August 4, 2014
Actress Anderson of X-Files fame makes her fiction debut with this gripping, well-written thriller, coauthored with genre veteran Rovin (Vespers). Ben Moss, an interpreter at the United Nations, asks a friend, Manhattan psychiatrist Caitlin O’Hara, if she can figure out what’s bothering Maanik Pawar, the 16-year-old daughter of the Permanent Representative of India to the U.N. Maanik’s father, Ganak, narrowly survived an assassination attempt on a Manhattan street, and while the teenager, who witnessed the shooting, initially seemed okay, she has begun injuring herself, screaming, and speaking in gibberish. The crisis at home threatens to have global implications since it distracts Ganak from focusing on nuclear saber-rattling centered on Kashmir. Caitlin soon finds that Maanik is not the only person to display such symptoms. Fans of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will find a lot to like. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency.
September 15, 2014
During a period of tense negotiations at the UN, the Indian ambassador who is facilitating talks is shot at outside his daughter Maanik's school. The young girl, a witness to the assault though seemingly unhurt, soon exhibits bizarre and violent attacks of screaming and self-harm. The ambassador's translator calls in his friend and psychiatrist Caitlin O'Hara to help the girl, but she discovers that Maanik is not the only one to suffer these symptoms, which also involve visions of cataclysms and unseen forces. VERDICT Owing to award-winning actress Anderson's (The X-Files) celebrity, there will be interest in this title regardless of its literary merits; however, this sf thriller's first half does pack a lot of tension as Caitlin travels from New York to Haiti to Iran in pursuit of answers. The mystical elements, when they kick in later in the book, are further out there than any X-File episode, and the author leaves plenty of unanswered questions for future series volumes. [See Prepub Alert, 4/27/14; previewed in Eric Norton's sf/fantasy feature, "A Multiplicity of Realms," LJ 8/14; Simon451 is S. &. S.'s new sf imprint.--Ed.]
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2014
It's no surprise that the first novel, and first of a projected series, from actress Anderson (The X-Files, etc.) and collaborator Rovin (Conversations With the Devil, 2007, etc.) comes with a strong X-Files tang. A member of an enigmatic group steals a puzzling artifact recovered from beneath the south Atlantic waves. Meanwhile, as nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan ratchet up, India's United Nations ambassador Ganak Pawar narrowly survives an assassination attempt. His daughter, Maanik, who was at the scene and escaped unhurt, suddenly begins injuring herself, screaming uncontrollably and babbling in what seems to be an unknown tongue. U.N. translator Benjamin Moss calls in distinguished Manhattan child psychiatrist Caitlin O'Hara. She finds Maanik's symptoms baffling-especially when Ben listens to her ravings and identifies elements of several wildly disparate languages. Then, in Iran, a boy suddenly and inexplicably sets himself on fire. In Haiti, a student apparently starts to drown-on dry land. Rats occupy New York's Washington Square. And when Caitlin touches her patient, she experiences strange visions and feels an external presence. The professionally executed narrative moves the stock characters along at a briskly globe-hopping pace but offers no original elements, fresh perspective or innovative treatment. So what's behind all the obviously linked phenomena-demons? Malevolent aliens? Ancient civilizations? Sinister conspiracies? Mystic powers? Savvy readers will get that sinking feeling when they begin to guess about halfway through-ideas so threadbare they'd come close to the top of any fantasy or science fiction editor's "never write about this" list. Still, with that celebrity name on the cover, anything's possible.
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May 15, 2014
Noted actor Anderson must be drawing on her role as Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files for the new sf adventure she's written with New York Times best-selling author Rovin. Child psychologist Caitlin O'Hara is understandably perturbed when a young patient starts speaking in tongues, and soon teenagers worldwide are acting out.
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.