A Gift

A Novel

Character-driven fiction with themes of the supernatural, loss, love, crime, and culture. Main character Derek Jones wakes up on the morning of his twenty-fifth birthday with the gift of premonition and is in for the ride of his life. Derek lives with his mother, Eileen, in the family home on Burwood Road, Sydney, Australia. Eileen lost her husband, Dereks father, to lung cancer ten years prior. Her younger sister, Robin, cared for Derek at that time. Experiencing a loss of her own in the story (miscarriage), Robin is just an ordinary girl caught up in the extraordinary. Dereks eventual girlfriend, Selena Jacobs, is the daughter of an eminent surgeon and is a practicing Christian. An unlikely bond is formed with Derek as he has a premonition about her being attackedand she is in the hotel car park. Selena also lost her mother around the same age as he lost his father. Her brother and antagonist, James, thinks his sister is way too good for the likes of Derek. The attack on Selena introduces criminals Kraut and his girlfriend, Jezza, to the story as these two down-and-outers are at the rear of the hotel car park breaking into cars when rich bitch Selena walks up. Their tale is one of consequences. The premonition element, along with cultural and class distinction, draws in the main characters as the plotline weaves through a series of actions and events toward a fulfilling climax. Although Dereks story is far from over, the epilogue sets up a continuation with the emergence of his mysterious uncle Doug.