In his 50’s, John Nemus took over the family photography business after Daniel and his wife Elizabeth died and he raised Aron as best he could. But John Nemus has a secret. He’s not Daniel’s brother - he’s Daniel’s best friend from childhood, and had an affair with Elizabeth.
Well-liked in town he’s notable for his photographic skill and does well with weddings, portraits and corporate work. He’s also a keen collector of cameras old and new and even has a working dark room to process film.
Uncle John never married, and when pressed would simply say he only ever had one true love. We might assume it’s photography, but beneath the surface Uncle John seems to have many secrets. He deeply cares for Aron like a son, and is fiercely protective of him.
Aron, 29, lives with his Uncle John. Traumatized by the loss of his parents when he was 9, he continues to feel an inexplicable guilt for their deaths despite having no memory of what happened the day they died.
He became a suspect in the case, and his small town, full of bigots, believed him guilty despite a lack of evidence, and he was shunned. School was tough in that environment, so he became a loner, closer to his pet dog than anyone except his Uncle.
Brought up by the older man, who cared for him and encouraged his interest in photography, Aron sought solace in isolation, convinced he’s unworthy of love, and afraid of harming others. But under his Uncle’s guidance Aron’s passion for photography grew and he became an expert, specializing in beautiful desolate landscapes. Aron does various jobs from trucking to lumber-jacking and even bare knuckle fighting. He tries to imagine that one day he might make a living selling his photographs, perhaps even exhibiting them. But to do so he’ll have to take the leap, to make himself vulnerable and expose himself to judgement.
Making connections for Aron was hard until Kate and Jack came along. He recognized something in Jack, which the boy also saw in him. Aron fears the nightmares that haunt him, of being trapped in a place of shadows, held by a powerful entity, unable to breathe.
Aron uses the strange camera to enter a bizarre world where he can learn the truth of the past, about his uncle’s death and possibly those of his parents. His struggle to free himself of guilt, to gain acceptance of others…to feel love. The camera offers him a door to the truth.
Is he brave enough to open it?
In her early 30’s, Kate is a psychologist who graduated from UCLA and worked in LA. She married an oil worker and had a son, Jack, but her husband’s constant traveling made them distant until finally they divorced.
After her mom died, Kate returned home to help her dad, Sheriff Bergman. Strong-willed and independent, and a fantastic psychologist, she took a job at the local medical practice which she enjoys. She’s undecided whether she should head back to the big city or stick around to let Jack grow up in the clean country air.
But Aron’s case offers her a professional reason to stay, and as her feelings for him grow as she gets to know him, her conviction that she can help him regain his memories, and his connection with Jack bring them close.
In his 50’s, Stan’s clocked up 30 years in local policing. He’s seen more than his fair share of DUI’s, domestic fights, the occasional robbery.
Biggest thing was in ’97 taking down drug traffickers. Stan arrested a cocaine smuggler but earned a bullet in the shoulder for his trouble. It hurts now when it rains. Most of the time, though, the town is slow and easy and that’s how he likes it. His wife died two years ago, cruelly taken in a car accident, which hit him hard.
But he’s a stoic and Kate and Jack coming home brought some light back into his life. But when Kate gets close to Aron Nemus it sours things between them. Aron’s in his sights as a murder suspect.
Quiet as a snake, Pardue is a man of few words, and if you’re the recipient, likely the last you’ll hear. There’s something other worldly about him.
As Jack would say, he’s got a “bad aura” and there’s a good reason.
An assassin, he was sent to this world by the AI Plutocracy, to find and kill Elizabeth and Daniel Black and he’ll stop at nothing to accomplish his mission. We also learn he has another goal.
To find and protect the boy who will become the architect of the AI on which the AI Plutocracy is based - Jack Bergman.
11 years old, awkward but smart, he suffers with Asperger’s and is often bullied for his eccentricities. Gifted with a photographic memory he also has an unusual condition called tetrachromia which means he can see UV light.
In practical terms this means he can spot things otherwise invisible to the human eye like electric pylons glowing at night, or blood drops on a trail. Extremely empathic, Jack can tell someone’s “aura”, good or bad, just by looking at them, but he’s hard to get to know, and thin on friends until along came a force of nature called Ham.
11 years old, she befriends Jack despite his protests, glomming onto him when Jack pulls off a feat of memory which convinces her that he must be a superhero in disguise. Self-conscious near other kids, Ham recognizes a kindred spirit in Jack, and immediately regards them as a team against the world.
Even more so since her dad yells a lot, so she gets out of the house and heads for Jack’s on a bike or skate board for new adventure. She wants to learn about Jack’s superhero powers, but more importantly she wants to make a friend.
The town know-it-all, a puffed-up, self-important small businessman. He views himself as a pillar of the community, serving on every local committee. Married for ten years to Marcia, they have twin sons, Todd and Reece, and he runs a realty development firm. But beneath the surface there are a lot of secrets.
His business is in debt, his grand property development behind schedule. He’s also having an affair with the local beautician, Joyce, who’s got her sights on his money. Eric promises her the world - or Temple Falls at least - but there’s just one thing standing in his way. He needs a parcel of land to complete his masterpiece condo development and make the sale legal, a parcel owned by Uncle John.
Eric’s determined to get it by fair means or foul. Cursed with two obnoxious sons, bullies who pick on Jack and Ham, and just about anyone else they find, Eric has sought counseling for them on several different occasions to try to tame them. But the conclusion is always the same - there’s nothing can be done.