Like a puppy on coke
- The Edge of Reality: A Cold War Thriller
by C G Faulkner
The Edge of Reality is the story of a CIA Field Operative, Jefferson Davis Fortner. It is 1969, and Jeff has been assigned to investigate the claim by a Soviet Aerospace Engineer that, if true, could spell the end of NASA. The KGB is planning to sabotage the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, with the help of a traitor.
Complicating matters is the fact that after being drugged and interrogated by a mad KGB Colonel, Agent Fortner isn’t sure who to trust- and the Soviet Rocket Scientist happens to be a beautiful woman, and he’s falling in love.
Jeff Fortner must fight traitors, enemy agents, and his inner demons to find out the truth, and who is telling it.
The Edge of Reality hits the ground running. Told in a breathless style, the energy and enthusiasm are almost canine. On the back of reading – and abandoning – a rather turgid book written around a similar subject, immediately before picking up TEOR, the book’s pace was like drinking a double espresso. Actually, it was more like having that shot of pure adrenaline that John Travolta injected into Uma Thurman’s chest in Pulp Fiction... I was shocked into wakefulness and fully engaged. The plot continues to hurtle along at a spectacular pace without any let-up. Like a puppy on coke.
However, herein lies the problem. The speed of it all doesn’t allow enough time for each scene to be realised fully, and with all that adrenaline circulating there’s not a moment for the characters to be developed beyond broad strokes into credible, three-dimensional people. Their characters and their stories are only hastily sketched out – a particularly cringing example comes to my mind – between the relentless action scenes. An over-excited puppy is a bundle of fun but it lacks maturity, and there’s a worry that it might even at some point pee on the carpet. Similarly, this rapidly told story, while enormously enjoyable, suffers from having an almost comic-book feel to it. Ultimately though, it’s so full of beans and really so much fun that I can’t help forgive its shortcomings.
While the first half of this short book (at just 131 pages, it’s a quick read) is largely taken up with a chase across the US from Georgia to Florida, when we arrive at Cape Canaveral for the final section, the race is now against time. The setting is the Apollo 11 launch facility at Cape Canaveral. The research here seems pretty solid and the gripping final scenes are better rendered and felt historically on-point. I thought the bitter-sweet ending lent what was needed to elevate an otherwise conventional end.
About the author
C G Faulkner
C G Faulkner has been writing since childhood. In addition to writing, he enjoys reading, (His favourite authors are Bernard Cornwell, John Jakes, Jeff Shaara, Elmore Leonard, and Ian Fleming, among others) studying history and genealogy, watching classic movies and television, doing farmwork, helping his wife homeschool their children, and the great outdoors. They live on a small farm in Georgia, USA.