Remain In Light is a mystery/suspense novel, but it also contains touches of magical realism and its premise relies heavily on Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity, which posits that there are no random occurrences. The main characters, Martin Paige and Irène Laureux, are separated by a 40 year age gap and, initially, a continent, yet the dreams and experiences they share cannot be dismissed as coincidence. They both seem to have an extra-sensory perception of each other and events before they happen.
In 1968, Irène's husband was murdered during the Paris student and worker riots. Thirty years later, she is still on the hunt for the man who knows how and why Jean-Louis died – his secret lover, Frederick Dubois. Martin, an American expat writer, is helping Irène, but he's also still reeling from a love affair gone wrong with a student, David McLaren. Martin meets a young poet, Christian, and the two fall in love, but their happiness is shaken when Martin's friend, Diane Jacobs, arrives in Paris with news that David has gone missing.
As Irène and Martin search for clues, they go deeper into an underworld that is not the Paris of postcards and travel programs. The city is filled with corrupt cops, drug dealers, prostitutes, stolen identities and immigrants fleeing genocide living in the shadowy, slightly out of focus urban landscape. I wanted the Paris of Remain In Light to exist in a kind of alternate universe, where I could create buildings, streets and Metro stations that suited the characters and worked to advance the plot.
I've always had a hard time sticking to one genre. We don't live in the black and white, cut and dry worlds that often exist in genre mystery novels. I wanted to give readers a little jolt, leave them guessing and let them come to their own conclusions about the more paranormal events that take place in the story. If you're reading this and looking for a mystery with an unexpected twist, Remain In Light might be the book for you.
Remain In Light is available in eBook format at Amazon and Smashwords. A trade paperback edition will be published in January. For more visit www.collinkelley.com.
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