Machines of the Little People – a Review

Have you ever been in a situation where you can trust no one? You can’t even trust what you have seen with your own eyes.

Ben has a condition called B.C. E D. or Bio-Chemical Electrical Discharge, and his body emits a form of electrical energy that messes with electrical devices. It’s not like we use anything electrical these days, is it? Well, except for our computers, televisions, stoves, refrigerators, coffee pots, and many more. Still, Ben works as a handyman.

Now put yourself in Ben’s position. His sister had been dead for three years. Cervical cancer had stolen her life, and the day before her funeral, her husband Roger disappears. Six months later, Roger walks into work as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Understandably, Ben’s feelings toward him are not kind.

One day, purely by chance, they meet again. But does anything really happen by chance? While at work and fixing a drain in a house, he spots his long-lost brother-in-law, Roger, in the house next door. Ben isn’t thrilled, but when Roger invites him into his house for lunch, he feels as though he must go. Lunch is tuna sandwiches, a food that Roger feels is one of the necessities of life.

Much to his amazement, Roger has married again—and his new wife looks amazingly like his first wife, Ben’s dead sister. And Roger is acting a bit weird. He likes to hang out in his backyard at night, naked. He talks to the trees while he is out there but claims he is talking to the little people, the Katoy. Roger claims they are everywhere for anyone to see. Of course, Ben and most everyone else thinks he has lost his mind. This is only the beginning of the craziness.

When Roger’s new wife is murdered, and he disappears once again, Ben, involved in a blooming love affair, helps look for him. Psychic old ladies point the way for Ben and his lover to go, but there are plenty more working to keep Ben from finding him.

Ben’s life becomes even more exciting and unpredictable. What started out as a simple disappearance of a crazy guy morphs into secret research projects and weapons, spies, government secrets, and trying to stay alive.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Anyone who loves a good science fiction/fantasy story would have a hard time putting this one down. If you would like to purchase your own copy, please click on the link from either Amazon or Smashwords.

Amazon Link: Machines of the Little People (The Eve Project, Book 1)

Smashwords Link: Machines of the Little People (The Eve Project, Book 1)

Recommended Articles: 
Bio-Chemical Electrical Discharge – Guest Post by Tegon Maus
Service Before Self – a Review
Write What You Know & The Devil is in the Details – Guest Post by Tegon Maus

Favorite Sentences:
The house was collapsing, the roar of the walls folding in on themselves like cards falling one on top of the other vibrated my very bones.

The madness I thought had possessed Roger now devoured me, body and soul.

Covered in garments of rotten leaves, woven twigs and grass, they dove wildly from tree to tree, clambering, beating the trunks with sticks.

My body ached, my skin felt like it didn’t fit and my head throbbed like a pounding drum.

New Words Learned:
berm – a flat strip of land, raised bank, or terrace bordering a river or canal

delineating – indicating the exact position of a border or boundary

quark – any of a number of subatomic particles carrying a fractional electric charge, postulated as building blocks of the hadrons. Quarks have not been directly observed, but theoretical predictions based on their existence have been confirmed experimentally.

wainscoting – a wooden paneling that lines the lower part of the walls of a room

About the Author:
Married forty-three years to a woman he calls Dearheart, Tegon Maus lives a contented life in a small town of 8,200 in Southern California. By day, Tegon is a successful home remodeling contractor, but his passion is storytelling.

Tegon’s protagonists are frequently wedged between a rock and a hard place but manage to work things out through the story. Like most when pushed into a corner, it only brings out the best in his characters and becomes the unstoppable force of a reluctant hero. Tegon’s signature style is creating characters who are driven, believable, and strive to find happiness.