Red Trance
by By Zimmerman, R. D.
Category: Fiction , Mystery & Detective , General

They are odd. Maddy Phillips, sightless and paraplegic, is a distinguished psychologist specializing in forensic hypnosis. Her brother, Alex, probes the world beyond Maddy's island estate. And together they prove to be crime fiction's most unique and fascinating detective team: when Alex witnesses a crime, he retreats to Maddy's island where, under her powerful hypnotic trance, he retells in startling detail the horrible events.Their previous adventures have won widespread critical acclaim and numerous fans. Now, in this third very original appearance, Maddy dispatches Alex on a strange and ultimately life-threatening visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he encounters the mysterious hypnotist, Dr. Pavel Kamikov. The new Russia, Alex discovers, is layered with greed and lies, and Dr. Kamikov proves no different. Just how in Russia's difficult times has this man become so wealthy? Has he really made that much money from his popular TV show, Mesmerizing Moments, or is he involved in an illegal business? To muddy the scene even further, almost as soon as Alex arrives in St. Petersburg, an old friend of his is gunned down while changing dollars on the black market - an event that sweeps Alex into the new, ruthless Russia now dominated by the all-powerful Russian mafia.Filled with details of post-Soviet Russia, Red Trance charges through the dark alleys of St. Petersburg and pits Alex's life against a handful of thugs. In the very end, however, after a gruesome murder in a dark stairwell and Alex's own arrest by the Russian police, only one person is able to identify the awful truth: Maddy. Deep in hypnotic trance, the uniquely powerful and blind Maddy visualizes the scene of the crime, revealing the real course of events.