Stephen
Martino is neurologist practicing in New Jersey. Though not separating conjoined
twins like Dr. Ben Carson, he is part of an active medical practice and is
currently participating in concussion research and inventing new medical
products. When he is not working, he can be found with his five children doing
homework or cheering them on at a soccer field, basketball court, or dance
recital. Martino is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Cub Scout den leader
and is an active public speaker, helping to provide stroke education to the
local community, EMS
squads and healthcare professionals.
His latest
book is the science fiction/political thriller, The
Hidden Reality.
For
More Information
About the Book:
In the year 2084, the brilliant inventor, Alex Pella, finds
himself at a precarious crossroad between the pursuit of justice and
preservation of his own sanity. While attempting to undermine an international
New World Order government created by the financial juggernaut known as The New
THE HIDDEN REALITY is the second stand-alone novel in
a trilogy starring Alex Pella, created by New Jersey-based neurologist and
entrepreneur Stephen Martino. With his fusion of history, politics, and science
fiction, Martino joins such masters of the thriller genre as Dan Brown, James
Rollins, and Michael Crichton.
Martino’s villain is a corporation run by a cadre of ruthless international bankers known as The New Reality. Directed by the most corrupt and morally unscrupulous of the bunch, Myra Keres, the company has economically seized control of the world’s governments and the population’s personal freedoms in the process. In order to save humanity from this despot ruler and the unwonted atrocities to which she plans to perpetuate on the world, Alex Pella must infiltrate the company and face an enemy that has unknowingly haunted both him and history for almost 2500 years.
Martino says he wrote THE HIDDEN REALITY more than just to entertain the reader. He wanted to create a modern day Orwellian ANIMAL FARM to allegorically forewarn his readers of a possible dystopia future that awaits all of mankind if humanity continues to proceed down its path of self-destruction.
In THE HIDDEN REALITY, Martino has included such
hot-button contemporary topics as genetic cloning, unprecedented economic debt,
the rise of big government, and the threat of a New World Order run by the
economic elite, while bringing the reader back almost 2500 years into the past
when the ancient city state nation known as Greece fought the mighty Persian
Empire for world domination.
All of these elements, Martino maintains, separate his book from the pack. He calls THE HIDDEN REALITY “issue-oriented fiction. There are real concerns facing society today that threaten both the sovereignty and prosperity of our future generations. Though fictional, my novel addresses some of these issues and predicts the potential consequences we face as a nation and the world if they are not properly addressed today.”
For More Information
- The Hidden Reality is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
- Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Thanks for this
interview, Stephen. Can we begin by
having you tell us about yourself from a writer’s standpoint?
I come from a completely nonliterary background. With a B.S.
in Biochemistry and M.D. in medicine, fictional reading was placed on the
backburner for years as I poured through scientific and medical books and
journals. My love of fiction was again ignited when the Harry Potter series was
first published. I would sit with my oldest daughter and read her the books an
hour or two each night.
In addition to a scientific and medical background, I also
have a great love of history, current affairs, and political theory. Though it
may seem like an eclectic mix, keeping abreast of each topic makes me better
understand the seemingly endless chaos and turmoil which increasingly plagues
the planet. In the end, I attempt to combine all my training and interests
together in order to create novels that not only tell a story but also have the
reader thinking long after they finish reading it.
When not writing,
what do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
Congratulations on your new book! Can you give us the very
first page of your book so that we can get a glimpse inside?
October 11, 1786
Landsbut, Bavaria
THE HYPNOTIC MELODY of the whistling wind and the patter of
raindrops hitting the roof ordinarily proved more comforting to Xavier von
Zweck than the most angelic lullaby. On this night, the grandfather clock had
just chimed 2:00 a.m., and Xavier
could barely close his eyes, let alone fall asleep.
Insomnia was no friend of his but had become an accustomed
bedtime partner over the past year. Though the night was unusually warm and
muggy for a Bavarian October, Xavier pulled another quilted blanket over his
body, covering himself as if he were trying to make a cocoon.
“Xavier?” his wife mumbled, half asleep. “You’d rest better
with the lamp off.”
