Trial Run

Fault Lines #1

by Thomas Locke

Reese Clawson's work is mind-bending--literally. Her company specializes in global data analysis for an elite group of industry executives, and now a lucrative government contract is moving her into the realm of cutting-edge intelligence gathering. She is determined to crack the limits of consciousness--and in doing so, the boundaries of secrets and lies. But her experiment crashes as test subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese is left scrambling to maintain control, drawing three disparate people into the search for answers--an adrenaline-amped thrill junkie with altered brain chemistry, an Italian scientist working on remote-viewing technology, and a math prodigy whose algorithms subvert computer encryption.

Will this piecemeal team prevail when a government operative is sent to investigate? As the threads of perception and reality become tangled and even time itself twists in unexpected directions, one warning remains clear: what you don't know can kill you.

With a concept so daring and writing so gripping, readers will swiftly fall under the spell of Thomas Locke's endlessly creative mind. This thrilling psychological journey into the very nature of causation and consciousness will leave them turning the pages and grasping for solid ground.

Genres: Suspense, Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction, Christian Fiction, Mystery, Christian Fantasy

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2015

About the author

Thomas Locke is an award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies.

His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction and his 2014 induction into the Christy Hall of Fame.

Thomas divides his time between Florida and England, where he serves as Writer In Residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University. He holds a lifelong passion for epic fantasy, science fiction and techno-thriller stories.

Thomas's screenplay adaption of EMISSARY is under development as a feature film with a British production company.

Contact Thomas at info@tlocke.com

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trial Run was such a difficult read for me. I had the toughest time following the story and even after finishing the book, I can't even tell you what it was about. I liked the prequel, but this book was just not for me. I don't plan on continuing the series.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

[Dave Milbrandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baker Books recently sent me a complimentary copy of Trial Run in exchange for an honest evaluation of its merits. Despite a couple of geographical flubs and the use of a few British colloquialisms that might throw off American audiences, Locke gives readers a well-executed techno-thriller that engages them to the very end. While authors like Michael Crichton helped popularized this genre, his work always more about the technology than it was the people. What makes Trial Run stand out is that Locke is first and foremost concerned about helping the reader connect to fully developed characters and their struggles. He clearly has done his research as the author lives in England and Florida, but you can feel practically feel the rays of the Santa Barbara sun as much of the story takes place on the West Coast. It’s also fun to see an author experiment with different genres, as his first book, The Emissary, was mythic fiction and Trial Run is a techno-thriller. Since Locke is such a master storyteller, I am eager to see where his next story takes us.

[Nora St Laurent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trial Run is the first in the series. Be sure to grab Double Edge for FREE where ebooks are sold. It's the prequel to Trial Run. This novel ends in a cliff hanger but don't feel bad Thomas Locke is working on book two and will have it out by the summer of 2016. Here is a peek into Trial Run.

Trent Majors asks Shane Schearer to trust him. “I’m asking that you trust me long enough to see for yourself that this is for real.”

Shane can’t believe this guy has just walked up to her and knew so much about her. “You’re a business student. You’re bored. You’re an orphan. You’re broke.”

Shane replies, “Are you stalking me?”

“Absolutely not!”

“I’m going to take your picture now.”

“Turn to the left.” She snapped a second picture of his face. “Now the other way. Get your hair out of the way.”

…”Go ahead…my phone number and email address are on the back of this sheet.”
“What is this?”

“An algorithm.”

“Which is what exactly.”

“An algorithm is a mathematical interpretation of reality. A computer algorithm provides physical in put through a series of instructions that form an electromagnetic structure the computer can understand.”

“This is an algorithm for computer games. Do you game?”

“Shane didn’t game and hadn’t a clue as to why anyone would want to know about algorithm’s; but then he tells her about quantum computing. She sits up straight in her chair. This was a life changer.”

Buckle up for this heart-bounding suspense story that is not like anything I’ve read. This author grabs readers’ heart, expands their mind and has their emotions racing right from the get go. It kind of reminded me of some aspects of the Matrix and Avatar in how humans plugged into something and left their body to go somewhere else. Thomas Locke pulls out all the stops and takes readers on a fun wild ride you won't want to miss.

Disclosure of Material Connection: #AD Sponsored by Revell. I received this book free from The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com

[Kelly Bridgewater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really couldn’t wait to jump right in and read Thomas Locke’s new book Trial Run. I enjoy suspense and thriller books that feature a threat to our current way of living. I like learning new things when I read a book. I enjoy being taken on a ride that keeps getting worse and worse for the characters in the novel. Even though my opinion on this book is going against the flow, I still will state my opinion. I really did not like Trial Run.

This book would be good for fans of books with a lot of technical jargon and scientific theory. Trial Run has lots and lots of technical jargon. When I read an entire paragraph and had to scratch my head, wondering what Locke just had the character reveal to me, I get confused. It is hard as a reader to not understand what the characters are doing and talking about.

In the beginning of the book, many different characters came on board, and I really saw no connection between any of them. After a while, I became confused with what was happening in the story. What does Charlie and Gabriella’s story have to do with Dor Jen? What about the two college students, Trent and Shane? It was hard to feel connected to any of the characters.

