International Writers Inspiring Change feature book: Without a Face by Lonnie Busch
- IWIC Admin
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
It’s 1967, and people are disappearing…
Kurt and Alice are rousted from their home one night by an intruder in a black suit and fedora. Their retaliation proves futile when the man appears impervious to a shotgun blast. Helpless, Alice and Kurt cower in the back seat of the stranger’s black sedan. The automobile races down dark, desolate highways, until Kurt attempts a bold move, putting the stranger in a headlock from behind and forcing the vehicle off the road.
The car jounces madly down the hillside, crashing into a tree, throwing Kurt across the seat. Flames and smoke pour from the hood. Dazed, Kurt finds himself holding the stranger’s head, which is now separate from the body. But there is no blood, only wires and tubes dangling from the severed neck. Kurt shakes Alice awake, helping her from the burning wreck before it explodes.
Their daring escape sparks a baffling odyssey. Alice and Kurt stumble through dark woods, happen upon a deserted home, discover an odd factory, and are becoming more lost and confused day by day. All the while being tracked by an unseen, silent aircraft broadcasting a message of salvation. To survive, they commit crimes they believed themselves incapable of, while their misadventure drives them farther and farther from their home.
Reviews:
"Yet another intriguing and thought-provoking read from the mind of Lonnie Busch. This book was like stepping into an episode of the X-Files or Twilight Zone, the twists and turns kept me glued to the pages." TK
"Without A Face” is an action-packed, fast-paced, dystopian thriller with some sci-fi elements that will have you at the edge of your seat almost IMMEDIATELY!" - Amber Barnett
"This is not a loud or flashy book, but it’s thoughtful and a little haunting. The kind you don’t rush through, and maybe don’t fully understand until you’ve had some space from it." - Erika D.
Without a Face, by Lonnie Busch, is yet another bizarre and eye-opening story by an author with the great gift of imagination. The story centers around Kurt and Alice, who, one night, find themselves facing an intruder in a black suit and fedora. The story that unfolds is something right out of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, as they find themselves suddenly engaged in world that makes no sense at all, a world where humans, Emtrons and Scrams - which are either robots or somewhat modified humans, it seems, is as confusing as it is disturbing. What is happening to them as they trip along from one incident to the next in this thrill ride, confounds them at every step, as it does for us, the reader, but in the end, the mystery starts to unravel and all is explained. The brutal reality they must face about what has happened to humanity, well, that is what makes this book a very worthy read and it will keep you reading to the end to find the answers. Well written, with a powerful and compelling message for all of humanity. We gave it five stars!
Review by International Writers Inspiring Change
Lonnie Busch is an award-winning author whose short fiction has appeared in Southwest Review, The Minnesota Review, The Baltimore Review and other literary magazines. Among his awards for fiction are the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize for his novella, Turnback Creek, finalist in the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction, the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Award, and others. His first novel, The Cabin On Souder Hill, was released from Blackstone Publishing in September, 2020. His newest novel, The Baldwin Hotel was released December 17, 2022.
Busch is also a painter, animator and illustrator, and has created artwork for numerous corporations, ad agencies and institutions, including the “Greetings from America” stamps and “Wonders of America” for the USPS.
Visit author website HERE
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