Cathedral of the Senses
Cathedral of the Senses has elements of Heart of Darkness,
Lord of the Rings and “Lost” — Stephen Smoke
Brief Synopsis
Private Detective Nick Sands has a reputation for taking usual cases, often of a metaphysical nature. Owen Clark tells Nick he has seen clerics, psychics, and therapists, but no one can help him. He explains that he used to be the head of a major film studio, and that he bought the rights to a book involving holograms and parallel realities, written by famous novelist, Hamilton Caine. He says he built a parallel reality “machine” specifically for the movie. One night he got into that machine and when he came out, no one knew him. He was no longer the head of the studio. He was still Owen Clark, but he was not the Owen Clark he wants to be; he was not the Owen Clark who went into the machine.
He hires Nick to help him find the “self” he lost. The case takes Nick to a mysterious place called Here, where he kayaks downstream, stopping at strange and wonderful places along the way, seemingly always one step behind the “version of Owen Clark’s self” that the detective was hired to find. Nick’s quest leads him to meet the most bizarre and thought-provoking characters this side of the quantum looking glass (including Walt Whitman, Vincent Van Gogh, Nick’s old friend Chris Justice, and many others).
Ultimately, Nick finds, and finally understands, the “self” he seeks.
Cathedral of the Senses is Stephen’s 19th novel. It is the sequel to his extremely well-reviewed inspirational novel, Trick of the Light (see below). Like Trick of the Light this novel also has a companion music album. However, this novel is different because appropriate excerpts of the music are embedded in the iBook version. You can download a copy of the iPad version of Cathedral of the Senses, as well as full versions of the songs, at www.TheSedonaSessions.com. You can read also read an excerpt from the book.
“It’s been 20 years since I wrote Trick of the Light. I’ve always considered writing a sequel, but until now I really didn’t think I had anything fresh to say on these subjects. Now I do.”
Reviews for Trick of the Light
An Instant Classic*
*One of the TOP TEN Most Inspirational Books of All time!
(*Only ten books were recommended under the “Creative Expression” category in John Clancy’s A New Age Guide for the Thoroughly Confused and the Absolutely Certain. Along with Trick of the Light in the top ten, were such classics as The Little Prince, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Hermann Hesse’s Magister Ludi, The Glass Bead Game.)
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT TRICK OF THE LIGHT
ROBERT ANTON WILSON, author of The Illuminati Trilogy — I heartily recommend the works of Stephen Smoke. His novels have chilling undertones, comic cadences and cosmic discoveries wrapped in entertaining adventure yarns of the astounding sci-fi New Age that is dawning upon us.
RALPH BLUM, author of The Book of Runes — Somewhere between Mickey Spillane and Tielhard de Chardin, Trick of the Light provides a kind of nourishment best described as “private eye soul food.”
KEN CAREY, author of Return of the Bird Tribes — And yes, at the end of the search the place of beginning is found at last — and seen for the first time. Not since Colin Wilson’s The Mind Parasites have I so thoroughly enjoyed a metaphysical novel.
BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT MAGAZINE — It had to happen sometime and Stephen Smoke has done it. An interesting combination of Mickey Spillane delivery with a New Age plot.
OMEGA NEW AGE DIRECTORY — If you read this as if it were a regular detective story, you’ll find yourself automatically skipping over some of the very best “occult” teaching…good stuff the likes of which you’ll never find in a Dashiell Hammett thriller… All the elements necessary for spine-chilling adventure…sandwiched in between enlightening truisms. Listen to the music Stephen Smoke plays loud and clear. You’ll recognize the familiar tune, and maybe, notice the trick of the light.
ARIZONA NETWORKING NEWS — would you believe a post-yuppie spiritual adventure that blends a hard-boiled detective story with new Age Eastern metaphysics? That would be quite an assignment, right? Well, Stephen Smoke, who is the author of Voices in the Night and Deliver Us From Evil, manages to pull it off.
SMALL PRESS BOOK REVIEW — This novel is filled with liveliness and imagination. The cast of characters is indefatigably entertaining…highly amusing.