There really is no action or conflict occurring on the page. I don’t know if this is because I really had no idea what the technical jargon meant, so I was confused, making this story hard to follow. While there appeared to be something sinister happening below the scene with the ascents, I really never felt any internal or external conflict in the characters or surrounding the characters.

Trial Run was really hard for me to keep reading. I did give up around page 200 and flip to the ending. Even the ending wasn’t satisfactory to me. As someone who adores suspense and thriller books, this one definitely did nothing for me. I wouldn’t recommend it anyone. I kept coming up with different books to read while avoiding going back to this book. I picked it up four different times and read about fifty pages, then sat it down before picking it up another book that captured my attention.

While the plot did nothing for me, the writing was good. Locke does have a good handle of how a book should be written with an even amount of dialogue and prose. Each dialogue from each character was different. I had no trouble distinguishing between each individual character.

I received a complimentary copy from Revell Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

[Megan Ebba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars is "I liked it" and I did---I liked the plot very much. It was about as exciting as a techno-thriller can get, spanning the globe with science!stuff that was entertaining. Except for the overuse of run-on sentences clearly meant to be the author's style, the writing was well-edited. It's clear this writer has been around for a long time and knows how to plot a thriller. So if that is your jam, you'll love it. However, the structure was set up so that the beginning of the book hopped from one character to another. They were forgettable, which was frustrating because you knew the writer was placing them as pieces on the chess board so he could play the game. I prefer a thriller with one main, larger-than-life character, (think Lee Child or Steve Berry) but that's just me. If you read this book like you're watching a Mission Impossible movie, you'll be able to keep all the characters straight. I do think it would have worked better as a screenplay, but I think that was the point! The opening scene was clearly meant to be filmed in your mind's eye. I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very exciting book. A techno-thirller that will have you on the edge of your seat and reading as fast as you can to find out what will happen. I am not technology savy, however, the manner in which Mr. Locke writes this story enables me to understand what is going on. In the places where the physics is over my head, I found that I didn't need to totally comprehend to be able to totally enjoy the story. The very idea of being able to affect the tangible with your mind makes for some exciting reading. Heart poundingly excellent in all respects. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Jan Norton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my normal genre. I rarely read speculative stories. When the author got technical, i got lost. The writing is good and I have read some of his works under his real name - Davis Bunn.

[Kathleen (Kat) Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine a world where you have to battle against an unseen enemy. An enemy that can go anywhere and where time is halted in that realm. Imagine that nothing could be secret or hidden any longer, because as long as you possessed the power to leave your body and will it to go anywhere, you would be the ultimate weapon.

In the latest novel by Thomas Locke, who is also known as Davis Bunn in the literary world, he goes quite literally when NO man has gone before, and I'm not talking about space. Where he comes up with these incredible ideas is beyond me but I love the storyline in Trial Run. I can best describe it as a blend of Flatliners meets Jumper. In this novel you have two groups who are battling to discover who can uncover this ability to ascend or transit out of their body, recover some secrets and return without falling into a coma on their return.

Charlie Hazard works with his team in Campione, Switzerland alongside Gabriella Speciale, the chief scientist who has had the most success in ascending. They are the good guys and are trying to perfect the ability to leave your body and travel in a world of suspended time travel where time is constant. To be gone in this world for 5 minutes might be a week in ascended time travel. They are trying to keep this out of the hands of political groups who want this for their own selfish purposes.

Reese Clawson is heading up the team in the United States under fictitious names and is having less than desirable success since taking Gabriella's secret to travel outside one's body. Only her success rate has resulted in 9 bodies who remain in a constant state of coma because they never returned from their assignment. If she can't find a way to prove her team is successful, Washington will pull the plug and shut her down.

Trent Major is a physics prodigy who algorithms subvert computer encryption and give rise to a super intelligence that goes beyond what anyone has ever seen. The only problem is now he has become the focus of both of these teams trying to win him over to their side but for very different purposes. What is given in his dreams will be the ultimate weapon of destruction if it falls into the wrong hands and could mean the end of all life as we know it.


I received Trial Run by Thomas Locke compliments of Revell Publishing and Edify Media Group for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for my review and the opinions contained here are my own. To be honest, the beginning of the book was hard to understand at first. So many different things going on as the reader begins to map out who the players are, in three different groups. I would encourage you to hold on, even though the technological explanations might be overwhelming at times, with regards to the laws of physics, but I promise, it will be so worth it, but about mid way through the book. You might want to grab a paper and keep the characters separate until the action takes place. I absolutely love this novel and can't wait for the sequel. For me, it was a well earned 5 out of 5 stars and so far, anything that Davis Bunn or Thomas Locke, who are the same person, writes will be on my immediate "have to read" list. Trial Run is the first novel in the Fault Lines Series!

[Deb Haggerty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deb’s Dozen: Quantum physics wunderkind, business maven. Out-of-body experiences gone wrong. Are they redeemable?

