<b>Named "Best book of the year!" by <i>IndieReader.com</i></b> <br /><br /><i>Smoke & Mirrors</i> (Brainrush 5) is the exciting conclusion to <i>Brainchild</i>, Book-4 of the <i>Brainrush</i> series. <br /><br /> A gifted boy forced to grow up too fast... A father who will do anything to protect him... A madman bent on destroying them both.<br /><br /> Jake Bronson and his seven-year-old son, Alex, possess mental gifts that could provide the missing link to a cybernetic life-extension project that will transfer individual consciousness to a personalized avatar. But those same gifts are sought by a Chinese underworld mastermind who will use them to infiltrate the world's most secure networks.<br /><br /> As the story continues from Book-4 of the Brainrush series, Alex and his brother and his sister are lost, and Jake's wife and best friends have been taken hostage. Jake will risk everything to save them, and he is thrust into a frantic race that takes him from the back alleys of Hong Kong to the depths of the South China jungles, where he must lever every scrap of his failing abilities to rescue his loved ones and crush a madman's plans to bring the world to its knees.<br /><br /> An international thriller with soul. Ideal reading for fans of Michael Crichton, Nora Roberts, Clive Cussler, James Rollins, J.D. Robb, Marcus Sakey, Michael Grumley, Brad Thor, Dan Brown, Matthew Reilly, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Vince Flynn.<br /><br /> (Note: "Smoke & Mirrors" was formerly entitled "Ephemeral.")