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6 x 9 paperback |
ISBN: 9781432732172 |
$21.95 |
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"I suspect many people will identify with Clay Zerner, the protagonist of Joe Vojt’s Threshold of Consciousness (Outskirts Press, 2008). In many ways, Clay is a typical man in his forties. Ever since he lost his wife, Renee, Clay’s life seems to be happening in slow motion. He works an unexciting job as middle management in a factory. Quality control issues and an increasingly shaky economy mean his job is not as secure as it once was.
"Adding to the turmoil in his personal and professional lives, Clay is balancing three unsatisfactory relationships with the women at the factory. Chealse Emark is gorgeous, attracted to Clay...and married. He’s strongly attracted to Shara, but Shara’s record of bad relationships has driven her away from all men who aren’t in the Bible. Then there’s Bray Durek, who desperately wants to be more than friends with Clay, if only her strong personality doesn’t drive him away.
"Clay’s lonely life of tedium and confusion is relieved, occasionally, by Mother Nature. The changing seasons, birds in the air, and walks on the beach comfort him for short periods of time. The outdoors becomes Clay’s way of escaping the harsh demands of reality. It is during one of these 'breaks' that Clay meets Dawn, a young, sun-kissed artist who seems to be everything he’s looking for. But is Clay truly ready to move on from the love he had with Renee?
"Threshold of Consciousness is, at heart, an old-fashioned romance, told from an ordinary guy’s point of view. Clay Zerner is likeable enough. He can be a bit of a male chauvinist, but the story is set in 1979, after all.
"At times, the dialogue tends to be stilted and unnatural. Vojt’s characters begin sentences with "I will...," when real human beings would say "I’ll," for example. Vojt is better at capturing what goes on inside Clay’s mind than at what comes out of Clay’s mouth. Occasionally, passages about work at the factory go on too long.
"Aside from some stiff dialogue and copy editing issues, though, the story of Clay Zerner is an enjoyable one. The ending is unpredictable, with none of the cliches of a typical 'romance novel.' Threshold of Consciousness is a novel of emotional suspense."
Erin E. Schmidt
http://www.erineschmidtsmith.com
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Walking through the large front doors, Clay stopped at the nearest water fountain for a drink of cool water. The battle about acceptance of his career keeps haunting him. “Work lately has become a no win situation. I can’t keep hitting the stone wall like this, because my mind is taking a pounding.”
This emotion distracted him and reduced his concentration, which was not normal. When he tried relaxing, work conflicts mixed in and began feeding on his weakened state. What I could use is a different course. Most of my life all I ever wanted to do was to be the best in my field and now that has been taken away. Leaving me with one question, now what? How do I get motivated? That question of life hit him straight on. He had no clue on how to handle it.
Most of my work can be considered normal, but for some unknown reasons I only see things getting complicated. Mixing work with life is expected, but sometimes It becomes complex. I need to perk up and feel human; this becomes important especially when nothing seems to be changing.”
His head kept buzzing with confusion, known as today. “Maybe that is the problem. I have forced myself to accept all conflicts, knowing deep inside that this is a part of everyone’s life, and that includes me.”
Clay stopped and thought about his life: “I have to learn to accept change in my life, even though it is hard, especially seeing I can’t control my feelings. This prevents growth, and the bottom line is that you become a part of someone’s past. Which turns out to be your goal but then you ask yourself, what is my future really based on? Who is the real me?”
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About Joe Vojt
Joe Vojt novels include, Mystified Humanity, Wings of Air, Enduring Prophesy, and Threshold of Consciousness. Previously worked in the quality manufacturing arena, this included NASA projects, like the Apollo program and a variety of space satellites for Hughes and other technical industries. He lives in the Farmington Valley, Connecticut. Joe is a Vietnam era veteran joining the United States Air Force he served three out of the four years in SAC, working on the B-52. I like to phrase Joseph Conrad. Illusion: “Words, as is well known, are great foes of reality”. His interests cover a broad area: writing, reading, photography, the sciences, history, and music.
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