"The Book of Creation": Adventure tale tackles ancient past

"On the monitor was a picture of a full-grown, bearded man standing in what appeared to be a grassy meadow. Right next to him, leaning up against an earthen embankment, was a bone—a femur bone, by the looks of it. But the bone itself was about a foot and a half taller than the man next to it."

—Excerpt from "The Book of Creation" by Evan Braun

The Book of Creation, by Winnipeg author Evan Braun blends history with mystery.

It is the first in a series of books featuring three characters who delve deep into the ancient past.

The trio, consisting of a rabbi, an archaeologist and a computer analyst - travels across the globe, searching for the greatest archaeological secret in time - The Book of Creation. 

SCENE asked Evan Braun for an excerpt.  He chose one featuring  Sherwood Brighton, a photo analyst working for the Smithsonian.

****

"You said there's something you want to show me?" Brighton asked.

Alan's face brightened. "You're gonna love this. Follow me." He changed direction.

Feeling tired, Brighton waited a minute before heading after him. "Where are we going?"

"The archive room," Alan called over his shoulder.

When they got to the archive room, a young woman was at the computer controls with her back to them. Alan sat next to her.

"Hey, Sarah," Alan said. "Pull up that picture you sent me last Friday."

Sarah thought for a minute. "You mean the giant?"

"Yeah."

She clicked on a file and waited for the photo to fill the screen. At first, Brighton didn't know what he was looking at. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"Holy mother of--" He glanced sidelong at Alan.

Alan merely threw him a look that said I told you so.

On the monitor was a picture of a full-grown, bearded man standing in what appeared to be a grassy meadow. Right next to him, leaning up against an earthen embankment, was a bone--a femur bone, by the looks of it. But the bone itself was about a foot and a half taller than the man next to it.

Brighton glanced at Alan. "You can't be serious."

"Nah," Alan said. "Apparently one of the photo guys on the third floor found some digital manipulation between the bearded man and the bone. The scale is all wrong."

"Hard to believe, though," Sarah said. "I'm pretty good at figuring out which ones are real and which ones aren't. This looks pretty real to me."

"Well, as far as hoaxes go, it's elaborate," Alan said. "But think about it. If this femur bone was real, the person would have been over thirty feet tall."

Brighton reached for the keyboard and isolated a section of image where the edge of the bone overlapped with the man's shoulder. The detailing was perfect. Too perfect.

"This is no hoax," he declared, sagging back.

The Book of Creation launches Thursday May 24 at McNally Robinson (Grant Park) at 7:00 p.m. with a reading and signing.

Winnipeg author Evan Braun has been writing books for twenty years. He works as an editor, a blogger for The Fictorian Era, and has a background in broadcast journalism. This is his first published novel.