilities that challenges make possible it opens our minds to our own great potential and the Divine that tells us we are not lost, we can do it and that we are never alone. Here is a list of books that can re-enforce such attitudes and have done so in my life:
- “An Angel in the Whirlwind” about the life of George Washington should be on everyone’s reading list. It was a different time and if we do not waste our energy on political correctness and look at the great man that had the opportunity to become king of America and turned it down maybe there is something we can learn. America is the only country that was formed by revolution that did not immediately morph into a dictatorship of some kind. One man, George Washington, was the reason.
- I am inspired by individuals who do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do such as the character Sydney Carton in “A Tale of Two Cities”.
- The story of Scrooge’s redemption and his change is powerful as written by Dickens in “A Christmas Carol.”
- “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” have always been my favorites since I discovered them one Christmas morning at the age of 21. Tolkein knew how to get the reader to turn the page and fill each one with wondrous characters and a real story.
- “The Last Stand of Fox Company” is a powerful look at a desperate effort by a small Company to keep open the road so that thousands of Marines could survive during the retreat from Chosin Resevoir in Korea.
- “Band of Brothers” and many of the other stories about the 101st and 82nd Airborne’s contribution during World War II.
- “Treasure” and almost any other book by Clive Cussler.
- “Dunkirk” The real story of how the British Army was saved.
- “Killer Angels” Michael Shaara’s riveting story of the battle of Gettysburg. And other books by his son Jeff.
- “The Screwtape Letters” by CS Lewis. Every young person that doubts the power of faith and the existence of God should read this. “Chronicles of Narnia” are also a wonderful read.
- I have not included the Scriptures here but they are my daily study guide and inspiration. They cannot be on any list because they are in a class of their own.
Unexpected Rules
Clynt felt a tremor of excitement buzz through his body. He had waited for over a century for this moment. Every sleepless hour he had plotted and planned for the opportunity to regain his physical life. It all pointed to this moment. He couldn’t believe he actually stood in the Present Time ready to claim the victory due him. Overwhelmed with a hundred years of blocked emotion, he hissed, “I’m free.” It hardly seemed possible. Standing triumphant over Tim’s sleeping form, he’d finally won. Revenge on the Carson family would be sweet, and nobody could stop him. “I’m free!” His words burst out this time in a greedy yell. “Get ready for the ride o’ yer life, boy.”
He didn’t know how it worked yet, but he didn’t care. Nothing mattered except what happened in the next few seconds. Would it hurt? It don’t matter what it feels like. No pain’s gonna stop me from gettin’ my life back.
Clynt hovered at the end of the bed. He closed his eyes and fell forward toward Tim, expecting something new and wonderful. Clynt’s ghostly shade met Tim’s body, causing Tim to stir. But Clynt’s form didn’t stop, continuing through like a child who lands in the water and sinks below the surface. Clynt felt nothing. “Strange. Shoulda done somethin’.”
He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, realizing he had passed completely through Tim, the mattress, and frame. Initially confused at what greeted his view, he stared at the beams that supported the bedroom floor.
“What’s happenin’ here? I’m inside the floor,” he yelled and willed himself to rise back up into Tim’s bedroom. Clynt floated next to the bed. “Musta missed him.” He kept his eyes open this time and jumped onto the bed landing on Tim feet first.
“Got ’em square. This time it’s gotta work!”
His boots sank through into the floor leaving half of his body visible above Tim. Tim rolled over, eyes fluttering. “The boy feels somethin’. Gonna wake him up if I ain’t careful.”
What’d I do wrong? He tried to think. Clynt felt his frustration building toward explosion. He tried to calm himself. I’ve waited so long. Everything depends on this working. The explosion won out. Clynt howled at the ceiling, rose up, and tried a third and then a fourth time, yelling in anger with each failed attempt. Beaten, he sat down on the floor in the bedroom, shaking his head.
“Come on, Clynt ol’ boy. Think. What’s the problem here?”
He swayed and moaned in such a way that, could it have been heard, it would have been a perfect haunting sound track from a Hollywood movie. But Clynt wasn’t fully part of the Present Time so his rage went unnoticed. After several minutes, Clynt looked at the bed again. Astounded, he froze immediately. Tim was sitting up, looking around the room.
A panic-filled thought rushed through his mind like a runaway train. Does he know I’m here? Tim’s head swiveled back and forth. Clynt watched the boy closely for any sign of recognition.
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About Clark Rich Burbidge
Clark Burbidge was born and raised in the high mountain valleys of the Rockies. He earned an MBA from the University of Southern California and a BS from the University of Utah. Clark and his wife, Leah, live near Salt Lake City, Utah, where they enjoy their blended family of ten children and five grandchildren. Clark’s award-winning works include the StarPassage series, Giants in the Land trilogy and the acclaimed Christmas book, A Piece of Silver: A Story of Christ.
sherry fundin
Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous reading list.
sherry @ fundinmental
Frances Watson
thanks for the giveaway