Description
<p><strong><em>A tragic warrior lost in two worlds... Which one will he choose?</em></strong></p><p>The war in Iraq ended for Freddie when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once a skilled gamer as well as a capable soldier, he's now a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he's inhabiting two separate realities.</p><p>The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse—and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic, which Freddie enters when he sleeps. The lines soon blur for Freddie, not just caught between two worlds, but lost within himself.</p><p>Is he Lieutenant Freddie Williams, a leader of men, a proud officer in the US Army who has suffered such egregious injury and loss? Or is he Frederick, Prince of Stormwind, who must make sense of his horrific visions in order to save his embattled kingdom from the monstrous Horde, his only solace the beautiful gardener, Rebecca, whose gentle words calm the storms in his soul.</p><p>In the conscious world, the severely wounded vet faces a strangely similar and equally perilous mission to that of the prince—a journey along a dark road, haunted by demons of guilt and memory. Can he let patient, loving Becky into his damaged and shuttered heart? It may be his only way back from Hell.</p>
Story Behind The Book
Jewels was written first as novella for a Space Opera anthology contest that Samhain Publishing put out a call for submissions. It didn't make it but I took the rejection as a stepping stone and expanded Jewels from a novella to a novel.
The idea for Jewels came from a blog post where I was experimenting with the use of first-person point of view.
Reviews
"If you are looking for a read that combines a variety of issues and
layers that will have you running through the pages, then JEWELS by
Lakisha Spletzer is just the right kind of book for you. At a time when
series like those created by Stephanie Mayer, J. K. Rowling and others
are dominating the bookstores and now the movie theaters, this is one
that I can see headed in that direction. When talent and skill are the
requirements for success, then you won't be able to go wrong with this
literary adventure." -- C.A. Webb "Conversations Book Club"
