This brief collection of short stories is offered at a promotional price so that the reader may become better acquainted with Joe Giampaolo’s writing style. Publications by this author include several award-winning and Amazon best-selling books of historical fiction, poetry and essays on the history and literature of 19th-century Britain.

The main story, titled ‘Wrath of the Sentinel” is a brand new tale that takes place in London in the foggy and cold autumn of 1848. The hero of ‘Wrath of the Sentinel” is Frederick Wright, whom we met in previous short stories by this author. Frederick will be aided in this eerie tale by new characters such as the London Chief of Police, Mr. Charles Mortimer, Sergeant O’Reilly and Father Timothy. Very much in the tradition of beloved Victorian ghost stories, this delightful collection is sure to entertain you on a cold winter night.

I think I’ve become as acquainted as I want to be with that writing style.

After a series of failed attempts to start new business ventures, the main character known as LP has returned to college to study his first love, music and recording. As the story progresses, LP discovers a ‘glitch’ with a digital recording of one of his favourite songs. He investigates further and discovers a number of other songs that also have these very minute changes compared to analog recordings. He takes them to his recording instructor (John Atman) and they explore the issue further. Atman introduces LP to an internationally renowned ‘omnibioacoustics’ expert (Eugene Case) to help them figure out what the glitch might be. They stumble on a mystery that has a massive scope and potential implication for all of humanity.

LP has two friends: Faith Amana, a social media maven; and Dion, a wine sales rep.

Meanwhile, a programmer named Sylvie Hunter has developed an AI platform called GAIA that is used to generate fake news, obfuscate real stories and manipulate the political and economic strata for the benefit of the Plutonian Council – a group of six extremely wealthy, evil and influential elites – that employ her.

Extinction Event joins a growing collection of books devoted to the category of Climate Fiction, or writing devoted to informing readers about our planet and how we’re abusing it. Extinction Event is part clarion call to all of us and how we treat Earth and all of its creatures; an informative yet amusing romp through global-scale events; and an exploration of the impact that artificial intelligence has and will have on all of us.

Emphasis in the original.

To paraphrase the great sci-fi writer Stephen King: Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your heart, kill your darlings. Translation: stay on point and mercilessly avoid side stories and anecdotes. With much respect for Mr. King, The History of Man Series is precisely that, a great deal about all those little darlings, a style of writing termed “jumping off.”

…

“The great sci-fi writer Stephen King.” Engenders so much trust in the author’s judgment, don’t you think?

“This book is a strange but eclectic collection of tales. Through them, it tells a story of hope and togetherness, and looks at the potential of our planet to be better. It defies the readers’ expectations at every turn, and is all the stronger for it. If you’re after a light read that is unique from just about everything else, it’s a thought provoking collection that will entertain, inspire, and linger. It has to be read to be believed.”

Strange BUT eclectic? (And yes, the quotation marks are in the original.)