Inside Awake by Rome Sims
Category:	Action/Thriller	Publisher:	Eloquent Books	ISBN-10:	1606939122	Type:
Pages:	161	Copyright:	2009	ISBN-13:	9781606939123	Fiction

Weaving psychological terror with hair-raising thrills, murder and mystery, Sims tells the story of two people plagued by painful pasts. Buy your copy! Amazon Barnes & Noble.com Eloquent Books RomeSims.com Inside Awake is the deftly suspenseful/psychological debut novel by Romé Sims.              David Woodall is a successful doctor to the outside world, but inside he is a slave to his past with an alcoholic and abusive father.  Whatever endeavor he chooses to pursue is always overshadowed by his relentless demons.             Dr. Sharon Geraldo (Geri) is an overachiever.  As the child of an emotionally distant father, Geri’s need for approval dominates every aspect of her life.              When the United Nations investigates massive loss of life around a lake in Africa and a government satellite links the incident to a radio signal off the coast of Sumatra, Geri is asked to lead a team of scientists and military personnel to discover what caused the massacre.  Geri accepts without hesitation.             But Geri and the team inexplicably disappear and Woodall is hired by a questionable organization to find out what happened to the team and why so many people were murdered.  As he takes on the assignment of a lifetime, Woodall must confront his own demons before it’s too late for him and for his colleagues.             How will these two lives intersect and what will they learn from one another? Can each overcome their pasts to fulfill their destinies?             Sims novel is peppered with candid personal terrors of the human condition while setting a highly suspenseful plot filled with surprise twists and turns.              Romé Sims is currently working on his second novel and lives in San Diego, California. Excerpt taken from a 2009 Not Guilty Gear promotional interview   NGG: We have with us today, two brave heroes from the book Inside Awake; please welcome TJ and Danny Boy.   Applause   NGG: Welcome guys, and thanks for coming.   TJ: Thanks, glad to be here.   Danny Boy: Yeah, what’s up?   NGG: Nothing much, now, in the book, Inside Awake, you guys seem to be inseparable, how long have you known each other?   Danny Boy: Who us? We’ve been hanging out together since we were born.   NGG: That long?   TJ: Yeah, our families are close…real close. My mom and dad and DB’s mom and dad have lived right next to each other for over 40 years.   Danny Boy: We call each other’s parents mom and dad. It gets confusing sometimes.   NGG: You’re also members of the Navy Seals…   TJ: Actually we’re not Seals, but the branch of the military we’re assigned to is classified.   NGG: I see, well, why did you join the military?   TJ: Me? I joined to kill the bad guys. Danny Boy, he’ll never admit it, but he joined because of all of the cool stuff he could play with for free. The guy is a techno geek.   Danny Boy: laughing…Thanks J. But seriously, both of our dads were military and our grandfathers also. It’s a tradition in our family. We joined to serve our country.   NGG: Now in the book, Inside Awake, you guys get into trouble while investigating a surprisingly large underwater facility. Can either of you describe what that was like.   Danny Boy: Well for us, me and TJ, it started out not that much out of the ordinary. We’ve been on missions inside territory that isn’t U.S.A. friendly before, but never 5 miles beneath the ocean. I have to holla at my boys at the DOD though, the new technology was cool. TJ: I think my boy is being a bit modest. That place was one of the creepiest I’ve ever seen. And when someone activated that light, well, all hell broke lose. If it wasn’t for our training, we may have never returned.   NGG: Speaking of which, the training, there were civilians that accompanied you on the mission. How did that affect things and did it make your jobs more difficult?   TJ: Of course it made our job more difficult. But technically, it was a recovery operation anyways, so our primary focus was to maintain the safety of the scientist.   Danny Boy: OK, enough of the politically correct crap. Let’s be honest, civilians on a military mission suck….   TJ: laughter    Danny Boy: ….Ok, I mean, well…some of the civilians—well let’s just say a few not only jeopardized the operation, they also put the entire team in danger. But you know, I can’t complain. It was one of those scientists that got us home.   TJ: Yeah, they were looking at bushes and bugs and stuff, while animals with big sharp claws and teeth were everywhere. We lost a good man on that mission. And tragically, there were several civilians that lost their lives also.   NGG: Wow…that must have been intense. So what are you boys up to now?   Danny Boy: We’re on leave right now, but we got a call from Rome, the author of Inside Awake, that we’ll be part of the sequel, The Commission.   TJ: Yeah, we’re looking forward to it, just as long as we don’t have to fight a Saltopus or whatever the hell those other things were. I’d rather be in the middle of a firefight on a barren mountain in the middle of Afghanistan.   Danny Boy: You can say that again.   NGG: Well, there you have it—gentlemen, thanks for coming in and good luck with your new project, The Commission.    Excerpt The military team immediately drew their weapons to the ready position as the darkness surrounding the group gradually lifted. “What the hell just happened? A second ago we were looking at a bright light in a room four miles beneath the ocean,” said Dickerson. “I don’t know. Harris, what’s our position?” “Something tells me we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Danny Boy whispered nervously. Harris removed a GPS device from his pocket. “I got nothin’, Sergeant. I got nothin’.” “What do you mean nothing, soldier?” “No signal, sir. I got no signal.” “It must be malfunctioning. Dickerson, Tank, check yours.” “He’s right, sir. Nothing overhead to triangulate with,” said Tank. “Same here,” said Dickerson. “I can’t get a signal either.” “Check for interference.” A large thunderous sound reverberated through the forest. Sergeant Davidson held up a closed fist prompting everyone to become silent and stationary. With hand signals only, he motioned his men to take up defensive positions fifteen yards out on the perimeter—-two men forward at the eleven and one o’clock, two men rear at the four and seven o’clock, and one man at the nine o’clock position. The sergeant then attempted to contact the Argo. He activated his tactical headset, then adjusted his microphone to whisper mode.

