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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

What do they know that he doesn’t? - The Gatekeeper’s Son (The Gatekeeper’s Son #1) by C.R. Fladmark

Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust.

Description:

Publication date: October 1st, 2014

Junya’s grandfather is a billionaire who keeps the secret to his success hidden in a heavily guarded safe.

His mother is a martial artist who wields a razor-sharp katana—and seems to read his mind.

And a mysterious girl in a Japanese school uniform can knock him over—literally—with just a look.

What do they know that he doesn’t?

Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust.

What has his family been keeping from him?

Junya’s journey takes him from the narrow streets of San Francisco to Japan, and through hidden portals to the top of the ancient Japanese Izumo Shinto shrine, to places where death and violence are a way of life. And in a mystical world he’s never imagined, he finds his true destiny.

From the author:

I think there’s something really exciting about the teenage years. Sure, a lot of things sucked too but it’s a time when you have your whole life ahead of you and anything is possible. I find that YA has a more optimistic outlook than adult books where people are usually ‘set’ in a restricted set of circumstances. Also, I found many YA books I read were somewhat condescending to the readers. Teens are a smart group and there isn’t any topic/subject that needs to be ‘dumbed down’ for them and I wanted to write for them. And lastly, I write the books I would’ve liked to read when I was a teenager. 
*****
Any book has innumerable sources of inspiration but the event that first made the idea 'click' was on one of my first trips to Japan. My father-in-law took me to an archeological site where may un-before seen ancient artifacts were discovered. The story was, a work-crew cutting a new road through a bamboo forest noticed something bronze and shiny poking up through the soil. When archaeologists began to dig, they discovered hundreds of bronze swords, laying in rows. There was no doubt they were buried long ago but why? The archaeologists couldn't find any obvious reason--it was the first finding of such a thing. My first reaction when I saw them was, maybe they weren't buried for use on This Side. Maybe they were left for others in another dimension -The Other Side.

About the author:
Award winning author, C.R. Fladmark lives in a small, historic town in British Columbia and travels often to Japan, where he researches his novels among the ancient sites in Shimane Prefecture. To learn more, and read a way longer bio of his life and see FAQ, visit him:



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