C. B. BARRIE

C. B. Barrie originally followed a research and academic career resulting in a range of research and technical publications (These were written under B.C Blake-Coleman and/or Barrie Blake-Coleman) before taking up fiction as CB Barrie and Brian A Lee-Blackmore, the latter being primarily humour. 

Like all aspiring authors, he battled long and hard to get his first fiction title published and this came about when a new publishing house (Winterwolf) was set up in the United States. He emphasises this aspect because after seven years, and almost two hundred submissions, no single agent or publisher in the UK would touch his first novel "To Each Their Own." However, it was enthusiastically received by publishers in the States (because they actually read it!) and he found myself spoilt for choice. Winterwolf seemed to have the right vibes and soon he found his title as one of ten new novels that Winterwolf included in their first publication list. Sadly, after some internecine struggles, Winterwolf lost its originator soon after it was set up and was unable to continue. However, for all its very limited lifetime in print, TETO has become somewhat of a cult title.

At the time Winterwolf ceased trading, his second book, "The Faraday Cipher," was in preparation for publication by Winterwolf. This meant the contract was rescinded and he had to find yet another publisher. Since he had a strong aversion to literary agents, it was never going to be an easy path for his books.  He doesn’t write conventional stories or ones that follow the typical storylines. If anything, he writes for those who want to see something that tends to be entertaining, unconventional and raw. He likes good plots that are (hopefully) unpredictable; be it in near-future science fiction, or out and out suspense thrillers.
 
Very soon, readers will be able to access his most recent offerings, Subliminal 2 – Messiah and Piggy Back, through Wallace Publishing. Both are books that revert to the kind of plots found in a few of his previous titles but with radically different overtones. 
 

SUBLIMINAL TWO: MESSIAH

 It is 2058, only a short time after the death of Elliot Mason, the man who made and then destroyed the extreme right wing British National Union's grip on British politics. Elliot Mason was always convinced that his use of modulated Subliminal Imprinting (SI) was at the root of what made the election of the British National Union in 2025 possible, and led to what became known as the ‘Fascist Interval’. But many subsequent scientific investigations indicated that SI was wholly ineffective, and could never have played a part in any apparent successful application of SI. And yet, many of the prominent scientists involved in disproving the application of the so-called Delta modulated SI still have worries; that regardless of a lack of proof that Delta SI had the effect expected, there were still anomalous psychological outcomes from the investigations.

When one of them persuades the government to give yet another dispensation to allow further research, it is in order to establish a way of negating the effect of SI.  Permission is given to attempt to counter the chance of an effective use of SI, at risk of being found by foreign research teams pursuing the same interest. 
However, as the new research programme starts, one of the research team, a devout Christian, harbours a grudge against his old church, its elders and its congregation. His church had created a deliberate antipathy towards him after a theological question had been answered by him in a deeply unorthodox way.

When, after some time, he stumbles on the method of making modulated SI highly effective, he decides not to disclose it until, as a punishment, he imprints his old church congregation with the notion that he is blessed and of divine standing. Unfortunately his approach is deeply flawed and he comes to be viewed as the new Messiah; the result being a countrywide religious uprising that disrupts life and moves the nation towards civil war. There is only one remedy – give the ‘Messiah men’ what they want. But even that proves disastrous.
Elana Thomson is an exceptional physics student who has the ability to surpass even the best of her tutors at her new university. However, for Elana, her entry into university isn’t simply a way of graduating as a physicist. Her late grandfather, a Nobel Laureate, used to be a professor on campus, and she is on a mission to meet up with one of his most capable ex-students—Gabriel Andrews, who is now head of faculty. She needs to replicate one of her grandfather’s experiments, and she considers him to be the ideal person to help her.

When she approaches Gabriel, he is tempted by her proposition; he’s always had enormous respect for the late professor, and the challenge she presents him with is intriguing. He also wonders if he too could become a Nobel Laureate. However, there are many things he doesn’t know about Elana Thomson, and many secrets she isn’t prepared to share with him.
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Soon, he begins to realise that his brilliant student could cost him his reputation, his career… maybe even his life.