Paperback

Inside Awake
4.0 out of 5 stars Inside Awake Takes You on Adventurous Trip Across The World!, August 10, 2009
By Glenda A Bixler "Glenda"


Starting with an enticingly beautiful cover depicting an underwater scene, a futuristic ship, and a strange statue, I moved quickly to start reading Inside Awake by Rome Sims.

Near Lake Eyasi, Tanzania, a group of scientists noticed a bright light, but they were just there to collect random blood samples from migratory birds. Then members of the Mamoya clan also saw the pulsating radiant orb. Hunters, animals and the scientists perished as they stood watching it rotate. They had instantaneously died from extreme thermal shock.

Readers meet Dr. David Woodall in a Particle Physics Complex in Switzerland where he is so deeply involved with the "mysterious artifact," which is 13% beryllium, 2% niobium and 85% unknown, he pays no attention to anything else, including his boss who is pressing for quick information!

But, when Geri calls, he finds time to talk...

The major action and adventure is taking place in the Indian Ocean Sunda Trench where Dr. Sharon Geraldo (Geri) and her team are on an oceanographic survey expedition. The research vessel had passed across the Malacca Strait when Dr. Geraldo spotted a huge statue. It had taken eleven years and a billion dollars to build the USS Argo and it was packed with any innovative technology available. And this trip would allow the team to use them fully!

At the same time in Polanco, Uruguay, paleontologists had found a remarkably preserved skeleton of a forty-foot beast as a result of a flash flood. But they also found a grey octagonal-shaped box with strange symbols that resembled hieroglyphs.

While in Antarctica, a giant circle, slightly raised off the ground had appeared since the last site visit two days ago...

But one of these scientific explorations has led to the biggest mystery of all. Dr. Geraldo and her entire team has disappeared!
At least, they aren't where they landed underwater, in the same year!

The Commission has collected artifacts and relics for centuries--but a woman known only as Madam is now in charge and their activities have become much more dangerous...

The trips to these sites, such as Tanzania and Antartica are wonderfully detailed so that you enjoy the trip as if you were the scientists making these discoveries. Brilliantly detailed, readers are caught up into these individual mystery discoveries. In fact, readers become so involved that they want more...

And that just might be the only shortfall of Inside Awake by Rome Sims. As with many other serial stories, readers are left hanging, maybe even more so in this book because of the various locations and artifacts, which are involved, and being investigated. I would have preferred to have both books and spent the weekend in this adventure...So, Mr. Sims, burn some midnight oil to get The Commission to us quickly! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Madam!

G. A. Bixler


Inside Awake
4.0 out of 5 stars Inside Awake, July 22, 2009
By L. Brandau
Inside Awake is a smorgasbord of alt-science ideas and several storylines that come together to deliver plenty of adventure and suspense. There are UFOs, time travelers, native wise men, and an undersea expedition. The book starts out at Lake Eyasi in Tanzania where a strange light is seen and massive deaths occur.

There is good character development with the main characters of the book, David Woodall and Dr. Sharon (Geri) Geraldo, both battered and bruised by their upbringing. There is cautious affection between them, and when Geri leads a team to investigate the deaths, the entire team disappears. Dr. Woodall must overcome his fears to try to find them.

This is a good book with many twists and locations. The time-travel aspect of the story is especially descriptive with the detailed portrayal of the flora and fauna of the time. How did they get there - and will they be able to get back?

I am always drawn to the characters that are a bit psychologically broken and are just barely able to overcome their adversity. I would like to see these two main characters show up in another book by this author.