God's Junk Drawer, page 1
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“A gripping thrill ride, brilliantly paced and plotted, a joy from end to end. I never wanted to leave the valley. You will believe dinosaurs ate your deadbeat roommate who skipped out on his half of the rent. This is what nostalgia should be.”
—Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of the October Daye series
“A mad romp through a land of dinosaurs, robots, cavemen, and cyborgs, God’s Junk Drawer will appeal to anyone who spent their childhood smashing action figures together.”
—Django Wexler, author of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
“God’s Junk Drawer is like Land of the Lost written for grown-ups, a story of adventure, horror, survival, and the lengths a person will go to for their family. Peter Clines has a way of taking a story you think you understand and throwing it on its head in weird and amazing ways.”
—Stephen Blackmoore, author of Dead Things
“Absolutely delighted by the twists and reveals in this story…Packed with mystery and horror and moments of human sweetness.”
—Kevin Hearne, author of the Iron Druid Chronicles
“Another Peter Clines classic! A puzzling cosmic mystery packed with big ideas, a loveable cast, and sweeping grand adventure. A meaty sci-fi thriller for all readers and a veritable feast for those who loved Land of the Lost in their youth.”
—Craig DiLouie, author of My Ex, the Antichrist
BOOKS BY PETER CLINES
standalone books
God’s Junk Drawer
The Broken Room
Paradox Bound
Dead Men Can’t Complain and Other Stories
The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe
The Junkie Quatrain
the threshold universe
14
The Fold
Dead Moon
Terminus
the ex-heroes series
Ex-Heroes
Ex-Patriots
Ex-Communication
Ex-Purgatory
Ex-Isle
GOD’S JUNK DRAWER
PETER CLINES
Copyright © 2025 by Peter Clines
E-book published in 2025 by Blackstone Publishing
Cover design by Bookfly
All rights reserved. This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
whatsoever without the express written permission
of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations
in a book review.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Trade e-book ISBN 979-8-8748-6629-7
Library e-book ISBN 979-8-8748-6628-0
Fiction / Science Fiction / Time Travel
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Rd.
Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstonePublishing.com
CONTENTS
AP Wire
The Boston Globe
The Sun
The Washington Post
From Dino Boy: A True Story of Surviving Trauma in an Elaborate Fantasy World
From the Rolling Stone article “A Decade of Dino Boy”
1. Olivia
2. Sam
3. Kyle
4. Logan
5. Billy
6. Parker
7. Kyle
8. Olivia
9. Logan
10. Sam
11. Parker
12. Josh
13. Sam
14. Noah
15. Billy
16. Parker
17. Josh
18. Sam
19. Noah
20. Josh
21. Billy
22. Sam
23. Josh
24. Sam
25. Parker
26. Noah
27. Billy
28. Josh
29. Sam
30. Parker
31. Billy
32. Noah
33. Josh
34. Sam
35. Parker
36. Sam
37. Billy
38. Noah
39. Josh
40. Parker
41. Billy
42. Noah
43. Josh
44. Noah
45. Parker
46. Billy
47. Sam
48. Parker
49. Noah
50. Parker
51. Sam
52. Noah
53. Parker
AP Wire
Gabe McAllister
FOXNews.com
May 30
54. Beau
Afterword
About the Author
AP WIRE
September 26, 1984
THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED
Authorities continue their search for a family of three that went missing during a camping trip this past weekend. James Gather and his two children, Beau and William, had been white water rafting Saturday afternoon on Dead River and did not arrive at their campground to meet friends as scheduled. Law enforcement was contacted when the family did not appear after several hours. Search parties were formed and have spent the past four days searching for any sign of the family.
Gather’s wife, Cynthia, had died one year previous, and the rafting trip was intended as an anniversary event. The family had taken many such trips and vacations in the past, and Gather had told friends he hoped this one “could be a celebration of her life and not just remembering her death.”
On Tuesday morning, a section of the Gather family’s raft and pieces of camping equipment were discovered by search party members approximately four miles downriver from their last known location. Working off the remains, Fontana Township Sheriff Gerald David believes the family’s raft came apart high on the rapids and plunged them down . . .
