Perception

by Lianne Downey

Of course we're not alone. So what are they waiting for?
A speculative suspense novel that may change the way you view your life on Earth.

Minda Blake has kept the government’s UAP secrets for too long. Now it’s killing her. For years she used her psychic skills as a remote viewer to help Blackthorn, a government black ops contractor, to recover and conceal extraterrestrial debris after UFO sightings around the world. But she can’t do it anymore. Her conscience won’t allow it.

Her doctor says she’s suffering from a new kind of PTSD that affects drone assassination pilots who violate their sense of “what’s right” day after day. Suicide is their common end and she’s already contemplated it. So tonight, high on the dunes over Lake Michigan, that will stop. She will launch her scheme to reveal the truth to the world!

Everything goes according to her plan—until it doesn’t. Now she’s on the run.

While a blizzard rages across West Michigan, she’s thrown together with a total stranger, Garritt Vanderhoeven, an outcast from the area’s conservative Dutch Reformed community who is haunted by his own psychic demons. Together they search for a missing teenager whose life is in danger and a stolen artifact that imperils the world at large. What they uncover is so much…staggeringly much…more. And time is running out.

With a makeshift team that includes a mysterious mentor, a persistent farm girl, a vagabond restaurant hostess, and a posse of friends and family willing to cross cultural taboos for the right cause, they discover that their nemeses aren’t at all what’s expected. New age religion factors in, and interdimensional barriers are broken with unpredictable results. As the story twists into uncharted challenges, they’ll all need to bring their most profound skills to the forefront—including those society rejects.

Fans of Gene Roddenberry will appreciate this shockingly hopeful leap into the unknown reaches of human perception.

From Inside the Dust

Minda Blake was toiling away for Naval Intelligence when someone discovered what her mind had been able to do since childhood. Next she knew she was honorably discharged and swept into the maelstrom of Blackthorn, a black ops military-style contractor working for the U.S. government. She had no idea what she’d be tasked to do after her extensive training to become a remote viewer.

Like everyone else, she’d heard about the U.S. government’s experiments with psychic—or what they called “psi”—operatives, fueled by its desire to keep up with Russian and Chinese research into advanced human mental capacities. Could a remote viewer locate military targets using their mind alone? It was a top-secret endeavor, highly controversial among the armed forces. Code named Stargate by some branches.

But that whole operation was shut down in the mid-1990s, wasn’t it? After former President Jimmy Carter let it leak in an interview that a “psychic spy” had helped them locate a downed Russian spy plane? The media had a field day ridiculing and mocking the program. Top brass denied any participation, and the files and research disappeared under a cloud of humiliation and scandal. The fired remote viewers drifted off to write books or teach classes in the “paranormal.” A mocking movie was made, a documentary followed, but psi research by the government ended abruptly.

Or did it?

390 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2024

About the author

LIANNE DOWNEY writes both fiction and nonfiction books that reflect her interest in the interdimensional aspects of life on Earth. Her first novel, Cosmic Dancer, is a National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in the Visionary Fiction category. Her nonfiction includes The Liberator: A Psychic Spiritual History of the Orion Empire and Speed Your Evolution. She holds a Mass Communication degree from the University of California, Davis (Theater/Film/Journalism) and began her career as an arts writer for The Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and numerous magazines. She loves ballroom dancing with her husband Joseph, and living in the San Diego foothills with their fruit trees and wild rabbit pets (and gophers and snails and monarchs). Find her at https://www.liannedowney.com and on social media.

Reviews

[Alicia Dollahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both enjoyable and not. The storyline was creative and unique. Min, belonging to a secret organization that investigates alien presence on earth with her special skills, meets Garrett who also has special abilities he has just discovered, and the two beginning to develop feelings for one another through their experiences — very enjoyable. However, there were subplots that seemed unnecessary and that did not contribute to the overall story well, such as the details about Garrett’s father’s religion and love life or the details about what happen to Bobby Lee during his escape attempt. It was also difficult to track some of the descriptions Downey gave for their alien-like encounters or growth events, like Min’s time with Ben and the ‘travelator.’ This book is obviously the first part of a series and I would continue the series to see where it leads, but the book did seem to drag at parts and could have been thinned a bit to keep a more focused storyline.

