Kain Richards is an anomaly among drifters. He is not a typical vagabond, idly moving from one place to another, blown like leaves in the wind. No, he is a man on the run and the horror he is trying to escape is relentless. Another component of his disparity with another panhandler and a unique twist to the ages old premise is Kain’s uncanny ability to ‘turn’ time. He meets a family in Iowa. Lynn, the attractive mother of Lee-Anne and Ryan, who may have the ‘Sense,’ gives him something he has long been without. He decides to stay a while; a decision that will bring the wrath of hell itself upon them all.

Mr. Cassidy weaves an intriguing blend of science fiction, paranormal action and horror scenarios in his three-part novel, Velvet Rain. Expert narrative detail and characterization create a world that, once entered, is hard to leave. Several reviewers have compared Mr. Cassidy’s writing style to that of Stephen King or Dean Koontz and I can agree in part. Still, I would lean more towards the style of Richard Laymon. Prior to Cassidy, he is the only author I’ve read with the exquisite touch of writing horrifically bloody and graphically realistic torture and death scenes. Instead of castigating the author for these scenes, one should praise the courage and the talent necessary to write them with such a high degree of verisimilitude. Yes, they are disturbing and that’s exactly how they are intended to be. I say, bravo, Mr. Cassidy, please continue to write reality into fiction and I, for one, will be there to read them all. Still, a discriminating parent may want to keep this book out of the hands of young adults under seventeen.

Kain Richards, a mysterious drifter and once a tortured captive in a deadly experiment, has a godlike gift which Brikker, a sadistic and obsessed scientist, will do anything to possess. To protect himself, Kain is constantly on the run until he meets Lynn Bishop, a beautiful and levelheaded Iowa farm woman. He falls in love and becomes attached to the idea of living with her and working on her father’s farm. However, his fear of Brikker finding him there and the possibility that Lynn’s family might be harmed lurks in his mind.

David C. Cassidy’s Velvet Rain moves at a measured and swift pace at the same time, immersing readers in the characters’ thoughts, particularly Kain and Brikker. This might dangerously push away anyone that prefers a consistent fast paced story, but Cassidy more than makes up for it with his excellent storytelling which keeps the reader’s interest. Heavily atmospheric, Velvet Rain offers something different for thriller fans, as protagonist Kain is anti-hero in a peculiar way. Nothing seems too far-fetched, even when the story sometimes veers into a subtle melodrama. The premise and plot comprise sci-fi, paranormal and horror that perfectly blend together. The evocative narration, which has always been Cassidy’s strong point, brings vivid images and emotions to a reader’s mind.

Like his previous books, Velvet Rain is a satisfying read, an excellent story from Cassidy’s twisted mind. Strangely, it reminds readers about the most important fact; our choices can make a big difference in our lives.

What is time? It is an abstract concept of how life progresses from beginning to end. It is the Alpha and Omega of existence and all that is in between. As the great artist, scientist, and mathematician, Leonardo da Vinci wrote, “Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.” Time is fleeting and it is irreversible, or is it? For Kain Richards, time is something of a curse because Kain can reverse time and play it back over and over again and, in the process, he can alter events. However, these altered events, altered time, never change Kain’s memory. He remembers what happened the first time as well as the last time. And it all boils down to that abstraction of time.

Sound confusing? It is, in a way, but it certainly makes for a compelling story in Velvet Rain by David C. Cassidy. Imagine having Kain’s gift (or curse as he sees it). Imagine being able to move time backwards and change events. Would you be like Kain and try to make things right? Or would you be evil like Kain’s adversary and predator, Brikker, who wants this gift for his own purposes? As Kain struggles to stay out of Brikker’s evil grasp, Kain leaves behind a trail of changed times, changed events, mysterious happenings that make the news and leave a trail for evil to follow. Kain’s life is a constant journey, seeking a place to belong, a place to feel safe. He almost finds it in a farmhouse with a single mother, but evil surrounds him and threatens him and all of those whom he begins to love. The evil is not just Brikker; the evil is also the simple malevolent workings of a human mind, a husband who seeks revenge on a wife who left him, on a son and daughter who despise and fear him, and on Kain who stands in his way.

David C. Cassidy has written a very complex story about a very abstract idea. Whilst his labored revelations, repeated by multiple points of view, at first appear tedious and drag out the plot, these revelations are also part of the complexity of the abstraction of time. When the reader does finally weave his/her way through the mire of repeated episodes and the long, drawn out drama that directs the climax to a lengthy resolution, there is a simple lesson to be appreciated, one that Kain dictates to his fellow survivors as well as the reader: “Now’s the moment. Now’s the time. Make now count, every time.” Kain also points out that, “As time goes on we tend to forget the simple things.” This was an interesting read and an intriguing concept in its abstraction. Perhaps a little less repetition of the evolution of events would allow this story to move more dramatically and efficiently to its resolution.