Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Final Study of Cooper M. Reid--One Week to Go

Barry Napier's limited edition chapbook, The Final Study of Cooper M. Reid, is set for release one week from today (Tuesday, May 18th, 2010). You can still pre-order a copy of this signed and lettered edition for only $8. To celebrate, please enjoy a sample of Cooper's story:

Cooper M. Reid
(Bio written by William Corban at the request of L. B. Stewart)

Cooper M. Reid graduated at the top of his class from the University of Virginia with a Masters of Science in astrobiology in 2002. He didn’t bother pursuing a career in this field however; instead, he applied for a job at the FBI. Based on his excellent physical exams and nearly perfect collegiate record, they snatched him up quickly and he ended up working as a field agent in 2005. His job performance was of such a stellar nature that he was offered positions with the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service, all of which he declined.

In November of 2007, he was contacted by CSAR. Reid accepted their offer right away, leaving behind a prestigious few years with the FBI and, some believe, quite a few underhanded offers by other shadow organizations that would have paid him handsomely. He aced all of CSAR’s mandatory enrollment tests and, during interviews and profile sessions, stunned experts with his knowledge in the fields of astrobiology, parapsychology and astrophysics.

Within his first year with CSAR, he documented eleven cases of scientific anomalies, three of which made national headlines. In a very controversial move, Reid went public with his findings and research for CSAR without permission. Over time, the media stuck him with the title of “The Brains Behind the Real X-Files.”

Most of his attention came from the case that would eventually get him expelled from CSAR. While researching Case #200-0201-17B, he notified the media of the discovery of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge in the cellar of a farmhouse in Kentucky before informing his superiors at CSAR. Following his expulsion, he moved to London in 2009 where he wrote a book based on his studies and adventures while employed by the organization. In this book, Grasping the Fringes, he revealed that he had heard of CSAR from an undergrad student he knew in college. Having been interested in the paranormal and other “parasciences” since childhood, Reid made it his goal to excel in academics and pave his own way to the doors of CSAR—a feat he managed to achieve with uncanny success and speed.

While he was only involved with CSAR for a period of fifteen months before his expulsion, he managed to nearly blow the cover off of the secret organization on numerous occasions. It is because of Reid that CSAR was forced to submit all of their classified documents to a panel review conducted by the CIA in 2009.

In interviews conducted with Reid in the year following his dismissal, he all but confirmed that it had been his plan to go public with anything he found while at CSAR. In a Rolling Stone interview, he revealed that ever since he heard rumors of the center’s existence, it was his life’s goal to work there and, in turn, document it in books. He wanted to become, as he put it, “the Hunter S. Thompson of the paranormal.”

In the seventeen months between his expulsion from CSAR and his disappearance on February 23rd, 2010, Cooper M. Reid became a headline sensation. He traveled the world investigating paranormal occurrences. Many of the cases he took on turned out to be fraudulent, but a good number of them were apparently legitimate. His footage from the haunted foothills of Mt. Auyantepui in Venezuela was plastered all over the major news outlets in September, 2009. Similarly, his photographs of UFOs flying over Jerusalem not only became something of an internet legend, but an actual religion has since been founded around the event.

In the course of his short-lived career, Cooper M. Reid has seen and done it all. He has participated in Native American rituals under the influence of hallucinogens. He has done mescaline-psychic readings with a small group of tribesman located near Guatemala that are supposedly descendants of the Mayans. Most recently, in January of 2010, he attended a black mass in Norway where he resided with black metal artists and attempted to purposefully become demonically possessed.

After Reid’s disappearance, his agent announced that he had a second book underway. There is currently a bidding war between the major publishing houses for the manuscript. It is because of this flurry of popularity and demand for the work of Cooper M. Reid that many critics speculate that he is staging his disappearance in order to add publicity and reverence to his name.

As of the writing of this bio, Cooper M. Reid has been missing for fifty-eight days. The only evidence left behind was the majority of his study equipment (see enclosed CSAR Assignment Sheet for Case Study Number 239-8239-5A), and a few splatters of blood that did in fact test positive for the DNA of Cooper M. Reid.

The case remains under investigation, but only under CSAR jurisdiction.

2 comments:

Cate Gardner said...

So exciting. I can't wait to get my copy.

Anthony Rapino said...

Looks good! Been re-tweeting for you all day. :-)