The Valley of the Shadow Part I: Philosophy. N.W. Inc. Manning

      

      THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

      a novel

      by

      N. W. MANNING

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      All passages from The King James Version of The Holy Bible, first published in 1611, included herein are Public Domain.

      Excerpt from The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by Sir James George Frazer, first published in 1890, included herein is Public Domain.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

      Copyright 2012 N.W. Manning.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

      reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

      recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,

      without written permission from the author, except

      for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

      Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com

       http://www.eBookIt.com

      ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1043-2

      This book is dedicated to

      anyone who was lost to addiction

      and came back from the shadow.

      SING IN ME, MUSE...

      PROLOGUE

      “What do you mean you don't remember? For Christ's sake, it just happened the day before yesterday! The whole world witnessed it. Have you been asleep the past forty-eight hours or what?

      “No, I'm not crazy! Shit, I don't believe what I'm hearing!

      “This is FEMA, right? Well, listen good. This is nothing short of an ecological disaster and we've got people dying out here! We need help! Now I want to talk to whoever's in charge right this second!

      “No, don't! Don't hang up!”

      -Phone transmission to The Federal Emergency Management Agency

      PART I

      PHILOSOPHY