Parable Book 1: Ravid

This project has been in the works for probably more than 20 years. It started as a single novel, but there was too much to put into a single volume. So I thought, "Why not two?" Still too much. So it's going to be three novels.

I already have a first draft of Book 2: Aviel. The thing is, it's already bigger than Book 1: Ravid. So will it end up as a trilogy? We'll have to see. If Aviel gets too big I may have to split that. Then Book 3: Mayir, which has a strong start....will that be only one volume?

One of the authors I admired when I was considerably younger started a new trilogy, but at last count there were more than 40 novels. I'm not anticipating that here. For one thing I'll probably be gone from this Earth before I can do too many more. For another, there's only so much material that doesn't lend itself to expanding.

Maybe spinoffs, but the premise of Parable can only go so far.

At any rate, Ravid should be available some time in April of 2026. Aviel, perhaps some time in 2027. Depending on things out of my control, Mayir might be in 2028. Considering the current demands on my time that would be an aggressive schedule to achieve.

I hope you enjoy Ravid. Either way please leave a review on Amazon.

Obviously you'll have to wait for the book to be released.

How can a moral thief survive?

Homeless and orphaned, Ravid must steal to live. But taking from laborers is just as abhorrent to him as pilfering from the poor. He could steal from the wealthy, if not for their hired guards. Desperate, he teeters on the verge of starvation.

When Ravid finds abandoned gold in a field, he takes the chance to reform. He sells his loot and buys the farm to legally claim the gold. But the life of a farmer is not what he expected. Crops fail, storms destroy his home, and his new neighbor keeps trying to kill him.

Ravid must choose: stay on the challenging, straight and narrow path, or revert to what he knows best. Or is there another way?

Stupid or Smart?

So, was this spider really smart, or really stupid?

The Brotherhood #64

By Mark W. Meier

Part 64

Act V

Victory

Epilogue

Six weeks later Ben Kiel welcomed Austin and Cromwell back to the law firm. His sorrow at Amy’s death was tempered by the mixed news of Judge Boynton’s ruling which allowed his business to be reconstituted.

Terrance Yang, the minority stakeholder in Grambic Tiles, was awarded another eighty percent of the company. Judge Boynton had reinstated the only will ever filed with Michael Grambic’s actual signature. Grambic hadn’t known of his cousin until years later, and Yang had been instrumental in the days following his father’s death.

The remaining ten percent of the company was awarded to Victor Howe, who had been deemed a hero for trying to save Amy. Every one of Grambic’s executive assistants over the years had been named as the inheritor of ten percent of Grambic’s assets, and Boynton allowed Howe to receive it. Howe was ecstatic.

The recuperating former secretary was also awarded all other Grambic holdings – cash, property, and investments, which included the Grambic mansion. In gratitude of Amy’s actions, which were never specified, Howe formed a nonprofit organization to fund overseas missionaries from Amy’s Baptist church in Waterloo. In turn, Howe was awarded the aloe plant found in Amy’s hotel room. His only response was a wide grin of appreciation.

A bereft Gavin eventually found a relative willing to accept a collect phone call from Georgia. Enough money was wired for the clerk to buy a bus ticket back to Waterloo. When he arrived, he discovered he’d been fired. Not surprising, but a disappointment nonetheless. A nearby convenience store hired him as a night clerk.

Charges of attempted manslaughter were dropped against Nachell Peralta. The district attorney found her assertion she thought Amy posed a serious threat was reasonable and declined to prosecute. With Terrance Yang firmly ensconced in the spacious office on the top floor of Grambic Tower, Peralta found working there distasteful. His daily lunch delivery of greasy-spoon cheeseburgers churned Peralta’s stomach. Within a month she’d found other employment as a personal security consultant.

In the space between spaces, where the Brotherhood resided, power shifted. Kulak, under orders from Rosimar, demoted Chamos for his failure. Ruax had benefited from the whole incident. He now outranked Chamos. Mastema vanished, presumably to train another wizard. None in the Brotherhood had an inkling of where he’d gone.

Most surprising of all, Baraqijal was given much more authority than he’d ever dreamed of. His advancement put him nearly on par with the power of the demoted Chamos, which drove the senior Brother to distraction.

The mystery of how a statue of John Wesley vanished from its place in Reynold’s Square remained. That it suddenly appeared at the top of Grambic Tower was an even deeper enigma.

Don’t ask the Brotherhood to explain. They’re too busy with other plans.

***

Bathin stepped out of a sound-stifling thick fog and showed an identity card to an official about to enter a virology lab. “Doctor Gao? I’m Doctor Ren Long from the World Health Organization.”

The End

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