Book Reviews From the OmahaCity Weekly for June 27, 2007 Nailing It Author succeeds in entertaining with debut book In his debut book, author Eric Nail concocts a wild ride action adventure story that takes the reader from the beaches to California to caves in Mexico all the while talking to mermaids, the King of Atlantis and nefarious criminal masterminds. Nail’s ‘The Wave Wranglers and the New Order of the Pyramid’ is a Slacker’s version of Scooby Doo meets ‘The DaVinci Code.’ The book includes a detailed roll out of secret societies bent on ruling the world through the manipulation of government, religion and symbols galore. Nail waste’s no time in asking the reader to suspend any semblance of reality as the book’s hero, a surfing band leader named Dippy, is approached and saved by the beautiful Annemerie the Mermaid. Once instigated our hero and his band quickly set off to solve the mystery, save the Mer-people king, interact with mythical creatures and take on the so-called, New World Order. Throughout the fast paced 237 page book, it took about three hours to read, author Nail use the book as a vehicle to explore and explain conspiracy theories on a global scale, symbols such as the real meaning behind the American Eagle and the Pyramid on our currency, the history behind the ‘$’ symbol and what it means today and, indirectly, George Bush’s (and John Kerry’s) membership in Yale’s “Skull & Crossbones Society” and how that ties directly to the New World Order. Okay, this borders on a pot smokers neurotic dream but once you agree to be taken along for the ride its pretty fun and you get exposure to a tremendous amount of ideas and symbolism. For example, according to Nail, and reinforced by Wikipedia, Christopher Columbus’ mission, as outlined in his apocalyptical religious revelations book, “The Book of Prophecies” was not trying to discover a new route to the West Indies as we were taught in school but was actually trying to bring about the Biblical ‘end of days’ and…well you’re just going to have to read this book. “The Wave Wranglers” is a fun book that is not to be taken too seriously, at least any more seriously than The DaVinci Code. Its fast paced adventures and villainous rivals are easy to embrace if you keep in mind this is a bit of a Saturday morning cartoon. In an email exchange with the author, Nail tells us he plans to serialize the characters (good idea) as well as put out a CD of the fictional band’s music (interesting idea, “Sugar, ah Honey, honey”). And let me forewarn you, Nail leaves numerous issues in the book unresolved. Nail does not take the all too convenient swipe at the Roman Church so this book is unlikely to be banned anytime soon and yes, it would make a terrific film for the ‘Tweeners crowd. View a scan of the original here Writer: Rick Galusha, Omaha CityWeekly, June 27, 2007 (Used with permission.) From the Wilmington Star News for August 19, 2007 Writers Bring Books to Surfing Competition The East Coast Wahine surfing championships aren't normally thought of as a "literary event." Still, two local fantasy writers are on hand at the event this weekend at Wrightsville Beach, signing and selling new books. One of them is Laney High School student Alea Bushardt, who at 16 has already written two novels - Cloud Filly and Sky Stallion - about a magical world ruled by unicorns. The other is Eric Nail, a surfer and rock 'n' roll veteran whose young adult novel, The Wave Wranglers and the New Order of the Pyramid, actually deals with surfing. Waves of Questions The Wave Wranglers and the New Order of the Pyramid, targeted at a 13-and-older readership, follows the adventures of a pod of surfers who also play together in a band. (Nail, a Salisbury native, played bass for a number of years with the rock band Sunbrain.) One day, the lead singer is rescued by a beautiful mermaid named Annemerie, who gives the group some clues to the lost continent of Atlantis. This sets the group to researching some other puzzles, like why is there a pyramid with an eye on it on our American dollars? Who is this Antichrist guy anyway and what's this 666 all about? And who's behind this evil Order of the Pyramid? Imagine that the guys from Endless Summer (or maybe Point Break) take on The Da Vinci Code. Like the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, it uses a mystery/adventure format to offer a libertarian critique of current society (and to ask a few questions about powerful institutions like the Federal Reserve System). Nail, who self-published his book through the Raleigh-based Lulu.com, said The Wave Wranglers is the first of the series. Copies are available for $18.95 through Amazon.com. The author, incidentally, is giving away some of his books as prizes in the Wahine events. View the original here Writer: Ben Steelman (Used with Permission)