The Darkest Dread

Sam, a strong-willed young woman, faces an imminent death from an illness that has not yet been discovered by medical science. Born and raised in Indiana, Sam dreams of one day meeting her maternal grandmother in Cuba. Unfortunately, all traces of her whereabouts were lost when Sam’s mother angrily broke off communication with her family on the island.

Midnight Alpha, an elite member of a covert government agency, is trying to stop an unidentified terrorist – known simply as the Imposter – from igniting a cataclysmic world event. All that is known is that the Imposter is a former member of Midnight's agency. Midnight, trapped in a time-loop spanning centuries, has spent several loops (each lasting 25-years) trying to find a cure for Sam because, unbeknownst to her, she’s the link to stopping the Imposter.

Each loop, Midnight manages to keep Sam alive a little longer to learn more about her illness but also to get closer to his target and complete his mission. However, Midnight first needs to earn Sam’s trust in order to enlist her help. He learns, thanks to the diaries she willed to him before her last death, the best way to do this is by fulfilling the items on her Bucket List – and that includes finding her grandmother.

Ultimately, Midnight succeeds and Sam joins his agency as a Civilian EM (Enlisted Member). In the process, Midnight discovers the cure to Sam’s illness which is the much needed turning point in his mission. The cure, however, comes at a very high price and convincing Sam to accept it could prove to be more difficult than stopping a global cataclysmic event.

Samus 'Sam' Owsem

A complicated character with humble aspirations, Sam has lived most of her life on the verge of death. Her fractured relationship with her mother, Alicia Moreno, is further complicated when Alicia abruptly breaks off communication with her family in Cuba. Sam, determined and fiercely unrelenting, finds a way to communicate with her grandmother behind her mother's back. Unfortunately, when her grandmother's husband (who is later revealed to be Alicia's biological father and the reason she broke off communication with her family) was persecuted by the Cuban government and her family fled Havana. This blow to Sam came with immeasurable pain as she experienced yet another loss in her life. Her father, a loving and protective entity in her early life, abandoned her after her symptoms began to surface. Unable to process his daughter's suffering and coupled with his own demons following several tours in the Middle East, her father (unnamed in the book to highlight the defection from his family) sought to escape rather than embrace Sam's illness. Sam's tenacity and defiance stems from her complicated relationship with her mother and abandonment issues after her father left. Over the years Sam has learned to cope with loss and the prospect of death in her own way, giving her a hardened exterior (not unlike the exoskeleton worn by her namesake, Samus Aran). Deep down however, Sam is a very intelligent and introspective individual with innate wisdom beyond her years. Her life, a struggle to stay alive, has given her a clear vision and appreciation for things healthy people take for granted. This is where 'Sam's Bucket List' comes from, turning up over and over in the novel, as it expresses Sam's humble desires in life. While her condition continued to worsen with age, life did improve for Sam while in high school. She had become a prolific writer and enjoyed academic success however the highlight came one day when she was approached by the best looking guy in school: Blake Garrison.  A scholar athlete with a 4.0 GPA and captain of the Lacrosse team, Blake was the crush of just about every girl and the envy of every guy in their high school. The son of a Minister, Blake had an ingrained sense of self-righteousness and an arrogance that he somehow passed for charm. Sam and Blake were paired to work on a project together and Blake became instantly attracted to Sam when she showed no interest in him. His advances were met with scoffs and eye rolls which further incensed his desire for her. Despite his arrogant and obnoxious demeanor, Blake proved to be a hard worker and had genuine respect for Sam, something that she appreciated. He was never rude to her or disrespected her, something he had a reputation for and over time Sam began to feel protected around him. She eventually confided in him about her condition when he asked her to go to his games and she refused, stating she couldn't get herself worked up or she'd experience chest pains. Sam's best friend, Zoë, found the strange relationship amusing and would laugh loudly each time Blake and Sam locked eyes when they passed each other in the hallway. Blake, by now close to Sam, made another attempt to ask Sam to go out with him, this time to the Spring Dance and, to his surprise, Sam agreed. While Sam abhorred his amateurish behavior and loud obnoxious outbursts with his Lacrosse teammates, she came to respect Blake and had to admit that over time she had developed feelings for him. With graduation within reach, Prom season became a dream come true for Sam as she was selected to be part of the Prom Court, ultimately winning Prom Queen with Blake as Prom King. Despite her problems at home with her mother and her ever worsening illness, Sam ended her high school senior year on a high note.

