Dennis Jung – author

My second novel, THE MORNING OF THE WORLD has just been released in March. Some of my readers may be familiar with an earlier version that I self-published some years ago. This is a new version – rewritten, re-edited, and I feel, a superior story. For those of you unfamiliar with my work, my stories are difficult to categorize into any given genre, and this one especially so. Part psychological thriller, part love story, THE MORNING OF THE WORLD examines the illusory nature of good and evil as it immerses the reader in a world both exotic and real, and regrettably all too likely to be lost due to globalization and the homogenization of the human experience.  

Seth Longstreet, an anthropologist and university lecturer specializing in the Pacific Rim, and his former wife Dori, a journalist, are estranged by the death of their first child in Bali thirteen years ago. They are compelled to revisit the tragedy by the unexpected reinsertion into their lives of Anton Brenner, an enigmatic former Jesuit missionary and acquaintance of their time in Bali. Brenner may be the only person who knows the true circumstances surrounding the death of their daughter. He may also hold the key to the couple’s reconciliation. The painful memories his mysterious reentry evokes lead Seth and Dori to embark on a search for answers, a journey that leads them from their home in Hawaii to the horrors of the Rwandan Holocaust, and finally back to Bali.

My first novel, STILL LIFE IN A RED DRESS, was selected as a finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award in the Adventure/Drama category. This novel also won First Place in the Mystery/Suspense category in the 2011 Southwest Writers Workshop Annual Awards.  There was a recent nice mention of my novel on my publisher’s blog site www.ampebooks.blogspot.com. (Feb 3, 2013)  It is available in E-book and print from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A third novel, THE EYE OF GOD, is to follow. Excerpts and a short discussion of each book are available elsewhere on this website.

I became interested in writing novels after receiving encouragement from friends who read my letters relating my travels in Asia and the Pacific. My use of visual imagery and my strong sense of place are what make my novels as much an escape to a geographical location as the mental landscape of my characters. Tapping into my background in anthropology, I weave into my stories a sense of the mythical and the universal in the human experience – the drama and the conflicts that consume us all, regardless of culture.

My novels appeal to readers who enjoy an escape to a world outside their experience. My characters, many of them loosely based on actual people, are often complicated and flawed, and for that reason, they don’t fit neatly into ones expectations of their motives, actions, or the outcomes of my stories. I also like to weave into my stories threads of history, a certain philosophical viewpoint, and my own personal viewpoint of the human condition. What I hope to accomplish is to tell a good story. I hope you enjoy them.

If you are interested, the photo above was taken at Frutillar, Chile on Lago Llonquihue.