Synchronicity - Debbie Bennett

They say it’s odd how fiction mirrors life. But how about life mirroring fiction? I was mooching around on Amazon the other day – as you do – and inadvertently signed up (again) for Amazon Prime. This is the 4^th time I’ve made that mistake; I use italics because I am convinced that periodically Amazon changes the code behind its buttons and signs up whoever it chooses in the hope that either you won’t notice, or if you do, you will love it so much that you’ll stay …

So I cancelled (again) and thought I may as well enjoy my month’s free deliveries. Actually – come to think about it – maybe that’s why Amazon does it? They know you will order more if you have unexpected free delivery? And Andy is enjoying watching The Grand Tour on Prime, so everybody is happy.

But while I’m mooching, I find that Matthew Reilly has a new book out and I wonder how on earth I missed it. If I haven’t already said (and I probably have), I adore Matthew Reilly’s books. He’s an indie-turned-trad Australian author, who writes what I’d define as lad-lit. Big guns, impossible chases in cars/planes/ submarines, utterly ridiculous plots. He breaks every rule in the how-to books on writing too, with dubious sentence structures, weird layouts and way too many exclamation marks!!! But the guy can write. Edge-of-seat stories and totally gripping. I’d read his laundry lists – I really would.

So I buy the latest book, of course I do. In hardback – since it’s cheaper than the paperback and the kindle versions. And The Three Secret Cities arrives in less than 24 hours and I’m hooked on another Jack West saves the world from devastation story involving secret cities and mysterious rituals, Excalibur and other mystical weapons, and ancient religious orders. I do love a good conspiracy-theory … But one of these secret cities is Thule. And suddenly I’m reading all about NASA’s pictures of an object in the far reaches of the solar system – Ultima Thule.

I finish this book and I’m immediately flicking back through Reilly’s backlist for a re-read. Yes, I re-read most of my books – some of them dozens of times. And I come across The Great Zoo of China, in which our current heroes are talking about China’s place on the world stage and how the country manufactures lots of things for other people but has little of its own. And bang – today’s news is all about China’s moon landing!

Does Matthew Reilly know something I don’t?