Midnight Alpha (née Gabriel Segovia)

Despite the downfall in his original life that led to him becoming a Respawn, Midnight squandered his first few loops indulging in more worldly and carnal pleasures. This sleazy start to his turn as a Respawn eventually led to being discovered by Project Atlantis after the scandal at the 2023 Grammys. While not explained in the book, the celebrities that were simultaneously and romantically involved with Midnight confronted each other on the red carpet. When the gossip columns identified him as the culprit, the watchful hawks at Project Atlantis targeted him as a possible Respawn and recruited him on his next loop. Meeting Boy Wizard at the Groundhog Academy would prove to be the defining moment in his life when Midnight straightened up and accepted his role as a purveyor of good. Learning about camaraderie and the importance of doing the right thing, his years in the academy and eventual field work taught Midnight to develop a solid work ethic that carried over into his personal life. He made up for his past transgressions by taking care of his family (those hurt the most by his actions and behavior on previous loops) and ensured to instill these lessons onto newer recruits. His friendship with Boy Wizard deepened and they took to each other like brothers separated at birth. Unfortunately, after the Joint Chiefs decided to shut down the 9/11 initiative, Boy Wizard changed and this change affected his friendship with Midnight. Not lasting much longer after the agency's decision to no longer stop 9/11, Boy Wizard left his old life along with his old friend. Alone, Midnight decided to carry over everything Boy Wizard taught him and continued to protect the planet. Sadly, it was during Midnight's turn as the agency's foremost elite member that Boy Wizard transitioned to the spiteful and angry form that would eventually become known as the Imposter. In a sense, it's thanks to the Imposter that Midnight meets Sam after she was identified as the key to infiltrating the Prince's inner circle and getting close to the Imposter. During his many loops to save Sam, Midnight ends up falling in love and marrying her knowing full well that she would not remember him or their time together on his next loop. Now in his current loop, he courts Sam to help him stop the Imposter but decides to maintain an emotional distance from her. Not so much to protect himself but more to protect her, knowing that if she fell in love with him she would not accept the cure for her condition. Midnight, intent on making this current loop his very last, knows he will die on July 4th of the following year and has finally figured out that to live, Sam needs a new heart. Their genetic markers make them compatible as donor and recipient and Midnight enlists the help of Zoë, now a lawyer, to draft up a document where Midnight gives his informed consent so Sam can have his heart upon his death. It's not stated in the novel, but after surviving his own expiration, Midnight decides to reenlist in Project Atlantis however when he was offered a position in the upper echelon among his former supervisors, Midnight refuses and opts to remain as an instructor in the academy, imparting his knowledge of over 600-years to the new recruits.

Crimson Avalanche / Boy Wizard (née Enric d’Ullastret)

Born in Barcelona, Spain, to a loving family, Crimson Avalanche was a happy child in his early life however his world was turned upside down when his parents were among the deceased during the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. His parents, both well rounded economists with big aspirations, moved to the United States when Crimson Avalanche was still a toddler and settled in the trendy neighborhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. Bounced from family member to family member after his parent's death, Crimson Avalanche was ultimately raised by his cold and surly grandparents who reluctantly left Barcelona and moved to New York City. Angry and despondent, Crimson Avalanche grew up feeling neglected not just by his immediate family but by life and the world at large. By the time he was 25 he had delved into drugs and by 28 he was homeless after his grandparents, tired of his spiraling and erratic behavior, sold his parent's apartment and moved back to Spain. Shortly after his grandparents left, abandoned once again, Crimson Avalanche took his life. His subsequent loops were filled with desperate attempts to save his parents however he soon realized that his efforts to stop them from entering the Twin Towers would go unheeded. His eventual recruitment into Project Atlantis would be his saving grace, giving him a purpose and, to a greater extent, a family. He remained at the academy year round and became one of the agency's most prolific and celebrated Respawns. Sadly, even then and despite his accolades, Crimson Avalanche was unsuccessful in stopping 9/11. Getting revenge on the terrorists and those involved in masterminding the tragedy did little to quell his rage. Then one day his life would change for the better: a new recruit had figured out how to stop 9/11 and after having to suffer through watching his parents die on live television over and over, Crimson Avalanche had his life back. This would hold true for several loops until Project Atlantis was ordered to no longer interfere with 9/11 as this was creating alternate timelines with more violent terrorist attacks on American soil. Once again, Crimson Avalanche was forced to watch idly as his parents would die over and over on 9/11. He searched for the recruit that had the answer on how to stop 9/11 in an effort to take matters into his own hands but was continually denied by his superiors at Project Atlantis. Having had enough and feeling abandoned by his agency and adopted country, Crimson Avalanche vowed to return and level not just the agency, but the entire world. Having devoted centuries to keeping the planet safe and having nothing to show for it, Crimson Avalanche vowed revenge. He used his knowledge of the future and years as an infiltrated agent in several terrorist groups to earn their trust and make connections that he would then use to coordinate a massive world wide attack. Not intent on physically creating a large scale attack like 9/11, Crimson Avalanche instead wanted to destabilize global democracy by attacking infrastructures necessary for trade and function and creating world-wide panic. Interestingly, despite his vengeful intentions, Crimson Avalanche found love and married the same woman over and over each loop and had a daughter. The one constant from previous loops as a Project Atlantis Respawn that carried over was his penchant for attending mass in La Sagrada Familia in his native Barcelona on the eve before his death. This detail would be prove to be the final piece to bringing him down and stopping him from igniting a global cataclysmic event. Crimson Avalanche is eventually detained and his death is stopped before he could loop. Housed within the confines of Project Atlantis, he is given all the comforts of home and allowed to see and spend time with his family but remains under permanent detention. It's not noted in the book but Crimson Avalanche goes on to live until his natural death 49 years later. He never Respawned after that.