[Andy Myhrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself bored at times with this one. I'm a believer in both psychic energy and UAP/life elsewhere, but this got so far into the weeds that I got disengaged.

SPOILERS

I hated that someone who was working clandestinely for something that may or may not be the government had no idea who Garrit's father was. Suddenly, a Senator appears! Who is rich and powerful and not shy with his views. And it's waved off like "oh, how did I not make that connection". Also, what was the point of Dad's double life? We never came back to that and it could have been a catalyst for a talk between father and son about things, but nope....just hangs there as Dad fades into the background of this story and barely ever mentioned again. We also hear at the end about Garritt's temper issues, but meanwhile Min nearly took his arm off when he tried to help. She has some issues to work out herself as pointed out in the beginning....speaking of things that seem to never come back again and fade into the ether. It would have been a good thing to include in the final chapter or so as she explores her new future.

And don't get me started on the walking stereotype of Juan, the Hispanic kid who swears a lot and has family issues. He felt like a stock character from 1990.

And look, it wasn't awful. It's an interesting concept that the author obviously feels a connection to, and it's an interesting tale....but i wasn't sure if I was being sold a book, or an almost-religion of alien, psychic, and scientific exploration concepts, like an intergalactic Buddhism or something.

[Nancy Sipes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aldous Huxley observed, “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that he had read Lianne Downey’s latest book, aptly titled, “Perception.” This is a tale of those things Huxley mentions, but also, a journey into how the world is perceived by each individual, and how circumstances alter as the experiences of a here-to-fore disparate group of people come together in an explosion of all their previous beliefs. The book is an exploration of what is possible and what might be happening right before our eyes that we are too blind to see.

The two main characters are from vastly different worlds, yet they find they are far from opposites. Everything you want in a SF thriller is right inside the pages and much more. Much has been written in previous reviews of plot points, and I encourage you to read those. My review is to entice you to dig into the deeper meaning of the author’s words. The action is fast paced. The writing is provocative. The message is overwhelmingly designed to intrigue you. Most importantly, the book may well take your perception, shake it up and open your eyes to possibilities you have not yet contemplated. Now, could be a good time to do just that. I patiently await the continuation of this story. And don’t get me started on the fantastic ending, but no peeking in advance – it’s so worth it.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If people in this world, screwed up like it is now, learned that there were others who clearly have better technology, who could maybe provide the first people they contacted with advanced weapons, or technological superiority-what would that mean for ordinary citizen who would be caught in the ensuing wars over this advanced technology, which almost always means weapons first, civilian applications second. How many would die fighting to own it?"

Perception by Leanne Downey is an enjoyable, intergalactic read about a special government worker who sets out on a mission to recover a missing UAP and ends up enlisting the help from an array of people she least expects.

All the characters in the story possess a psychic gift-clairvoyance, clairsentience, claircognizance, etc.


This book was a slow start for me, my interest picked up over time. Overall, It was plot-driven, medium-paced read.

[Lisa Schiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I didn't connect with the characters until we met Garritt and Agnes, it was then I got sucked into the mystery of it. The book takes the reader on a interesting journey full of twists and turns that those with an open mind would relish. I appreciated the way the author treated ideas about life in the universe and life after life. It also feels like she left room for a sequel. If so, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[Linda Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love original books that don’t follow a format. This one takes you on a mental journey into possibilities you might never think of on your own. The book is lean and keeps you wanting more, but not filled with violence and bodies. When I finished it, new ideas about life on earth stayed with me and a sense of pure enjoyment. I would recommend it to any reader.

[Graisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Lianne Downey, Jolibro Publishing, & Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

I enjoyed this spiritual sci-fi adventure novel which had good characterization. I look forward to book two.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give 4 1/2 stars. It was a fun read and explored another version of what our universe could be. I hope there is a deeper exploration of the relationships in the next book.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

To Come