Rick Walston has just published his first sci-fi, mini-novel he has entitled, “A Power Beyond Heaven” with some 300 pages.

Ralston has resided in Manteca for 25 years working in property management and teaching tennis to friends in his off hours.  He originally hailed from Honolulu spending some time in San Jose and on the East Coast writing poetry. Like the book,  his poetry was written to be inspirational in content.

He expects to include some of his poems into a future book.

Ralston said his adult daughter Courtney inspired him to write his first novel and subsequently dedicated it to her.  She takes on the character of “Summer” seen in his writings.

The period of “A Power Beyond Heaven” takes place in 2017 with the main character focuses on a rather short, overweight man named Ron Balstrom who is losing much of his hair to age.  Ron is an ordinary man with an ordinary, low-paying job as a warehouse worker.  He takes on all available overtime to pay his bills and to make ends meet.

Balstrom calls a rented two bedroom, one bath apartment his home that he shares with his daughter Summer.  He drives an old, beat-up Jeep that gets him to work every day as it continues to fall apart.  He finds himself facing despair and hopelessness and contemplating suicide from the pressures of life.

His suicidal thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of a being not of this planet – surrounded by a bright, white aura – his name is “Infinite.”  Through the first two chapters Balstrom learns that his strange visitor was not from heaven but from a place far beyond.

The “Infinite” spirit transforms the lead character from a physical being into a spiritual one, taking him to a place in history long before the beginning of time.  He witnesses history and events that occurred before the universe was created and before Satan’s role was set and his entry onto Earth.

Balstrom is then endowed with great powers and strength, given many blessings and transformed into an immortal state with a wealth of Biblical proportions.  His new position allows him to save the world from a plethora of crises and diseases afflicting the planet.  

The author says the book was written to make people think of the possibilities of “what if” rather than to influence humans in any way about their God or about a higher power.

Ralston’s book is being sold for $15 locally or $7.95 retail on line at Amazon.