Editorial Review: Something Found : A Coin by Troy Aaron Ratliff

Something Found is the teasing entrée to what promises to be a fast-paced supernatural thriller tying together two of the world’s intriguing mythologies of loss—the Bermuda Triangle and the city of Atlantis.

In Something Found, Todd Freeman turns his back on a solid mid-level management career after the death of his son and the breakdown of his marriage. He drifts south from the cold winter of his home state of Ohio, unsure how to regain purpose after all that he has lost. As the tropical winds of Florida breathe life into his frozen emotions, he discovers the unfamiliar but enchanting pleasure of the Florida Keys.

Todd re-discovers the artistic creativity that saw his wife fall in love with him until it was crushed by the mundanity of everyday life, pressure of work, the demands of a mortgage and the need to provide a good life for his adored son.

He also develops a burning desire to re-unite people with treasured objects they have lost; perhaps in a vain attempt to mimic the joy that he would feel if the army could restore his dead son.

One of his regular fossicking forays on a Key West beach turns up what appears to be a strange penny. The coin plunges Todd into an unexpected adventure where he may be the key to finding Atlantis or saving the world from destruction—if he can survive long enough to find out what the hell is going on when his world explodes.

Something Found begins at a meandering pace as Ratliff spends nearly the first third of this short novel (circa 35,000 words) in descriptive backstory that establishes Todd as a quirky born-again creative carving out a new life in an easy-going tropical paradise.

While the first few chapters may drag more than many thriller readers would prefer, persistence pays off as once the author plunges Todd into the consequences of his mysterious find; the pace picks up to action-packed speed and the story rockets along. There are hints of international intrigue and the potential for Todd to become a savior of the world.

When Ratliff finds his sweet spot after clearing the backlog of detail to introduce his hero, he appears to revel in telling his adventurous tale. Todd tumbles into heart-racing, near-death scenarios from which he only survives due to the superhuman powers of endearing senior citizens. The author’s slap-stick action batters and bemuses Todd to the entertainment of the reader.

Unfortunately, just as the reader is hooked into turning pages as fast as possible to find out what happens next, the story ends.

Something Found sets the scene for Todd’s amazing adventure and will have fans of sci-fi thrillers with a taste for quirky, off-beat, and reluctant heroes eager for more.