THE BOSTON GLOBE
October 13, 1984
After three weeks, authorities have called off the search for the Gather family. James Gather and his two children, fifteen-year-old daughter Beau and nine-year-old son William, went missing in September while on a white water rafting excursion that was part of an extended camping trip. All three are now presumed dead.
Search parties have been unable to find any trace of the family or most of their camping equipment. Authorities now believe the Gather family drowned when their raft came apart at a particularly fast and treacherous point in the river . . .
THE SUN
September 27, 1989
An American boy found wandering the forests of Khao Luang National Park in Thailand has been positively identified as William “Billy” Gather. Gather, his father James, and sister Beau, vanished in a white water rafting accident five years ago in the United States. The family’s disappearance led to a twenty-three-day search and rescue effort.
Gather was disoriented when found four days ago by hikers, not knowing where he was, or even the year. Doctors determined the boy has suffered from shock and long-term malnutrition.
Authorities from the US embassy have attempted to question Gather as to the whereabouts of his father and sister, and how he arrived in Thailand, but as yet the boy has been unable to give coherent answers. One hospital staff member, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Gather has clearly suffered a severe mental trauma . . .
THE WASHINGTON POST
October 2, 1989
Authorities now believe James Gather and his family were the victims of a criminal attack.
Gather, a Massachusetts contractor, vanished five years ago with his daughter Beau and son William. While their disappearance and presumed death was ruled an accident at the time, federal investigators now believe an international crime ring may have been involved. Agent Wesley Coleman of the FBI says William “Billy” Gather’s reappearance in Thailand last week has led authorities to reopen the case and pursue new directions, with several departments contributing to the investigation.
An anonymous source says the younger Gather has suffered a severe break with reality, most likely brought on from systematic abuse. Gather claims his family spent the past two years living in a cave but cannot account for the other three years he has been missing. He has also told authorities his father, James Gather, died over a year ago, but insists his father was killed by a Tyrannosaurus. The carnivorous dinosaur known as Tyrannosaurus Rex has been extinct for over sixty-five million years . . .
FROM DINO BOY: A TRUE STORY OF SURVIVING TRAUMA IN AN ELABORATE FANTASY WORLD
Crown Publishing, 1993
Billy Gather described so many unbelievable things during his years of interviews, talk show appearances, and publicized therapy sessions. The countless wonders of his magic valley (all discussed in later chapters) included a robot who cooked, cleaned, and told bedtime stories; an aggressive tribe of Neanderthals; a shape-changing alien castaway; shipwrecks; castles made of ice; and so many, many dinosaurs.
Indeed, Billy’s fantasy world was so complete, so densely packed with details, one has to assume some adult—perhaps his father and/or older sister—were feeding him elements of the story to spare him the horror of what they were actually going through as prisoners of the Far East sex trade. A masked kidnapper bringing them food becomes a robot. Violent criminals become angry cavemen. Even h
FROM THE ROLLING STONE ARTICLE “A DECADE OF DINO BOY”
Issue 821, Sept. 16, 1999
Fifteen years ago Billy Gather vanished with his family. He reappeared five years later, almost to the day, on the other side of the world. While his story of a mysterious and magical valley populated by fantastic creatures captured the attention of media, celebrities, and authorities, the sad reality was that it caused a desperate coping mechanism to become Billy’s only identity. He wasn’t a survivor, he was just Dino Boy. He wasn’t a victim, he was the kid who thought he grew up with an android butler serving him dinosaur eggs for breakfast. The trauma he went through became a joke, and the joke was too good—too lucrative—to just fade away.
So it wasn’t a surprise to some people when Gather took his own steps to end the ongoing joke—legally changing his name on his 22nd birthday and vanishing yet again, this time perhaps forever . . .
1
OLIVIA
The air brakes hissed, the bus swayed to a stop, and Olivia pretended to wake up. She rolled her neck until it made a loud pop. She’d kept her eyes firmly on her tablet for the first two hours of the bus ride, feigned sleep for a lot of the next two. A way to get caught up on a ton of reading and avoid any awkward conversations with Logan. Gave him an excuse to do his own things. Which he needed to get used to doing.
Most of the undergrads were already on their feet and packing the aisle. At least supervising them didn’t extend to getting them off the bus. Over four hours, two state lines, and only one stop to enjoy food and a bathroom that didn’t crowd your shoulders. They leaned and shuffled and tried to gather whatever belongings they’d brought onto the bus with them, desperate to get out into the open air.