“Mind your own business,” he quipped. Not wanting to start
another argument, his wife simply turned away and drifted slowly back to sleep
as if nothing had occurred. She had become accustomed to her husband’s quick
fits of temper and erratic behavior. The man she married in her late teens was
certainly not the man she had grown to know over the past year. His gentle,
caring demeanor had been transformed into one of paranoia and fear. Though she
cared for him dearly, their relationship dwindled as quickly as Xavier’s
sanity.
If she only knew, Xavier thought. She would not be sleeping
so soundly.
He double-checked his bedside table drawer for the tenth
time that night to ensure that his gun was in the proper place. He had loaded
the flintlock pistol and stowed it there in case of any emergency. Assured the
gun was where he stored it, Xavier rolled on his back and looked blankly up at
the ceiling. It was such a noble and just cause, he lamented. The enlightenment
we would have brought to Bavaria,
if not the world, would have made the Renaissance pale in comparison. Now they
hunt us down like a pack of dogs, wanting to rid their country of any contrary
thoughts or points of view. The government and church are nothing more than
instruments of suppression that hinder man’s true nature to achieve
enlightenment and pursue humanitarianism.
Would you say it’s been
a rocky road for you in regards to getting your book written and published or
pretty much smooth sailing? Can you tell
us about your journey?
I never fathomed how many aspiring writers there are on the
planet! It seems like everyone these days has an unpublished book or movie
manuscript sitting on their desk. The competition to find a publisher and agent
was much more of a daunting task than I ever expected. Writing my first novel
was retrospectively the easiest task. The real time consuming job proved to be
finding a publisher. It’s a task that required immense time and even more
humility. On a daily basis, I sent out query letters, mailed sample copies of
my novel to publishers, spoke with agents or potential leads, or even at times
went to book expos where people in the publishing industry gathered.
Eventually, being persistent and at times a nuisance paid off.
If you had to
summarize your book in one sentence, what would that be?
Doctor’s Science Fiction/Political Thriller Warns of
Dystopian Future.
What makes your book
stand out from the rest?
I wrote The
Hidden Reality more than just to entertain the reader. I really wanted to
create a novel with substance like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code or Michael
Crichton’s Jurassic
Park. These books not only tell a fantastic
story but they also make the reader think. So what I did in The Hidden
Reality was incorporate certain pressing topics that effect our word today
such the unprecedented world-wide economic debt, globalism, clash of East and
West, and the rise of big government while combining it with some interesting
subjects such as Ancient Greek military history, the concept of an Open
Society, and futuristic scientific concepts.
In the end, my goal was to turn The Hidden Reality into a modern day allegoric Animal Farm to forewarn my readers of the possible future
consequences we may face as a result of our current follies of today. As
political tensions rise around the globe, the world plunges into economic debt,
Europe delves deeper into chaos, and new scientific and medical achievements
astound us by the day, I incorporated these high-concept ideas into The Hidden Reality and attempted to make
sense out the pandemonium that surround us on a daily basis.
If your book was put
in the holiday section of the store, what holiday would that be and why?
Great question!
I would say that The
Hidden Reality would be placed in the Easter section. When you think of
Easter, there is an underlying theme of rebirth and resurrection. With modern
science and technology, the idea of death has been blurred. There are theories
that one’s mind, if not their consciousness, could possibly live on in a
computer after the body has died. Also, with cloning, a person theoretically
could live on or be reborn years or even millennia after they were originally
conceived. Lastly, on a quantum level, time does not exist. What was, is, or
will be is currently happening at this moment. Death does not exist in this
subatomic world. Though these topics seem awfully deep, I touch on these themes
in The Hidden Reality and weave them
into a bigger picture that makes the reader consider the ethics behind both
future and current scientific achievements.
What’s next for you?
I am currently
working on my third and last installment of The
New Reality trilogy titled The Final
Reality. The Hidden Reality is my
second stand-alone novel in the series. The last novel will continue to delve
into high-concept ideas and explore a long forgotten world that has been hidden
under our eyes for thousands of years.
In addition, I will continue to write medical articles for
the local paper and for local hospital publications.
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