Links

by Charles Panati

Links (View amazon detail page) 0417041004

Genres: Fiction, Horror

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1978

About the author

Charles Panati is a former college professor, industrial physicist, author, and science editor of Newsweek.

Reviews

[Tristan MacAvery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first found this book in my college days and lost my copy somewhere. Found it recently on a "Book Swap" shelf at an office where I was consulting. I finally finished it, and I'm not entirely happy that I bothered. The telling is melodramatic, and the references to certain telepathic and supernatural research of the day are incomplete. There's also a well-developed plot device that peters out and goes nowhere, although in the loosest sense, it could be called a "twist." The ending (in this case, I mean the last page) leaves the reader with an uncertainty that some might call "unresolved" but which I must call "cowardly." Panting melodrama should have a definitive ending.

With a bit of development, and considering the time in which it was written, it could have become a "Movie of the Week" -- one that might well be resurrected for DVD release. As is, it's a bit of a lame read, with ideas that want better evolution.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the late 70s a lot of stuff in books and movies dealt with psychological horror based on scientific research and how sometimes, just sometimes, science delves into where it shouldn't. Links is the kinda scifi horror stuff film fans would see in movies like Altered States, Coma or 1979's Prophecy, which had a mutant bear but still dealt with science gone wrong. Links is classic science fiction that probably wasn't marketed as such but it does deal with the science of hypnosis, and how it can be used or abused for therapeutic purposes. Ben West is a science nerd who deals in this kinda psychological science with buddy Stan and his girlfriend Alison, and even asks to use Alison to play guinea pig in an experiment for what's known as mutual hypnosis, where two people can hypnotize each other as a way of dealing with nightmares brought on by different traumas. Alison soon falls into a deep sleep led on by Stan and Ben, with Stan leading her into a dark cave inside her dreams where hopefully she can find peace for her soul. The experiment works, at least initially, but as always in most science fiction, something gets screwy. (Kinda like real life but tell THAT to any science expert and that will get them screaming, which means YOU SCORE!) Alison only feels better for a time, but the after effects of the experiment doesn't so much heal as it brings out of her more traumas which makes things worse for everyone, especially Ben. Worse, Ben is jealous thinking that Stan wants Alison for himself. Turns out Ben is more right than he knows: both Ali and Stan are linked by way of telepathy, to the point where Stan wants control over Ali, even using hypnosis to convince her that the so called cave is really a doorway leading to an afterlife, a light beyond a portal which one day (I sincerely hope for all of you) everyone goes thru and finds oneness with God and the love of the universe. Ben of course is not buying it, and races against the clock to save Ali from Stan and his clever plot to kill her and himself in a suicide pact worthy of the earliest scientists you've ever seen in the movies, or as far back as Dr Jekyll himself. Sure it dumbs down the science community, and it does have some cliches like, oh let's see, where Ali, possessed by Stan's mental command, almost knocks Ben over the stair railway of his nice home. I mean, how many movies in horror and sci fi have a scene where the dude is pushed over a balustrade railing? But hey, it's fun suspenseful science fiction in the Robin Cook tradition and, despite the well researched focus on hypnosis therapy, is just fiction and not to be taken seriously. You and me are on the same....link, right?
Three stars
Get linked with this rare sci fi classic!

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1978. Psychological horror novel.

[Katie Raves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in Nov 2021. The writing style is definitely outdated but the author had a good twist on the usual “Hypnosis gone wrong” storyline.

[Stephen Liosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it well enough. The writing was sparse and targeted. I'm glad I found this book in the hotel lobby where I'm currently staying.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book and a page-turner. The only thing that I disliked was that there were multiple grammatical errors that were clearly overlooked by editors. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and it’s plot line.