The Crimson Flake

About the Book

The Crimson Flake is a tale of two tales, diverse and well separated by time and locale. Each is an emotional human struggle and the two are on a collision course.

The first tale concerns a rather large and often irreverent man who silently craves danger and shares his life with a cat called Sam. They both love the same woman but while the cat openly demonstrates his emotions toward her the man struggles with feelings of love and commitment; feelings he knows deep down to be absolute truths. In addition, he wrestles with a nagging internal death wish and a disturbing intuitive ability; an ability he loathes but one that's kept him alive.

The second involves a struggle we've known since the beginning when Eve encountered the serpent. There are evil things. They're where you would expect them but they're also where you wouldn't. You don't see the man in the crowd whose eyes are fixed on you, who follows you, who snatches you from your life and your life from you; unnoticed little slices of time. This is the story of such an encounter; of how evil can spring from the most benign and tranquil environment, of one person's courage and willpower to battle such madness: a battle that ultimately defines her life.

It's the story of two reclusive brothers who live deep in an otherwise hushed and beautiful forest but who, because of an emotionally tortured mother and her twisted influence, have littered the peaceful woodland with the remains of nine vibrant young women; all in the name of God. But not all of the remains were scattered. No. The prettiest parts were saved. They're in the barn.

One brother is inherently evil, born evil, and is descending deeper into the abyss. He is beyond redemption and only death can stop him. The other is struggling with thoughts he didn't know he could have before she came. He's being pulled in one direction by a despicable but settled way of life and in the other by her. She is Willie, a skinny, nineteen year-old, inner-city kid who is there quite by accident and fighting for two lives.

Over time, bizarre circumstances cause the paths of the big man and the girl to converge. The two become allies and make for perhaps the strangest heroic duo imaginable. They stumble and falter along the way but the union is a formidable one. They recover, more powerful, in a final assault and the evil is left lying as dust beside the road.

About the Author

R. L. Knight was born in the summer of 1941 in a small coastal Maine village. He says his childhood was like a "Down East" version of Huck and Tom- Huck of the North- and he wouldn't have traded it for all the best cats-eyes in the world. Inspired by a book, he has traveled the blue highways of Mexico, Canada, England, Scotland and every state but two: Alaska and Oklahoma. He has no plans to visit either. "Some things are better left".

He has lived in tumultuous times: the political assassinations of the sixties and seventies, Vietnam, the death of his wife and other personal upheavals. But, through it all, growth has come and he believes life should be measured not by what you know or can do but by what you understand and can feel. "Life can make your life meaningful. Let it happen and pay attention. It's a Zen thing."

He has lived in Maine, Mississippi, New York, Texas, Colorado and Minnesota and now lives in South Carolina with his new wife and son. They, along with his two daughters and grandsons, Mr. Max and Logi Bear, remain his most treasured inspiration.