Like a number of others, when I got The Company by Chuck Graham, I thought I was getting a thriller. In
spite of its apocalyptic beginning — a meteor crashes to earth obliterating
life as we know it — the book is not a thriller in any conventional sense. That
said, it turned out ot be a well-written and enjoyable book.
By some stroke of luck or divine planning, the folks in
Brigos Glen survive a disaster that no one else has. Knowing that the book is
also an allegory set my imagination running as read on. Things go pretty good
for Brigos Glen until their fuel runs out and they’re plunged into the darkness
that has enveloped the rest of the world. Then out of the darkness comes a
voice, an opportunity to reclaim the life these folks lost. For some
unfathomable reason this voice, this stranger, offers them what they need most
in the world…power. Power that will light the darkness, run their appliances,
and operate their businesses. It’s the proverbial offer you can’t refuse.
When the stranger gave them access to the power he also gave
them an operating manual…a Plan to follow. Now fast forward seventy years.
Internal squabbles and petty bickering have split the original Power Company
into three co-existent parts, each with their own distinct understanding of how
the Plan should be interpreted. Is it a rigid set of rules, nothing more than a
group of suggestions, or an irrelevant document that’s outlived its usefulness?
Now we begin to see the allegorical pieces falling into
place. The catastrophic opening scene reduces the world to a microcosm. No need
for a reader to worry about what folks in Cleveland or Chicago are
doing, they aren’t there anymore. So what about the pervasive darkness? Could
it be a symbol of man’s fall from grace into sin? And that the Plan is starting to
look more and more like…maybe a Bible?
Things come to a head when a small group of citizens of
Brigos Glen receive an invitation to a meeting where they find out who’s been
supplying their power and meet the Company’s leader. But like all things human,
the managers of the regional power distributors each have their own vision for
the future. Responsibility for pulling order out of this chaos falls to a
lower- level engineer, Sam Mitchell. It’s a life-changing adventure that
changes Sam’s life forever.
Pieces of the allegorical puzzle gradually come together in
an interesting and satisfying way. If you’re still having problems getting
things to gel, Chuck Graham graciously includes a helpful key at the back of
the book. No fair peeking; you don’t want to spoil the fun.
We thank WinePress
Publishing and Litfuse Publicity Group for supplying a copy of this book in
exchange for an honest review. -- E.G. Lewis
PRODUCT DETAILS:
- Paperback: 264 pages
- Publisher: WinePress Publishing (February 18, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1414120907
- ISBN-13: 978-1414120904
