The Unseen ~ A New Novel by Mike Clelland

Mike Clelland–author of The Messengers, Stories from the Messengers, and Hidden Experience–has just released his first novel, The Unseen.

I’m so excited to review this book, but before I do, I need to disclose that I edited the manuscript. That said, I feel honored to have done so. This is a brilliant offering on so many different levels. I’ve watched it transform from a comic book to a novella into a full fledged novel that I’ve compared to Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. I’ve read that book a dozen times and hold a Masters degree in English Language and Literature, so this is no light comparison.

Mike has a special ability to write about emotions. This book ranges from the depths of despair to mystical heights, and the tenderness with which he treats his characters astounds me. Even minor figures come to life as real people grappling with paranormal events and more universal themes of love, grief and complex relationships. I would say the characters “make” the book, except so many other things stand out, too.

In addition to showing the nuanced paradox of spiritual awakening, this novel also conveys a tangible sense of place. Most of the book occurs in the Southwest, and Mike’s decades as a professional wilderness guide allow him to bring us right into that environment. As readers, we see, feel, taste, touch and hear the magical desert. We dive right into the charm and grit of a forgotten town. We experience the pulsating joy and sorrow of NDE’s, OBE’s and other difficult to explain things. I’m no stranger to strange events, and I know how tricky they are to convey. This story hits home in ways that only a fellow experiencer and researcher could bring to life.

It also goes way beyond a paranormal thriller. Yes, psychics, synchronicity and dreams play big roles, as do murky behind-the-scenes controllers. But this is also a love story, a tale of friendships lost and found, a hymn to the creative process, and a deeply healing narrative. We long to find our own Trail’s End Café, to listen to Tony’s mix-tapes and drink some of that amazing coffee.

While editing, I’ve read and re-read the entire book so many times that I’ve lost track. During all those reviews, I never once grew tired of the story, scenes or the characters. I actually miss reading it each morning and will probably begin again very soon. It’s the kind of book that rewards multiple readings, because so many subtle details reveal themselves with each new journey through its pages. I love this book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

An instant classic, available in paperback and Kindle.

Book Review ~ “The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO Abductee” by Mike Clelland

Book Review

The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity, and the UFO Abductee

By Mike Clelland

To say I devoured this book would be an understatement. The fact that the title includes the phrase, “UFO Abductee” also makes that understatement a miracle. Although I’ve had a lifetime of extremely paranormal, inter- and extra-dimensional experiences, have used telepathy since childhood, and religiously watched the show “Roswell” during my non-reading brain injury years, that whole X-files, UFO Conference, and “abductee” panoply is just not my scene. I’m much more of an intuitive reading, gardening, Reiki teaching, shamanic journeying, Faerie Realm, create beauty, tree-hugger type.

Not that the two can’t coexist! I’ve long noticed obvious crossovers; I just really don’t like to focus on any kind of victim mentality or the cloak-and-dagger secret space war, black-ops military projects, and “the Nazi’s won WW2” conspiracies. Nor do I enjoy the largely dis-empowering, Savior-in-the wings, “luv-n-lite” cotton candy of most material supposedly channeled from ET’s. Thankfully, Mike Clelland’s new book is none of these things. Rather, “The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO Abductee” explores the absurdly frequent appearance of owls before or after periods of unexplained missing time, UFO sightings, death (including Near Death Experiences), and/or moments of extreme spiritual questioning.

Although Mike does address the common “screen memory” of a four foot tall owl so often shared by abductees, this book spends much more time looking at synchronicities with real owls. Parts of “The Messengers” will no doubt make readers uncomfortable, but anyone who’s ever had an attraction to or relationship with owls will value the diversity of exploratory lenses — from owl experts to shamans to animal communicators to contactees to paranormal researchers to psychologists/psychiatrists to hypnotherapists to outdoorsmen to myths from around the world. The book also becomes an exploration of consciousness itself. How does synchronicity “work,” and by extension, what role(s) do we really have in the creation of our own experience of reality? More importantly for the purposes of “The Messengers,” what role do owls play in the Mystery of mysteries, and what reality-shattering implications might that role bring with it?

“The Messengers” presents both a deeply personal and universally human quest. Mike Clelland, also known as “The Owl Guy” has experienced truly bizarre owl encounters — in frequency, unusual behavior patterns, and especially in their meaningful timing. On his journey to understand his own experiences and their implications, Mike has interviewed hundreds of other people about their own synchronous owl stories. Page after page of magical tales weave their own comforting web of synchronicities across time and space. We find owl stories and dates linking people and events sometimes thousands of miles and many years apart. Inexplicably intertwined with the owl stories come sightings of UFO’s, colored orbs, strange lights, and the development of certain personal traits — high levels of intuition, energetic healing abilities, and a profound sense of “mission.”

Since so many people who contact Mike with their on owl stories (myself included) also end up having weird owl synchronicities right after emailing or calling him, “The Messengers” contains multiple layers of such intricately knotted stories that the book rewards readers with an undeniable sense of the vastness and complex beauty of life. So many stories involve moments of intense doubt and then the mysterious appearance of an owl that results in clarity and a deep reverence for life. Many people also share how owls “freak them out” or “terrify” them, and Mike explores these stories through a variety of lenses, including the highly inconsistent attitudes of indigenous cultures to owls. Unlike many animals, the spiritual meaning of owls varies from place to place.

Everything I’ve mentioned so far would make “The Messengers” an interesting and powerful book; however, imho, Mike’s treatment of what he calls “the maybe people” makes this one of the most important books of our time. Mike spends most of the book trying to make sense of his own “maybe” status as someone who does not consider himself a UFO abductee but who nevertheless exhibits very similar traits and paranormal experiences as those who do. His journey remains his own, but by providing it in context of so many others’ journeys, it encourages readers to look more deeply at our own lives. Doing so takes courage, and Mike shares his own struggles with the journey, which, in turn, helps others to continue on own own path. I cannot say how “The Messengers” will affect you, but I promise you, it will.

I feel so grateful for the release of this book at this moment in time. Of course, we would expect perfect timing from a book on synchronicity, but this book arrives like the caress of an owl’s wing. As chaos seems to spiral out of control, readers will find a strange sense of both comfort and awe in recognizing intricate harmony just beyond the veil. When all the old structures fail — in individual lives or in society — unanswerable questions arise. At such moments, remembering the Mystery becomes its own answer. I offer deep thanks to Mike Clelland for his gift to humanity in these challenging times.