psi/net

by Billy Dee and MacGregor Rob Williams

Billy Dee Williams is a modern Renaissance man. An accomplished stage, television, and screen actor, he's best known to science fiction fans as Lando Calrissian of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He's also a painter whose works have been shown across the U.S. and are part of the National Gallery's permanent collection. Now he has teamed up with Edgar award winner Rob MacGregor (Prophecy Rock and many others) to write PSI/Net, an account of psychic warfare set against the background of an America facing a possible schism. In reality, the CIA revealed in 1995 that it performed experiments in "remote viewing"--psychic spying. This is the jumping-off point for the novel. Trent Calloway is a (fictional) retired member of the project whose quiet life as a river-rafting tour guide is disrupted by a vision of Washington D.C. destroyed by a nuclear bomb. Soon he's swept into a secret war against the Freedom Nation--separatists tied to the militia movement who want to carve their own country out of the western United States. Calloway labors to psychically observe Freedom Nation's operatives and try to learn their plans, but Freedom Nation retains its own psychics--also former CIA operatives--whose job is to conceal their campaign and disrupt Calloway's efforts. He and his enemies play a mental game of cat and mouse using remote viewing, precognition, and mind control that becomes more deadly with each chapter.

A tightly focused novel that spans just five days, PSI/Net is firmly grounded in real-world issues such as race relations and federalism. Because the settings and conflicts are so realistic and familiar, the ESP elements become entirely believable--they slide right in like puzzle pieces that complete the whole, no more outlandish than helicopters or Secret Service agents. Anyone looking for page-turning suspense with a subtle science fiction twist will definitely enjoy this energetic story. --J.B. Peck

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Paranormal

Paperback

First published July 2, 1999

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't have a lot of character depth or really that much to the plot. I had no attachment to any of the characters nor did I really care if the nuclear bomb went off. Pretty clunky.

[colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

read 06.07.06

[morbidflight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not actually horrible and I have a soft spot for military/paranormal stuff, but it's definitely formulaic and weird. The pacing is good.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than you'd think.