Review: Phenomenal!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 14, 2013
This is a phenomenally well developed science fiction / paranormal book that bursts with potential for future dramatic volumes.  It has been a long time since I read a book that felt so well thought through from every angle that it almost falls off the page with chilling realism.We start out focused on Canter who has had a rough time of things and been turned into a social pariah which is a fate that has befallen too many academics over the years. If doping in sport is bad then fraud in science is very bad and met with perhaps an even higher degree of alienation and punishment. His fall from grace is monumental and his desire to cling on as long as he can to whatever tenuous grip he has on a career is understandable if not foolhardy. As a scientist he crossed the line into celebrity and this is not easily done.When Mika arrives on the scene we see the beginning of an almost exponential acceleration of the complexity and diversity of the plot that continues to the end.Borders takes the time to carefully introduce each new character as they come on the scene to the degree that is appropriate. This is done in various ways that add depth and clarity to the story. As the pace picks up and we meet the key players there is no sense that we have slipped from the paranormal to the absurd. The angles are covered and the edges are smoothed which leaves the reader having to concentrate only on the central plot themes. The science that is invoked is believable and it is only at the very edges that we see the fraying of our reality and the beginnings of the paranormal. As I read I recalled allusions to various debunked mind over matter experiments and there is clearly reference made to the supposed powers of the ancients long forgotten. It is exactly in this boundary space where science, paranormal and magi meet that we find this explosive new masterpiece.This volume ends, where all first books in a series should, making me want to read on, to learn what we do not yet know, to see if our heroes can save the world.