The Long Way Back

When you enter the abyss, the abyss enters you Part 1, Volume 1: Ray Stone has had enough. When a personal crisis shakes the 55-year-old pharmacist loose from his complacent Toronto life, he embarks on a spiritual journey to a distant country troubled by a minor civil conflict. Just the right speed for an amateur like him, he thinks, as he slips uneasily into a new career as a photo-journalist. But things are seldom what they seem. Ray quickly discovers that the truth of this land differs from the news reports back home. Federal control and authority have disintegrated and the country has been carved into the personal fiefdoms of ruthless warlords vying to overthrow the government. Given his lack of expertise, experience, or connections, Ray is baffled when he's included in a group of 5 other journalists selected for a coveted assignment: To enter a completely closed-off territory and interview the warlord in charge, a terrifying figure known only as The Spear, whose true identity is unknown despite the efforts of the world's top intelligence agencies. As the group proceeds deeper into a landscape shredded by war, Ray witnesses the environmental devastation caused by unbridled greed, political and social turmoil due to the irresponsible, self-serving policies of local as well as foreign leaders, the unravelling of every ethical standard that defines civilization, and atrocities perpetrated by military personnel, criminal gangs, and even ordinary civilians. Yet everything he sees pales in comparison to the rumors of The Spear.

(Continued in Volume 2)