The Wave

The Wave, Walter Mosley, Warner Books, 2005

For the past few nights, Errol Porter has been harassed by strange crank phone calls. One night, the caller says that he is Errol's father. In the middle of the night, Errol breaks into the cemetery where his father was buried several years previously. There he finds GT, who looks, talks and acts like a younger, healthier version of his father. Errol takes him home for a shower and a change of clothes, if nothing else (Errol's girlfriend, Nella, thinks that is a bad idea).

Along the way, GT tells Errol things about his family and about growing up that no one else could know. Errol's first thought was that his father had another family, and this is his illegitimate son. GT also points Errol to a handwritten confession written many years previously. Errol's mother was having an affair with a local man. Errol's father murdered the man, and buried him under their garage, where his body is found. Slowly, but surely, Errol is convinced. One night, GT disappears, and Errol thinks that this is the end of the story.

That is, until Errol is kidnapped by government agents and taken to a secret facility.  There, he is shown hundreds of people, risen from the dead, all with amazing powers of recuperation. He watches as what looks like a six-year-old girl regenerates an arm that has just been amputated. The head of the facility, Dr Wheeler, is convinced that this is the beginning of some sort of alien invasion. GT returns, and Errol learns that millions of years ago, a cellular intelligence came to Earth via a meteor. It recently found a life form it can use, dead people, and wants to peacefully coexist with the people of Earth. It also wants to give humans a storehouse of ancient wisdom, which looks a lot like a pool of black slime. But all Dr Wheeler can hear is Alien Invasion!

Mosley may be better known as a mystery writer than a science fiction writer, but this is a really good science fiction story. It's a very contemporary tale, with just enough Stephen King and Arthur C. Clarke in it. This is a pretty fast read that will keep the reader's interest.