This Time
A 21st-Century Look at an Ancient Mystery That Changed the World
by
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. . . a petty dictator in Gabon sat at breakfast noisily sucking in a thick soup where the eyeballs of the recently deposed president floated. He was saving them for the end because the wife and daughter of the same president shared the table under heavy guard. He had only wanted to show them where the real power resided....besides, he happened to like the taste and squishiness of eyeballs!
He finished the soup and popped the first eyeball at 9:33 am, - in that part of the world - and as he swallowed it grew to three times its size and stuck in his throat, and his soldiers and sycophants could not help him while he slowly choked to death. The only person in that room who was trained in CPR and knew the Heimlich maneuver was the dead president's daughter, who was tied to a chair and gagged.
And at 2:33 am, - in that part of the world - a banker by the name of Jerome Goldberg woke up in his New Orleans mansion, sweating profusely and desperately grabbing his chest in unbearable pain. His wife rushed to dial 911 but his arteries were so clogged that he never recovered from the massive heart attack.
He was an accomplished athlete and a novice nutritionist, maintaining a healthy lifestyle that was the envy of his friends and the pride of his doctor. No one believed the autopsy report demanded by his wife, specially his primary physician. But in a week he was going to close a major international deal that would have delivered a Central American country and all its people into the hands of a bloody revolutionary idealist who happened to also deal in cocaine and had the right contacts.
And at 4:33 am, - in that part of the world - a young woman awoke in Maracaibo with a sharp, searing pain in her ovaries. Her rich live-in lover was already up and came back into the room when he heard her uncontrollable screaming. As he saw her hold herself he yelled in Spanish:
- "G* damn you, don't tell me you're pregnant again!" he grabbed her by the arms and shook her. "¡Estúpida! You stupid bitch, I told you to be careful!"
The fire within exploded and incinerated the two bodies. They were burned beyond recognition when the fire department managed to put out the conflagration that had quickly destroyed the expensive duplex they shared. The most careful autopsy could not find that she had been successfully impregnated.
The same woman that four months before had thrown a three-day-old live baby in a dumpster behind a grocery store to please her boyfriend had not suffered much. The pain that awakened her had lasted less than half a minute before the phosphorescent flames had consumed her. But the baby had lived several hours in the dumpster, bitten by ants, roaches and rats.....drowning in rotted food....slowly.
A unique cleansing had begun....and all the dead had one thing in common; more than anything else, they had lived in complete denial of . . .
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About the Book
“THIS TIME is a clear-and-to-the-point story that grasps the reader’s attention immediately. Unapologetically, Manuel “Manny” Gutiérrez leaves no doubt that the newcomer —flamme passionnée— has come to right unacceptable wrongs.”
– Jack Delgado,
author of “The Trail to Golgotha” (2009) and “Crooked” (2007).
Jack’s website is at http://www.gate.net/~joachim/
“The opening chapter of THIS TIME recalls the tragic, yet forgotten, catastrophes that afflicted humankind at the end of 2000 as we awaited Y2K. The chapter takes the audience around the world where many people die inexplicably-at the same time- mostly in fire-related incidents. I fully expect to read the entire book because this first chapter has me hooked!”
– Fernando “Fernán” Hernández
is the author of 4 books; the last two are ‘The Cubans: Our Legacy in the United States’ and his most recent one, ‘The Cubans: Our Footprints Across America’,
both available at Amazon.com. A retired educator, he resides in Miami, Florida.
“THIS TIME offers a unique perspective on the past by rewriting the history of the present and recasting the most well-known of all stories in a different light. Highly imaginative, engaging, and intriguing, this book is full of unexpected twists that will keep the reader guessing what might happen next, and also what might happen if history were to repeat itself.”
– CARLOS EIRE,
author of “Waiting for Snow in Havana” (winner of the 2003 National Book Award for Non-fiction) Professor of Religious studies at Yale University.
Christmas Day, December 25, 2000—a mysterious series of unexpected and unexplainable deaths happens across the globe during the birth of the only child of a rebellious young couple. Two clues only group the hundreds of cases together, but these clues are seen only by the sharpest and hardest-working investigators and journalists.
The child, a unique individual, is going to turn the world upside down. Although his power and actions are reminiscent of the best known rebel in history, his novel approach will delight his followers and make deadly enemies of his opponents. Will he succeed in his personal quest?
About the Author
Manuel “Manny” Gutiérrez, born in Havana, Cuba, 1947, emigrated to the U.S., 1961. Degreed as an Ocean Engineer and state-licensed as a Land Surveyor, he wrote often for family and friends, especially heartfelt requiems, poetry, short stories and serious essays. This is his first book. An anthology of short stories of dissimilar genres is in the making.