The Novagem
by Jon Thorpe
An odd young man is smitten by an antique store clerk. During one of his awkward attempts at wooing her, the young man comes across a book on the 1915 San Francisco Pan-Pacific Exposition that will overturn his notion of reality and inspire him to join forces with a secret organization hell-bent on proving that the sun is not a star.Inspired by real life and ripped from the daily headlines, ‘Core Values’ is a parody of a 1950’s drive-in movie sci-fi thriller. Charles Henry Brubaker is the other guy. Everything bad happens to poor old Chuck. When everything is going well, that is not the true test. It's when everything and everyone is against you. It's what you do then. That is the measure of a man. In this framework tale, using a series of short stories, scenes and vignettes, the author explores what it is like to be marginalized in an already corrupt environment, both natural and social. A dark comedy.