Today marks the start of the Chaos book club. For those of you who are new to this site, Chaos is a thriller/adventure novel along the lines of Indiana Jones or books written by Clive Cussler, James Rollins, Douglas Preston, or Steve Berry. It deals with forgotten history, stolen treasure, strange science, and the “lost world” of tunnels under New York City. For the next three weeks, my posts will focus on the shocking mysteries and unbelievable history that helped to inspire Chaos. If you haven’t already done so, please consider picking up a copy at one of the following locations:

Kindle * Nook * Kobo * iBooks * Smashwords * Paperback

About David Meyer

I wanted to kick off this book club by telling you a little about myself as well as how Chaos came to fruition. My name is David Meyer and I’m the Guerrilla Explorer. I’m an adventurer as well as an author. Whether hunting for pirate treasure or exploring ancient Pre-Columbian ruins, my love of mystery inspires me to seek answers to the unknown.

I’ve always loved to read. And when it comes to fiction, I prefer the action/adventure genre. So, when I decided to try my hand at writing novels, an adventure story was the obvious choice. Of course, that decision came at a cost. Plot-driven adventure novels are generally disdained by “serious readers.” However, I was far more interested in entertaining readers like myself than appealing to the so-called literary types.

The Seeds of Chaos?

The seed for Chaos was planted a few years back when I was tromping through an abandoned subway tunnel with the future Guerrilla Wife (yes, she still married me!). As I passed through a particularly desolate stretch of dilapidated concrete, I found myself wondering: What if someone hijacked a subway train?

It wasn’t the most original question in the world. After all, a similar premise underlies Morton Freedgood’s novel, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. But while Freedgood saw the subway system as a unique crime scene, I saw it as a “lost world” full of crumbling ruins, dangerous natives, and metal monsters.

With that as my starting point, I decided to write a traditional adventure tale with a distinctively modern, urban spin on it. Rather than scale a mountain, my hero Cy Reed scales a mountainous skyscraper. Rather than wading through a vicious river, he’s thrown headfirst into a violent, artificial one. And rather than fighting a typical “secret society” in order to recover some ancient “totem of power,” Cy battles a gang of old sandhogs who are protecting a decidedly, not-so-ancient secret. Even Cy himself is a modern, urban version of the archetypal archaeologist hero. He’s a former urban archaeologist who once worked extensively in New York City.

What’s Next?

Well, there you have it. Now you know a little about me and my book. Come back tomorrow as we delve into the first of many mysteries that informed the writing of Chaos. Our topic will be the Great Train Robbery of 1963 and a treasure that’s been missing for nearly five decades. I hope to see you there!