Vorab-RezensentenBob Mayer

"Before there was just me now, there was a bunch of other stuff that I don't remember. People keep telling me I should remember, but maybe if you can't remember there is a reason. Thus begins Lara’s story. Who is she? What reality should she believe? A psychological thriller traveling into the intimate and infinite realm of time and parallel worlds. The true question is which of them is Lara’s reality? Who is she really? What happened to her? Is her reality the one where she’s holding a bloody knife and her family has been slaughtered? Is it the one where she’s in the mental institution against her will, being experimented upon? Is it the one where’s she working as a gardener for a woman who has secrets of her own? There’s an even more frightening possibility with even more potential. That all of them are true. The powers-that-be think they can dig for the answer. By sending her to the Fifth Floor. That’s a mistake. "

"Same date; six different years, the Time Patrol must save our timeline from the Shadow by preserving our past. Nine-Eleven is a day that reverberates in our collective conscious. But is a date of significance throughout history. On Nine-Eleven 9 A.D., three Roman legions were annihilated by an alliance of Germanic tribes; the Romans would never again attempt to expand east of the Rhine River. On Nine-Eleven 1973, a military coup in Chile, engineered by the United States, toppled the elected President and eventually brought Pinochet to power. On Nine-Eleven 1857, over 100 emigrants were slaughtered in the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah. On Nine-Eleven 2011, over 3,000 Americans were killed in the word terrorist attack in our history. All of these events, and others on the same day, are being manipulated by the SHADOW in an attempt to change our history. It is up to the Time Patrol to send an agent back to six different years on Nine Eleven and make sure our timeline remains intact. If they fail, our present will snap out of existence! "

"Same date; six different years, the Time Patrol must save our timeline from the Shadow by preserving our past. On the 4th of July 362 B.C. is the Battle of Mantinea in Greece, in which Sparta is defeated by Thebes in a Pyrrhic victory, leading to a third party uniting Greece: Philip II, father of a man who would change history: Alexander The Great. But what if Sparta wins the battle? The 4th of July, 1776 is one of the most important dates in American history, but there is also the 4th of July exactly 50 years later, in 1826, when two of the architects of that document and the country, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, die within hours of each other. What secrets do they hold close on their deathbeds? And who else might know about them? At Gettysburg, the Confederacy reaches its ‘high water mark’ with Pickett’s charge on the 3rd of July 1863. But on the 4th, both armies stare at each other on a rainy day, waiting for the other to make a move. What if the Union attacks? In the same war, on the same day, in a victory that is over-shadowed by Gettysburg in terms of publicity, but of more value strategically, Grant takes Vicksburg on the 4th of July, 1863. But what if he fails? All of these events, and others on the same day, are being attacked by the SHADOW. It is up to the Time Patrol to send an agent back to six different years on the 4th of July and make sure our timeline remains intact. If they fail, our present will snap out of existence! "

The future is made by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The fact that history doesn’t record the heroics of these people doesn’t alter that. The 6th of June is such a day While history doesn’t record the heroics, there are those who notice. And there are those who want to stop those ordinary people and change our history in order to create a time tsunami and wipe our present out. It is up to the Time Patrol to send an agent back to each of six, 6th of Junes, and make sure that doesn’t happen!

What does it take to change history and destroy our reality? The same date; six different years. 44 BC. Caesar heads to the Senate for his date with death. 1493 AD: Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after ‘discovering’ the New World. But more than acclaim awaits him. 1917 AD: The Last Czar, Nicholas II, abdicates. He, and his family, are supposed to be taken prisoner; but some have other plans. 493 AD: The First King of Italy, Odoacer, is executed by Theodoric, an event considered the end of the Western Roman Empire. But if the sword goes the other way? 480 AD: A massive Persian Army is invading Greece. Standing in its way: King Leonidas and 300 Spartans. And whispering in Leonidas’ ear is a priestess from the Oracle of Delphi. But what is she telling him? The Time Patrol must send an agent back to each day, with just each having 24 hours to defeat the Shadow’s plan to disrupt our time-line, creating a time tsunami and wiping our present out.

Let us now praise prime numbers The power, the peculiar glory of prime numbers Is that nothing begat them, No ancestors, no factors, Adams among the multiplied generations. Helen Spalding After the Chaos, mankind surrendered control to Dealer, a powerful computer that has kept society running for centuries. It helped mankind survive the phage. A virus that devolved human DNA into four groups with different lifespans, ranging from People with no Deathday, to burners with a median Deathday of 25. Except it’s all been a lie. Twins, Grace and Millay were separated on Dealing Day; one a burner, the other a People. They are the Prime, but in order to achieve their fate, they must be together. The Truce between Dealer and cyborgs is over. A new Chaos threatens. And Grace and Millay are the deciding factor. But first, they must figure out: what is the truth?