Olivia had spent last night at Logan’s—her last night at Logan’s if things went as expected—since he still lived on campus in grad student housing. It cut twenty minutes off her travel time this morning, and what the hell, he deserved a goodbye bang. They’d bumped into Kyle on the way to the bus, and Kyle could be an ass but having him there kept the morning conversation from going in directions she didn’t want to deal with.
As if on cue, Kyle whapped the headrest of her chair three times. He’d stood up as soon as the bus pulled into the rural parking lot. Kyle was one of those guys who spent an hour or so every morning making himself look like he hadn’t spent any time getting ready. Hair just a bit too long and artfully messy, stubble that somehow never got past about a day’s growth, clothes rumpled but not wrinkled, but still tight on his lanky bod. She thought of him as the tech bro version of an astronomer—niche-smart, loud, kind of fun, but ultimately not doing half as much groundbreaking work as he thought he was.
He leaned over her to look out the window, shaking his head. “This is ridiculous. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere.”
Olivia pushed him back into the aisle. “It's an imaging class. No light pollution.”
“There’s places without light pollution that aren’t three-hundred-plus miles away.”
Logan worked his way up the aisle like a salmon fighting its way upstream. He slipped between two undergrads, wedging himself alongside Kyle and Olivia. He let one foot drift into her leg space, his knee settling between her knees. Intimacy through proximity. She managed to not sigh or roll her eyes again.
“But seriously,” asked Logan, leaning into Olivia while he looked at Kyle, “why are you here? Do you even have a lab with Dr. Barnes?”
He tried to give her a kiss. She managed to dodge most of it, made it seem like bad timing, like she’d been reaching for her coat and tablet on the seat beside her. He brushed it off with a smile. Too confident about where things stood to be bothered.
Kyle shrugged. “No, but I need to earn a few points with Hideko. She owed Barnes a favor, he needed people who knew the telescopes and the camera rigs to make sure some dumb undergrad didn’t destroy them.”
“Hey!” said one of the undergrads with a glare.
“Not you,” he said, waving the young woman away. She shot him another look and pushed her way down the aisle. He turned back to his friends. “Yeah, absolutely her. I think she’s broken half the equipment she’s touched. Keep an eye on her.”
Logan looked toward the front of the bus. “We should probably go out and help unload the equipment.”
“No rush,” said Olivia. “Let everyone get off, get all their stuff out from underneath.”
Logan’s brow twisted up. He had one long hair on his eyebrow, almost twice the length of all the others. It had been gnawing at her since yesterday.
A lot of little things about Logan had been gnawing at her lately. If Kyle was the Seattle tech bro, Logan was the Clark Kent. The glasses, the farm-boy body—okay, she’d definitely miss the body—the way he quietly did better work than most of the people around him. Too earnest for his own good, though. It was cute at first.
But “at first” had been a few months ago.
Kyle sighed, turning to the side to let another student slip past him. “I still say this is fucking dumb. There are closer locations we could’ve done this.”
Logan shrugged. “Maybe he knows something cool about this particular site.”
“Maybe he’s trying to hide from some donors this weekend.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Most of the undergrads had shuffled toward the front of the bus. Kyle lowered his voice anyway. “I mean, you’ve heard all those rumors about Barnes burning through his grant money?”
A quick nod from Logan. “Yeah.”
“Well, they’re beyond true. He’s broke. Completely broke. Spent two years of donor funding in eight months.”
“Yeah, everybody knows. It’s not some big secret scandal.”
“Drug habit? Hookers?”
“Nothing that interesting,” said Olivia. She looked out the bus window at the top of Noah Barnes’s head. “Better computers, more telescope time, all the usual stuff. Everybody does it. He just, y’know, kept doing it. For all of last semester and over the summer.”
“Dumb,” said Kyle.
“He’s brilliant when it comes to orbital mechanics,” said Olivia, “just not big on money management.”
“At university level, that means you’re dumb.”
“Stop saying dumb,” Logan interrupted. “It’s ableist.”
“You’re ableist.”
“What are you, ten?”
“No, I’m eight. I’m just really well hung for my age.”
Olivia spit out a laugh. “Oh my god.”
