Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Smashwords (eBook) Amazon Titanic Echo of the Dying Confession Amazon Barnes & Noble Category:  Historical Fiction Publisher: Createspace/veenstra Publishing ISBN-10:  1453650903 Type: Fiction Pages: 302 Copyright: July 1, 2010 ISBN-13: 9781453650905 Price: $3.99 (eBook) "the longest confession of one man's transgressions ever written upon paper" Titanic: Echo of the Dying Confession is the historical supernatural fiction, based specifically around the factual details in regards to the design, creation, and ultimately the sinking of the steamship Titanic and gives a whole new idea to the question of what was really the cause of the ship being destroyed. With accuracy and a readable style of writing that captures the Victorian/Edwardian manner of speaking, Troy Veenstra has retold the story of the steamship Titanic's sinking. "Titanic: Echo of the Dying Confession" tells of the English narrator's anger against Americans for taking over his father's failing shipline and how that anger turns to revenge as in his fury, he sells his soul to the Devil. That the narrator has to witness and then regret the horrors of his demands makes this a highly recommended Christian novel without the platitudes and preaching dialogue that often revolts readers.       Excerpt This is so bitterly odd and yet ever so ironic is it not, that the words that I place upon this parchment; the words that I breathe the fire of life into with the touch of my pen will live on long after my body has turned to dust and returned back to its original destination of life. Strange how it is only now that I can see the true disdain of it all, as the pain in my body strikes violently forth like a hasted bolt of lightning striking down upon the lands, how bitterly odd this quest of my true life’s work has come to pass. Yet my work; this work cannot be torched and set aflame like countless others, as my work… the work of my past, can stand through the flames of any fire. As this work has meaning… a tangible sadness that shall flow through the lives of those yet to breathe breath upon this world; those lives yet to understand the sadness of what this world has to offer and the pains of anger that comes with it. Oh, how ripe with decay my life has become with this self-infliction, my death upon me so, its blade pressing against my ragged old throat. I feel each moment of my life slipping by like water through my fingers as the razor sharp blade easily slips deeper into my flesh, embedding deeper into my soul. My cup of life emptier with each passing moment, each passing breath I take. I can smell the decay in my lungs; the taste of rot lingering upon my lips and my tongue, like the bitter aftertaste of spoiled, maggot infested beef, my own demise ever so evident upon my lips. Oh, I can hear him once more. His voice ripe with sinister death, I can hear his whispers in my head, ravaging my mind like a thousand daggers; the images of his sharpened tongue stabbing his words like fire upon my flesh. His words of hatred consuming me even now; like a son afraid of the painful punishment from his scolding father; I too fear his words… his punishment upon me. With each passing breath, I can feel his darkness closing in around me, like a tightly pulled noose around my throat, his hatred and vanity continues to close in upon my soul. The decaying images of my harbinger of death draw upon my eyes like the shadow of a great immortal lion, waiting for me to breathe my last breath so that he can devour his vengeance of all those lost souls upon my rotting corpse. His vile image and hatred so clear, I fear it so. I hate and fear you my demon... my savior. Yet soon you shall have your way with me. Soon my hourglass will run its final grain of sand and I will be no more to this world than the hollow memory of a man I once was and he will have me all to himself—forever in the eternal bonded chains of hell, I have created. It will be there that I shall remain forever tormented until the End of Days. Still; however, my words will remain and live on. Like a mother to her newborn child, I have breathed life into these words. For as it was written long ago, truly there is power within all words, for all creation and manner of beast was brought forth into this world with the single breath of a word. Yet even now so close to my own demise, my own forever twilight, I currently feel no remorse for my misdeeds. Many times since my plan came full circle, I have sat on the porch of my ocean side estate and gazed out upon that massive rolling grave site and thought of my great transgressions. Thinking of all the great planning and scheming for my revenge to come tenfold, my reality in the waiting, the horrors of my plan and the great pain that it caused to those hallowed souls. The loss of love and life, of family, of friends and lovers, the loss of brothers and sisters, of fathers and uncles, the loss of the innocents and the ignorance of ourselves and our overwhelming belief that we were above the power of our own creator. The horror of our dreams smashing down upon us that day like a crashing riptide against the rocky shore, suffocating our world with the thoughts of fear that continue to burn brightly even now…all these years later. The loss of men and their lives; the loss of everything of value in this world, and yet, still, as I lay here now staring upon the candle light of my room I still feel nothing in my heart, no achievement of mind or body. I feel empty. I feel hollow and alone. The shadows that dances in the darkness of the candle light mocking me still to this day, locking away my emotion.

Awesome version of historic event!
With accuracy and a readable style of writing that captures the Victorian/Edwardian manner of speaking, Troy Veenstra has retold the story of the steamship Titanic's sinking. "Titanic: Echo of the Dying Confession" tells of the English narrator's anger against Americans for taking over his father's failing shipline and how that anger turns to revenge as in his fury, he sells his soul to the Devil. That the narrator has to witness and then regret the horrors of his demands makes this a highly recommended Christian novel without the platitudes and preaching dialogue that often revolts readers.

Alternate history
Titanic: Echo of a Dying Confession is an great retelling of history through the lens of good versus evil. It's also a story that speaks to the soul. Readers should catch a glimpse of the things which motivate them during their lifetime such as the way they view other people. Written as a journal, this novel shows the motivations for the actions of the man who, in the alternative to history, caused the sinking of the Titanic. Although the man's name is never mentioned, the character development is such that there are times you hate the man and other times you feel sorry for him despite what he's done. The wording reminds me of the writing of Edgar Allen Poe, while the story itself is similar to Paradise Lost / Paradise Regained.

As an author, I was slightly distracted by the misuse of some words and formatting breaks, but over-all these do not take away from the telling of the story. As I got toward the end of the book, I thought about the way the book is written and came to the conclusion that the mistakes actually add something to the book. Written as one man's confession written in a journal, the mistakes hint at an old man who is on the verge of death and writing quickly to get his thoughts on paper before death.

This is an excellent novel by a first time author. - Sheila Rae Myers, Author

Readers Favorite Review
Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

The incredible steamship named Titanic sank on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic on April 15, 1912, and books have been written and movies produced about this tragic steamship disaster. Troy Veenstra has written "Titanic: Echo of the Dying Confession" which covers the Titanic's demise but with a different slant.
Using italics to convey conversation, the author has the narrator transcribing his thoughts as he is dying. Once young, the narrator is now an old and grieving man as he sits on his ocean-side estate and gazes upon the Atlantic Ocean which he refers to as a "massive rolling grave site". He thinks of the revenge he sought and the pain it caused those who perished. This journal is long, descriptive and very Victorian, as befits the memories of a gentleman born in 1856. On page 199, the narrator says that his memoirs as contained in this story are "the longest confession of one man's transgressions ever written upon paper. But the writing is just how a man of those times would express himself, and the characters of both fictional and real people of the Titanic are true to the times and to history. Titanic fans and most of the others will love reading "Titanic: Echo of the Dying Confession."