11 - 11 - 11: Book 1 of John Rachel's End-of-the-World Trilogy (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780692594285)

John Rachel has a B. A. in Philosophy, has traveled extensively, is a songwriter, music producer, novelist, and a bi-polar humanist. He has spent his entire life trying to resolve the intrinsic clash between the metaphysical purity of Buddhism and the overwhelming appeal of narcissism. Prompted by the trauma of graduating high school and having to leave his beloved city of Detroit to attend university, the development of his social skills and world view were arrested at age 18. This affliction figures prominently in all of his creative work. Since 2008, when he first embarked on his career as a novelist, he has had eight fiction and two non-fiction books published. These range from three satires and a coming-of-age trilogy, to a political drama and now a crime thriller. The two non-fiction works were also political, his attempt to address the crisis of democracy and pandemic corruption in the governing institutions of America. With the publication of his most recent novel Petrocelli, a gruesome story about human trafficking for prostitution, he has three more novels in the pipeline: Love Connection, a drug-trafficking thriller set in Japan; Sex, Lies and Coffee Beans, a spoof on the self-help crazes of the 80s and 90s; and finally, The Last Giraffe, an anthropological drama and love story involving both the worship and devouring of giraffes. It deliciously unfolds in 19th Century sub-Saharan Africa. Also in the works is a creative non-fiction work, The Naked American. It is allegedly an account of author Rachel's travels since leaving America August 2006, but more likely the product of the voices in his head which have plagued him since puberty. A number of prominent publishers have declared that they will do everything in their power to make sure these new books never see the light of day. The author's last permanent residence in America was Portland, Oregon where he had a state-of-the-art ProTools recording studio, music production house, a radio promotion and music publishing company. He recorded and produced several artists in the Pacific Northwest, releasing and promoting their music on radio across America and overseas. John Rachel now lives in a quiet, traditional, rural Japanese community, where he sets his non-existent watch by the thrice-daily ringing of sonorous temple bells, at a local Shinto shrine.