Month: February 2026

Busking at the Intersection of Merit and Mayhem

The Secretary of the Treasury lived in an exclusive gated community. If one were to consult the HOA charter, front-yard spacecraft landings would fall under the same category as helicopter traffic — requiring prior approval by the board of governance.

Carmen Benequista did not ask permission. Instead, she dropped a Fatboy troop shuttle right on top of her victim’s mailbox.

Her companion, an elevated size-two fighting maroli named Incredible, asked, “What’d this guy do to piss you off?”

She replied, “He disobeyed a lawful order to default on United States debt held by foreign actors.”

Incredible let himself out a cargo hatch. “Why do you want to default on debt?”

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Frog!

When the machinist was a boy, his grandfather told him about a tiny ceramic frog kept in a pocket at Dachau, the old man’s silent prayer to God that he not be forgotten.

Upon retirement, the machinist took up woodcarving, producing pocket-sized figures of frogs in remembrance of his grandfather’s ordeal.

One day, someone mentioned the frog was a symbol of liberation.

“Oy vey,” he said. “Is that what this is about?”

Thematically, my novels are about discipline, calling, stewardship, covenant, and moral formation over time.

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What Silken Thread is About

Destiny

Purpose

Loss

Discovery

Renewal

An uncommon spin on the coming-of-age theme, informed by the author’s upbringing in mid-century Asia. Mature content, Young Adult appropriate. Value-positive, about good character as a strategy for creating a successful life. An immersive journey to a time and place now gone forever.

Alter Systems says:

  • The Setting Feels Lived-In
    Dyer’s description of 1960s Asia — the humid streets of Manila, the smoky golf clubs, the charged diplomacy around embassies — feels meticulously authentic. He paints a world poised between Cold War espionage and emerging globalization. You can smell the scotch, the silk, the rain on warm pavement.
  • Complex Characters, Real Stakes
    Sixteen-year-old David Aarens isn’t the typical coming-of-age protagonist. His relationship with Barbara Schneider — a twenty-eight-year-old American Air Force officer turned CIA recruit — is written with startling candor and emotional nuance. It’s equal parts romantic idealism and the loss of it. Their story is tender, dangerous, and unafraid to confront human contradiction.
  • Maturity and Moral Texture
    What Dyer achieves here is literary realism rarely seen in modern fiction: everyone in Silken Thread carries both light and shadow. The father’s moral warnings, the lover’s forbidden affection, the diplomats’ coded games — every scene bleeds authenticity and restraint.
  • Historical Depth Without Pretension
    Beneath the personal drama is a larger commentary on Western presence in postwar Asia. The book hints at the cultural arrogance, the quiet racism, and the backroom dealings underpinning “soft power.” Yet it does so without preaching; the truths emerge in texture and subtext.

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