“My candle burns on both ends; It will not last the night. But ah my foes, and oh my friends, It gives a lovely light!” It is now 30 days until Grace’s Deathday That is the fate on the red card Grace was dealt at age six on Dealing Day. A burner. Her twin sister, Millay, was dealt a white card. A People. No Deathday. For twenty years, the sisters have lived different lives. In different places. Then there’s the wild card, Ryker, a burner, who has no memories of his own past. In what was left of the world after the Chaos, mankind surrendered control to Dealer, a powerful computer that has kept society running for centuries. But truths don’t come easy. And everyone and everything is not as they appear. The mantra in following Dealer’s edicts: It is what it is. Until today. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world!”

Place, time and family. Three things that shape individuals. Sometimes with love. Other times with violence. Former covert operative, Horace Chase, has just discovered he has a son; a son who fled the Military Institute of South Carolina a year and a half ago after being accused of murder. The victim is the grandson of the most powerful woman in Charleston, South Carolina, who has sworn vengeance. Chase teams up with another former covert operative Dave Riley and one of Riley’s old CIA friends, Kate Westland to find his son and uncover the truth. Barely into their investigation they become caught up in a land development deal for Daufuskie Island worth hundreds of millions. Chase and Riley’s covert background has taught them many things, but the most valuable has been that nothing is ever as it appears as an old nemesis rears her head, hell bent on revenge against them both along with a good helping of greed. And in the shadows hovers THE CELLAR, the agency that polices the world of covert operations. One by one, the competitors of the land deal are being killed and the threat to Chase’s son grows. And nothing, not the present, not the past, and no one, are as they appear to be. Who will be left standing?

Book Two in the Shit Doesn't Just Happen: The Gift of Failure Series by NY Times Bestselling Author, West Point Graduate and former Green Beret, Bob Mayer. THE CHALLENGER: ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURE “My God, Thiokol. When do you want me to launch? Next April?” Senior NASA official on a conference call to the manufacturer of the solid boosters, when they recommended on the morning of the launch that it be postponed. THE SINKING OF THE KURSK “It's dark here to write, but I'll try by touch. It seems like there are no chances, 10%-20%. Let's hope that at least someone will read this. Hello to everyone. There is no need to despair." Captain Lieutenant Dmitri Kolesnikov, commander 7th Compartment (turbine room) Russian submarine Kursk. THE SULTANA EXPLOSION “If we arrive safe at Cairo it would be the greatest trip ever made on the western waters, as there were more people on board than were ever carried on one boat on the Mississippi River!” William J, Gambrel, first clerk & part owner of the steamship Sultana. PEARL HARBOR “Should hostilities once break out between Japan and the United States, it would not be enough that we take Guam and the Philippines, nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House. I wonder if our politicians (who speak so lightly of a Japanese-American war) have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.” Admiral Yamamoto, Commander Japanese Navy. (Note that this quote was used extensively for propaganda purposed by the United States by leaving out the last sentence) DEEPWATER HORIZON “Risk analysis continues to mislead us because we’re only looking at part of the risk. The same trail of tears led to Katrina, to the Massey Big Branch (coal) mine disaster, and it’s showing up here again.” Professor Robert Bea THE LAST CZAR “I am not prepared to be a tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling." Nicholas II, last Czar of Russia. ALIVE! “It was repugnant. Through the eyes of our civilized society it was a disgusting decision. My dignity was on the floor having to grab a piece of my dead friend and eat it in order to survive. 'But then I thought of my mother and wanted to do my best to get back to see her. I swallowed a piece and it was a huge step - after which nothing happened.” Dr. Robert Canessa

Saying “shit happens” indicates events are random, have no meaning and there is no accountability or responsibility. It indicates such events could just as easily happen again and there’s nothing we can do about them. Bullshit. This book is about catastrophes and how to avoid them, mitigate their effects and learn from them as seen from the perspective of the Masters of Chaos: United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets). Taking the attitude shit happens is negative and is fatal. Titanic: Systematic Failure Kegworth Plane Crash: The Danger of Deferring to Authority and Experts Little Big Horn: Leadership Failure New London Schoolhouse Explosion: Lack of Focus The Donner Party: Social Disintegration From Tulips to the Housing Bubble: Greed Overwhelms Reality Apollo 13: Success Snatched from the Jaws of Catastrophe The bottom line is we can predict and prevent most catastrophes because every one has at least one man made factor, of the 7 cascade events, involved. In other words, we have control over whether shit happens. But it means changing a complacent mindset, getting rid of delusional thinking, and viewing the world around us in a Green Beret way. Because shit doesn’t just happen.