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David Wellington, known for his best-selling horror books, has transitioned
to a new genre. His latest book, Chimera, is a very
captivating political thriller that is definitely a page-turner.
This novel is the first in a series of three about the exploits
of Jim Chapel, a military intelligence officer who is also
an amputee with a prosthetic arm.
Wellington decided to write this book out of respect for America’s
soldiers. He stated, “The whole point of the books is
that I was so struck by soldiers coming home from Iraq and
Afghanistan, some wounded horribly. I am hoping my readers
will think about the huge sacrifices that these soldiers and
their families make. I am also hoping that readers will see
through Chapel’s character that soldiers are real people
and not just a serial number.”
The plot takes off from the first page where Jim Chapel is
given a mission of finding and hunting down a small band of
fugitives, men with superhuman skills of speed, strength,
and vision. They are using a “kill list” of innocent
civilians. The pursuit takes Chapel and his supporting cast
of characters throughout the US: New York, Colorado, Georgia,
and Alaska.
Julia Taggart, a vet whose mother was the first on the list
to be murdered and is now in danger becomes part of Chapel’s
team along with Angel, a brilliant computer hacker who now
works for the military. Wellington described his characters:
“Chapel is determined, loyal, and moralistic. I chose
to create a Special Forces veteran who now works for the military
intelligence because I admire the silent warrior, the kind
of man who could be trusted to keep his mouth shut. The other
two characters are my female leads: Julia is skeptical, brave,
and testy, whereas Angel is innovative, serious, and flirty.”
The Chimeras can be described as mostly human, somewhat like
a Marvel character physically and mentally like Darth Vader
from Star Wars. A great quote from the book, “When they
get frustrated, or upset… even just confused, it makes
them angry-and when they’re angry, nobody is safe.”
Wellington feels “They represent the dark side since
they are unable to control their emotions. This leads to their
downfall. Although I would compare them more to Frankenstein
whose inventor deserted him.”
The theme of the book involves the soldier’s motto of
never wanting to quit, even when the task appears to be impossible.
Wellington stated, “The fiction part of the book is
how Jim gets injured multiple times, and is able to bounce
back rather quickly. The real part shows his perseverance,
his mental strength, and his determination to overcome the
obstacles with a willingness to die trying.”
A very interesting subplot of the book involves the fact that
the main character is an amputee who must overcome thoughts
of himself as a cripple and freak. Wellington spoke with those
who had lost limbs during the War on Terror and did extensive
research. He shows in Chimera the advances made to
prosthetic arms and is hoping one day, as in his book, the
arm will respond to someone’s subconscious. “I
wanted to show how those with prosthetic limbs could forget
they have one. I go into detail about how the brain is able
to send a message through nerve fibers, which activates electrodes
that were implanted in the shoulder and wired to the arm.
Since we are talking about technology I also want to make
a disclaimer. Even though I have done a lot of research about
this, tactics, and weapons there might be some technical points
wrong. But, let’s not forget this is a fictional book.”
It is worth someone’s while to get the two e-book short
stories that introduce Jim Chapel, prequels to Chimera.
Minotaur is an action packed thriller that has Chapel confronting
a Russian defector that lives in the US, but who appears to
be arming domestic terrorists. Myrmidon is the sequel that
has Chapel infiltrating separatist militia groups to stop
their agenda.
He also gave a heads up about his next book, Hydra,
a sequel to Chimera that starts up where this novel
left off. In this book Wellington will explore the personality
of Jim Chapel. He compares it to the Empire Strikes Back,
“which was a darker story than Star Wars. But
my readers should not worry Hydra is action-packed as well.”
Chimera has shown that David Wellington can write
exciting and suspenseful political thrillers. His characters
are very gripping and realistic. The only problem with this
book is that readers will have to wait another year for the
sequel to come out. Anyone looking for an author that is a
combination of Nelson DeMille, Jim DeFelice, and Brad Meltzer
will definitely want to read David Wellington’s latest
book, Chimera.
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