A Taste of the Apocalypse

Almost every novel has a back story. It’s the author’s way of pushing his or her’s particular opinion on a subject. A Taste of the Apocalypses is no exception.

On the surface, Apocalypse deals with the legends and myths of the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection. But for me, it was a way of giving my opinions on religion and spirituality – two subjects, in my opinion – distinct from each other.

Jeremy Nash, due to his strict Catholic upbringing under his grandparents, has forsaken the faith and turned agnostic. In his words, “Why should I care about the existence of God against all the evidence that our interest is not reciprocated?”

As he pursues the kidnappers of his sister, he is exposed to characters that have a spiritual, as opposed to, a religious outlook on God and the ultimate meaning of life.  Stanton Roth is one such character. He is enamored with the Essen philosophy – or Gnosis - and like the Essenes believes that ‘heaven’ or salvation is not automatically granted because one performs mindless rituals under the rules of religious institutions.

If Christianity was to grow in vast numbers, St. Paul had to remove the influence of gnosis. 

Roth said, “Why do you think Paul pushed for his version of Christianity? Simple salesmanship. Paul knew how to sell a product and the product that the Gnostics had would not sell. That dog wouldn’t hunt. Look. If you’re going to start a new religion, one that can spread quickly around the known world, you need to tailor it in such a way that everyone, not a select few, can join. Like any good salesman you don’t raise objections like having to be circumcised, or not eat certain foods like pork and other cultural restrictions not palatable to your average gentile, who far outnumbered the Jews back then. You also have to build an organization.”

This concept of spirituality, or reaching salvation through self-realization and lot’s of personal work, has been the inner teachings of every Western religion – Christianity (Essen/Gnosis), Judaism (Kabala), Islam (Sufism). You will even find the search for self and the inner meaning of spirituality in the ‘primitive’ cultures like the Yaqui Indians as described by Carlos Castaneda in his books. 

I hope you enjoy this first Jeremy Nash book as entertainment but also a little education on what I think is important as it pertains to the ultimate reality of life.

When I started researching A Taste of the Apocalypse, I meant it to be a one-off book similar to the other books I planned to write. But my story polishers, Jon Hargrove and good friend Alan Hald recommended that I create a series character that would hopefully entice agent and publishers to take on the books.

So I gave it some thought and realized that Jeremy Nash could have a multitude of adventures where each Nash chronicle in the series is a thriller that sends Nash on an investigation of these myths and legends. Though he doesn’t believe in any of them, he is forced into pursuing them by threats to the lives of his family members or himself or threats to his reputation.

The formula of the chronicles consists of a conspiracy theory, unsolved mystery, urban myth, New Age belief or paranormal practice that Nash is forced to pursue; combined with an underlying real world event, organization or persons that is somehow connected to what he is pursuing. Thus, it provides the thriller aspect of the stories.ince there is an almost infinite supply of conspiracy theories, unsolved mysteries, urban myths, New Age beliefs and paranormal practices, the Nash Chronicles has at it’s disposal an unlimited quantity of plot ideas to continue the series beyond the first three books.

Pair these ‘puzzle stories’ in the vein of the National Treasure movies and Indian Jones with some Robert Langdon thrown in, and I think readers like your selves would enjoy a good romp through a seemingly unending number of myths and legends that the public enjoys today.

Have fun reading the Jeremy Nash Chronicles. I’m having fun writing them.