McMinnville
by
Derrick McCartney
Science Fiction
Date Published: March 24, 2022
Publisher: MindStir Media
Page count: 432 pages
Two photographs taken on a spring evening in 1950 that seem to show the
impossible-we are not alone. A thirteen-year-old girl disappears the same
evening, but returns thirty years later without aging a day. A dying
detective on the hunt for the answers to one mystery falls afoul of a more
profound mystery that calls into question all of human history and the
science on which the universe is based. McMinnville is the story of one
man's coming to terms with his mortality and the inconceivable, while
falling in love for a second time, something he thought was
impossible.
Ray Baker is a retired NYPD detective, dying of cancer and dealing with the
crushing loneliness after the death of his wife. He wants to make the last
few months of his life count by traveling cross country to the places where
he grew up. Along the way, he stumbles upon a cold case that took place on
May 11, 1950, a few hundred yards from his childhood farm outside of
McMinnville, Oregon. At a little past seven in the evening on that day,
Evelyn Forsyth was feeding her rabbits when she looked up to see a craft
floating soundlessly toward her. She called for her husband, Glenn, to come
with his camera. Over a span of a few seconds, he took two photographs
before the craft tipped up on edge and sped away. That was the story that
appeared in the Telephone Register, McMinnville's local paper under the
heading "At Long Last-Authentic Photographs Of Flying Saucer[?]" A
month later, the photographs were featured in the June edition of Life
Magazine. Were they real or a clever hoax? Ray takes it upon himself to
answer this question, applying his considerable detective skills. But in
doing so, he steps through the looking glass into a world that makes him
question everything. If that was not enough, he also discovers that there is
a clock and it is ticking down.
McMinnville is the first book in a trilogy that follows Ray Baker's pursuit
of life, love, and the truth, which is most definitely out there.
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Review:
4 stars!
Fictional deep dive into unexplained UFO phenomena.
McMinnville is the fictional account of a retired
NYPD cold case detective who decides to look into an old friend's unanswered
questions about a UFO encounter his family experienced when he and the
detective were childhood best friends. Author Derrick McCartney takes a deep dive
into the phenomena of UFOs in the United States and the world to create a
unique and mesmerizing tale of science fiction and mystery.
The main character is former NYPD detective Ray Baker, who,
for the past several years before his retirement, has focused on clearing up
some of the department's old unsolved homicides. After a terminal cancer diagnosis,
he decides to travel back to the hometown of his early youth, McMinnville,
Oregon, to look into what would prove to be one of the most controversial cases
of his life: the appearance overhead of a flying saucer, seen by many and
photographed by a childhood friend's father and the concurrent disappearance of
a local girl on the same day. Ray is inclined to be skeptical of the whole
matter, but his early research reveals much that leaves him open to changing
his opinion. Ray is an engaging and endearing character in many ways. He's
kind, even after years as a law enforcement officer dealing with people at
their worst. Ray has outlived his beloved wife and will soon follow her, but he
still maintains a great attitude and desire to serve others and uncover the
answers to long-held questions. I loved that he decided to revisit all the
places he lived as a child and fill in the memories of his past with his now
adult point of view. I'll bet that is a trip many people would love to be able
to make; I know I would.
The book's premise is tantalizing: aliens, abductions, first
encounters, and government coverups. But I enjoyed Ray's journey much more than
the details of his research into UFO sightings and secret government reports.
Some of the interviews with the experts he contacted felt overly lengthy, and,
at times, I had trouble maintaining interest in what they had to say. In
addition, much also seemed to go over the same ground repeatedly. However, the true
UFO buffs among this book's readers would probably find this compilation of
extreme interest and vastly entertaining.
I recommend MCMINNVILLE to science fiction readers who enjoy
a lot of historical detail in their tales of alien encounters or first contacts.
About the Author:
Derrick McCartney was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in Tennessee
before moving to the Washington, DC area. Despite a degree in Soviet and
East European studies, he made a name for himself as an expert on North
Korea. After a stint in the US Government, he has spent most of his career
in defense think tanks. He has published several books and articles on
international security affairs under his real name. This is his first work
of fiction.
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