Life Review

The most important element of the story is the Life Review. The process of the Life Review and the spirit's evolution into the Light are taken from research and first-hand accounts of those who have died and returned to their bodies. Care was taken to describe Sam's NDE as what witnesses say they experienced during their death and subsequent returns. The purpose of adding information on the Life Review is three-fold: first, every person, without exception, will some day go through this process. Second, it's during the Life Review that a person examines their entire life; every detail in memories long forgotten down to thoughts and emotions are revisited. What makes this process so striking is not just the level of clarity and detail but the fact that the review is experienced not just from a first-person perspective but also from a third-person perspective. Many witnesses describe their Life Review like watching a movie but also simultaneously reliving every instant of their life. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Life Review is also experienced from the vantage of those we've come in contact with. According to people who have gone through an NDE, they describe being able to 'feel' what others experienced during their encounters. If a person was kind and helpful to someone, they felt the gratitude and appreciation from that individual. Vice versa, the pain and distress from causing harm or injuring another is experienced by the individual undergoing the Life Review. In essence and according to research on the subject, it all comes down to right mind and right action: keeping ones thoughts elevated and free of hatred, anger and treating everyone with respect. Midnight Alpha spends his loops not just trying to save Sam and stopping a world cataclysmic event, but from helping as many people as possible along the way, many times through simple and seemingly random acts of kindness. For more information, please refer to the section of Research for a bibliography on the topics mentioned above.

Complex Congenital Cardiac Fibromatosis

Perhaps the most insidious element in the book is the fictional heart condition Complex Congenital Cardiac Fibromatosis, or CCCF. The creation of this pathology was inspired by the real-life heart conditions Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (Broken-Heart syndrome) and Brugada syndrome. Congenital in nature, symptoms of CCCF don't usually appear until children become school-aged and vary in severity. Left untreated, CCCF commonly leads to sudden cardiac death before the end of the second decade of life. While medical science has advanced considerably, no cure yet exists for the condition and life can only be prolonged with a heart transplant. Vitamin D has been found to be exceptionally helpful because of its role in Calcium absorption as well as stable half-life and rapid absorption. Recombinant erythropoietin injections become necessary as the condition progresses because of Depleted Cardiac Output Anemia (a fictional symptom of advanced CCCF). Even though the symptoms are manageable early on, the condition is progressive and eventually leads to irreversible cardiomyopathy and complete heart failure. The pathophysiology of CCCF consists of a mutation in the CACNA1c gene on Chromosome 12 that encodes CAV1.2 (Calcium) channels. While CAV1.2 channels Exon 8 and Exon 8A are mutually exclusive, Exon 8A' produces anatomically normal channels however require physiologically higher levels of calcium for adequate cardiac function.

Respawns

The darkest aspect of the novel is perhaps within the histories of all the Respawns. According to the novel, every Respawn was once a suicide. Research and interviews of those that have had Near-Death Experiences have shown that suicides tend to have much darker and haunting experiences. Because of their transgression against nature, suicides undergo a never-ending cycle of darkness and terror that is an augmented reality of the one they were trying to escape. I decided to use suicides as a vehicle after reading about bullied children that end up committing suicide. I was moved to think that someone who has gone through such pain and suffering and opts to take their life should have an opportunity for redemption. Atonement, fittingly, would be to relive their lives over and over to correct all the wrongs they committed. Having undergone through their Life Reviews, the Respawns know exactly who, what and where to make amends. Only when a minimum threshold of 'good deeds' and rectifications is reached do Respawns achieve Loop-Maxed status, meaning that they are allowed to break the loop cycle and, on their next death, can opt to stay in the Light and not Respawn. Respawns will die on the anniversary date of their suicide and the manner of death is directly related to how they took their life. Interestingly, none are aware of what that death is because discovering the cause could lead to preventing it from happening. For example, someone that took their life with a high velocity projectile will, as a Respawn, die of a aneurysm or similar naturally-occurring condition stifling the same organ system damaged by their original act. Midnight Alpha, in his original life, died of an over-dose and his death was ruled as drug-induced heart failure. Now, on the date of his expiration, Midnight will go to sleep and wake up 25 years in the past. Project Atlantis will, however, collect as much information on the passing of a Respawn and archives that information. Only in very few and select cases is a Respawn awarded this information (known internally as a White Sheet) which allows the Respawn to correct their cause of death and live beyond expiration. Similar to the Men in Black, Respawns have no affiliations beyond next of kin and are not allowed to interfere in politics or global events unless intervention means securing a better and safer outcome.

