Alcohol has had a bad reputation since its creation
by the ancient Sumerians 6,000 years ago. By the way, the ancient Sumerian name
for alcohol was “igi-hulu.” That’s
right! The word alcohol has come all the way down to us from Sumeria almost in
its pristine and distilled form.
Beer received special attention in the 18th century BC code of the Babylonian lawmaker Hammurabi and it was a capital offense, punishable by death, to be charged with rowdy behavior in a salon after its consumption. In fact some of the first writings in ancient Sumeria and Egypt were documents keeping account of the amount of beer barley and grain being stored in the royal house.
There are even some historians who argue that had it
not been for the invention of alcohol, civilization as we know it would not
have developed. For instance, some go on to point out that the American
Revolution was given birth to in a local Boston tavern. One can imagine the
founding fathers discussing the upcoming Boston Tea Party over a few mugs of
beer.
The idea is not too farfetched, if you consider it.
Alcohol was also historically utilized for medicinal
purposes, as in the Civil War when it was used to anesthetize a wounded soldier
before undergoing an amputation of a limb. Notwithstanding this, it has also
served a psychological medicinal purpose.
The anesthetizing effect of alcohol is due to the
brain’s overloading the blood system with HDLPs or “High Density Lipoproteins” which
causes a significant rise in the body’s production of endorphins. This process not
only decreases pain, but brings about a temporary euphoric state of being.
This is the very trap in connection with large
consumption of alcohol. One can easily fall into a vicious cycle of chasing the
euphoria, by significantly increasing one’s intake. The problem with this
process is that the body eventually builds a higher level of tolerance, so that
it requires an even larger amount of imbibing to reach the same initial
euphoric state. This is one of the reasons alcoholism is harder to cure than
addiction to any other substance known to man.
Many a combat veteran throughout the annuals of
modern warfare (in particular from the Civil War onto the present Gulf War) has
resulted to alcoholism to assuage the persistent demons and traumatic
flashbacks of the horrors experienced on the battlefield.
And this is where we find our hero and main
character, Army Ranger and Gulf War veteran, Staff Sergeant Hank Donaldson in
my action-novel The Shaitan.
Not only is Staff Sergeant Hank Donaldson troubled
by nagging flashbacks of horrific battle scenes, but he is also plagued with a
guilty conscience over his recent divorce and subsequent estrangement from his
children; this being the result of his chronic absence from home in the
fulfillment of his military duties.
In response our hero takes to the bottle with vigor
and finds himself in a drunken stupor most of the time. This wouldn’t
pose such a threat, if it had not been for the fact that he was still in the
employ of the United States Army, and sent out on a most sensitive mission to
find and neutralize, Ismial Abdur Rahim, the world’s most wanted terrorist.
How can Staff Sergeant Hank Donaldson accomplish
this vital task without jeopardizing the operation and bringing great harm
to himself?
To find out the answer to this question, I invite
you to purchase and read an electronic copy of my novel, The Shaitan!
THE SHAITAN IS CURRENTLY BEING SOLD AT THESE LOCATIONS:
Barnes & Noble Bookstore: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-shaitan-daniel-canada/1123886050?ean=2940152342888
The Shaitan is not sold on Amazon.com at this time.
To view a few sample pages or to
purchase The Shaitan visit: https://smashwords.com/books/view/573076 (Note: You must 1st remove “adult content” filter from top
right hand corner of Smashword page to access the book, by clicking the “Adult
Content” button before
searching for book title The Shaitan
in search field).
If you want to view my Smashwords
Author Profile visit: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ObsidianBlade64
You can also check the comments I
will be posting about the making of the book as well as background material out
on these social media sites:
My
Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.canada3
My
Twitter account: https://twitter.com/lordlumiel
Bon appetite!
Daniel Canada aka Obsidian
