Inspiration
(note from Peter)
The writing of my debut novel, ‘The Protector: His Origin and Rise’, was very much an experiment. Having written various books on scientific subjects before, I was intrigued by the question whether I was capable of writing a novel. I decided to develop a storyline and a theme which to me would be interesting enough to read if another author had used it for his/her book. I started to write, and I was surprised when page after page appeared on my laptop. The manuscript (about 130,000 words) was completed in some 14 weeks. The feeling I experienced during those weeks surpassed all of my expectations. This was mainly due to the excitement of developing the characters portrayed and their interaction, and in the development of the underlying storyline – all so very different from writing a book on a scientific subject.
The inspiration for the storyline that unfolds in this novel stems from wanting to investigate the possibilities of a person assisting the police in fighting crime when he is able to become invisible and to travel in an aircraft at very high speeds. While this sounds absurd, it is, in fact, closer to reality than what most people suspect. I have commented on the research currently being carried out on invisibility elsewhere on this site (see my answer to frequently asked questions FAQ), while the design and build of an aircraft for very high speeds, based on a propulsion system as described in the book, is also closer to reality than what we in general were to suspect. Having a firm belief that we are not alone in this universe, I decided that the person with these capabilities should be an extraterrestrial that was left on the doorstep of a man and a woman on a farm in the Salinas Valley, near King City in California, when he was two weeks old. This couple decides to keep him, and he grows up as any boy would. When he is 18 years old his biological father visits him to inform him who he is, and that he is the subject of an experiment that requires him, after study at university in engineering and medicine, to fight crime because of the worry that the race of extraterrestrials that he represents has about the future of a city such as Los Angeles, because of the way crime is effecting the lives of its inhabitants.
I decided to portray the hero of the book as a sensitive, compassionate man, always positioning others ahead of himself. I also decided that he should possess a character that causes him to be attracted to women with charm and a captivating smile (a trait possessed by most men). The conflict that he experiences with having developed feelings for such a woman (and she for him), while needing to keep his identity and origin a secret, is a major theme of the book.
Blurb text
This book is the first of three books narrating the history of the Stanton family (‘The Protector’ trilogy). The first two books deal with Sam Stanton’s struggle to eliminate Los Angeles of the most evil organization the United States has ever been exposed to. Sam was left in a basket at the doorstep of John and Mary Stanton when he was two weeks old. They raise him as their own. When he is in his senior year at King City High School, his biological father identifies himself and informs him that he is the executant of an experiment which requires him to fight crime and corruption because the advanced race that he represents is worried about the direction in which society in the USA is heading. He requires him to prepare for his task, and they consider him ready sixteen years later after majoring in mechanical and nuclear engineering at Berkeley, and obtaining an MD and a Ph.D. at UCLA. They provide him with the ability to become invisible and give him means allowing him to travel at extreme speeds. His assets allow Sam to save hundreds of people from disasters of various kinds all over the USA. He becomes a national hero. People refer to him as ‘Guardian.’ He keeps his origin and where he lives a secret, and he doesn’t allow people to see what he looks like.
During his fight against the criminals who infested Los Angeles, Sam witnesses a transfer of a significant amount of drugs, involving three men and two vehicles in an isolated clearing bordering the Bel-Air Country Club golf course. Just when Sam wants to apprehend the criminals, a woman walks into the clearing from the golf course and one of the three men seriously injures her. Sam rescues her and takes her to Sinai-Cedars hospital, where he decides to protect her, knowing that the criminals will want to kill her since she can identify the three men in the clearing. In the ensuing days and weeks, they develop feelings for each other, which Sam doesn’t want to acknowledge because he must keep his true identity secret…
Purchase information
The book is published by Buijten & Schipperheijn b.v. in Amsterdam, has a hard cover and a dust jacket, the flaps of which provide a note on the author and a note on the nature of the means the hero was given to accomplish the tasks he was destined to do. The book comprises 336 pages. Its ISBN number is 978-90-827682-9-9. It is sold by all major bookshops, but it can also be ordered directly from the publisher. The following link is provided for that purpose.