Project Atlantis

Originally (and aptly) named the Lazarus Initiative, Project Atlantis was established during World War II in response to the Nazi's research into the occult. Having gone through several iterations, Project Atlantis has been the only agency within the Federal Government's Paranormal division to have stayed active. This is due to the high accuracy and success of the agency's missions. Interestingly, very little is known about how the project initiated and who was involved although it is revealed in the book that the founder of the Marriott chain of hotels was one of the first Respawns. Having secured his Loop-Max status, he eventually returned and built a hotel empire with a commercial front however with the intention that every hotel be a safehouse for members of Project Atlantis. After Respawns reach Loop-Max status, they elect to either return or stay in the Light. Those that do return are followed closely and monitored for any suspicious activity. Because of this intense scrutiny, very few Respawns choose to return and not reenlist in Project Atlantis while the vast majority of the Loop-Maxed do not Respawn at all. In extremely rare instances, a Respawn may be granted a White Sheet, which is a detailed report of the Respawn's death (which is all catalogued by the agency loop after loop). These individuals can then use this information to stop their scheduled deaths and continue to live a life beyond their expiration date. Since they hold no knowledge of what happens beyond their expiration, they are not deemed a threat and the agency gives them free reign to pursue their lives as they so chose as regular citizens. While all Respawns dream of this opportunity, since the agency's inception only a select few Respawns have been awarded their White Sheets and allowed to live beyond their expiration dates.

Coterie

A group of Respawns teamed together for a specific mission/purpose is termed a Coterie. While the title is not a formal Project Atlantis designation, it is commonly used among enlisted members and supervisors. A Coterie, defined as a group of people with similar interests, goes beyond the literal definition and also describes a group of groundhogs. Since the trainees of Project Atlantis are playfully referred to as 'Groundhogs' (a cheeky reference to the Harold Ramis and Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day), the term Coterie was adopted to describe a group of Respawns.

9/11

The fastest way for a Respawn to be recruited into Project Atlantis is to share knowledge of the events of 9/11 before they happen. Midnight Alpha was just 3-years-old when he was recruited however, having lived through 9/11 for several loops, he's very aware of what is going to happen and uses this knowledge to prove his status as a Respawn. The problem is now figuring out a way to stop 9/11, something that in the book has been deemed a failure after multiple attempts. Midnight is revealed in the climax to be the only one to have figured out the key to stopping it. While it is not described in the book, there is an unnamed baggage handler in the 9/11 Commission that is the key to stopping the attacks. Midnight manages to identify the unnamed baggage handler and, through this interaction, a chain of events is started that leads to successfully stopping the terrorists. Stopping 9/11 is also the reason Crimson Avalanche (Boy Wizard) enlists into Project Atlantis, since both his parents died in the events. Despite his best efforts and knowledge as a Respawn, he is unable to save them. When stopping 9/11 created a timeline filled with other, more violent, terrorist attacks, the government deemed it necessary to allow 9/11 to occur to spare the country of the wrath that followed. This is unacceptable to Crimson Avalanche and he decides to seek revenge by uniting all the fringe and extremist groups in the world and formulate a coordinated attack to global infrastructures to destabilize world democracy.

Locations

Every location in the book, with two notable exceptions, is real. Caracolito, the fictional fishing town in northern Cuba, is inspired by the real-life Caracolito beach in Higuerote, Venezuela. Arawak Cay, the fictional island owned by the US Federal Government and serves as a resort/retreat for members of Project Atlantis, is inspired by Blue Lagoon (Salt Cay) which is located a few miles off-shore from Nassau, Bahamas. Other locations, such as the Dancing House, are real however their interior layouts have been fictionalized for purposes of the story; an example of this is the hidden and high security vault two stories beneath the Dancing House.