The Shadow Walker - Jacob Carl Novak

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

I started working on this story about a year and a half ago. I've got a really good outline with a solid story. It is an obvious knock-off, but with far more character, direction and a good conclusion, more than what this story is based on.

It's my first serious attempt at a fictional story, I have the first chapter completed and am well into the second chapter. I have chapter one on line and will put up a new one about each month.

I just wanted some input on things like style, if keeps the reader's interest and makes you want to continue reading. Here is the preface below with a link to the first chapter.

Preface

    Jacob Carl Novak, investigative journalist, is following a dark path in a quest to find solid evidence that supports his late uncle's unpublished files. Jake loves his uncle's stories and wants desperately to provide a logical conclusion to the unexplained cases. He is interested in facts in his reports, pursues a story where ever it may go and is a rather scruple less character that will do anything to investigate a story he's interested in. Jake will leave his old life behind and come to understand that not every case he investigates has a verifiable explanation. He is joined by a number of interesting characters in his quest for the truth that leads into the deepest darkness.

http://freeholdgv.com/BPPublishing/epres...Index.html

My thanks to anyone who may happen to read it.

Just out of curiosity, Is his uncle Carl's last name Kolchak? Was Carl's editor named Tony Vincenzo?

The only suggestion I would make so far is to move from the present tense to the past tense. it makes it sound less like a review and more like a novel if you do that.

Otherwise, sounds good!

Absolutely, this is a knock-off of a sequel  that never happened. The original Kolchak was a fairly shallow character that fell into his stories more less. I want Jacob to be far more complex and driven. As the story progresses, the reader will find that Jake is not looking for monsters and then trying to destroy them, he is just reporting the story and trying to supply provable facts. The editor will be unknown until the end of the story when Jake finally meets him in person.

The past tense and present tense is an issue I had a hard time with. Is that the preface you are referring to, or the whole story in general? My intention is that the story is happening as you read it, so I used present tense though out. There are times past tense is necessary, like when someone is remembering something.

Also, I stick with first person (correction, 3rd person narrative). This is Jake's life and the story is through his eyes. I don't even want to get into what is going on when Jake isn't witnessing it. I want the reader to almost be Jake, that way when Jake has to figure something out or something surprises him, it surprises the reader. I also want to be heavy on Jake's personality and have it color everything with his suspicions and paranoia.

I haven't gotten into mood too much yet. I begin to bring more mood into the story when Jake gets to the family cabin. Action will happen once Jake gets his assignments, and I've have some great story ideas for those. Each chapter and assignment will build upon the next chapter and lead to the ending.

Overall, would you say that the first chapter draws the reader into continued reading? That there is enough interest building to keep the reader wanting more? There is a lot to consider when trying to create a good story.

Thanks for your reply.