Thomas Locke’s new series, Fault Lines, begins with a prequel, Double Edge, and then continues with Trial Run. The back cover says, “What you don’t know can kill you.” Despite the cover come-on, I must admit that the beginning of the novel did not hook me. The first few chapters are confusing until Locke gets all the characters introduced and the backstory told. Once we can figure out who the good guys and the bad guys are and what is at stake, the story takes on a life of its own and draws the reader in.

Locke is smart to introduce one of the main characters, Trent Major, as a troubled but brilliant scientist in quantum physics, who is “given” an algorithm that will revolutionize game theory. Any gamer who picks up the book is going to read further to see what happens in the game world. Trent’s partner in “crime” is Shane Schearer, a business maven working on her advanced degree, but bored out of her skull. They make the perfect foils to play the rest of the novel against.

Enter good guy, Dr. Gabriela Speciale (you know she’s special because of her last name), who is trying to create and control out-of-body-experiences that go beyond the normal boundaries of space and time. And Charlie Hazard, the bodyguard/God figure in the series and an ex-special forces guy Gabriela has hired to protect her and her scientists from all “hazards.”

Next enter the bad guys … Kevin Henley, who is employed by one of those “mysterious” ultra-secret government organizations, and Reese Clawson, a security expert who also has the ability to run human consciousness experiments like Gabriela, but whose goal is to control and destroy the opposition.

How they all interrelate, how they operate, the experiments they perform and succeed or fail at, is the stuff of the future come to the present. Locke obviously has a fascination with quantum physics as parts of the processes are described in mind-numbing detail—at least to those of us with a non-technical brain. I liked the byplay among the characters. I liked the theme of rescue and redemption that plays throughout the novel. I did not like the ending—too many strings left untied as an obvious hook to the next book in the series, as yet unnamed, coming the summer of 2016. A generous four stars.

Thomas Locke is the pseudonym for Davis Bunn, “the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. As Thomas Locke, Davis is also the author of Emissary [an excellent five-star fantasy].” To learn more, or to download Double Edge, go to www.tlocke.com.

Revell Books and Laura Christenson (Blogging Bistro) made sure I received a copy of Trial Run in exchange for my candid review.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off - WOW! Thomas Locke (otherwise known as Davis Bunn) has literally knocked my boots off with this one! This genre is so completely new to him (as far as I know), that his feat is amazing! Other than the prequel "Double Edge," Locke comes into this new genre fully loaded to run with the best of them his first time out! Davis Bunn is a master story teller who has kept me spell-bound over the years. As Thomas Locke, well, what can I say? Already a master story teller in other genres, he just leaps into this new genre like its old hat, but even better! The idea in this book is that a person can leave his body and literally go anywhere and time is frozen. Take that to another level and that body can now be used as an ultimate weapon! Nothing can be hidden. Nothing can be secret. An amazing concept! I don't know a lot of the technical things, but Locke has written this in a way that even I can understand. And unlike some authors who really focus on the technical details of any given thing, Locke puts a lot more humanity into this book than mere technology. That human factor comes from his writing in different genres as Davis Bunn, and in my opinion, it just makes this new debut even better! Honestly, I was kind of discouraged in the beginning of this book because there are several groups of role characters. It was hard to keep track of each one at first, but the further and further I got into the book, the better it got, so if you get a bit frustrated, I'd encourage you to keep reading, because the end of book one is WELL worth it! I can hardly wait for book two! Also, if you read the prequel, "Double Edge," it will help you understand Trial Run much better. Thank you Thomas Locke for a TRULY THRILLING RIDE! (I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review. This is my own honest review, and the opinions are strictly my own.). This is a link to the free complimentary prequel "Double Edge." http://tlocke.com/fault-lines/

[Yvonne Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who love a fast paced techno-thriller that’s unburdened by ugly sensationalism, this hits the target dead center. It’s a clean and solid exemplar of the genre.

For readers who like at least a modicum of spiritual depth in their fiction, it misses the mark.

I sometimes had a little difficulty keeping the story’s cast of characters straight in my mind, and I’m still not sure which of the two competing teams the reader is expected to root for. Also, my clumsy brain struggled to make the practical leap from complex algorithms to prion molecules to out-of-body-experiences transcending space and time. But, hey, I can suspend disbelief for the sake of a good story, no problem. So I settled back and enjoyed the ride, in a detached sort of way.

The writing technique is quite good. Description gets top scores, with juicy settings (Example: “…up a flight of cracked marble stairs and down a long corridor. The hallway was wide as an avenue, a throwback to a different era. The marble tiles were grooved by a century and a half of use… a conference room overlooking trees of springtime green and the pearl-white palace beyond.”) and characterizations, even for bit roles (Example: “…a stick figure who wore her skin like a dress made for someone three times her size… Charlie figured her [age] for about two hundred and six. She paused long enough to light a long cigarette with a fist-sized lighter in a knitted cover”).

How well you like the story overall depends on what you’re looking for in a novel. Even though it disappointed me on some levels, it held my interest, and I would definitely recommend it to readers in the author’s target audience.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Emmanuel Boston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Locke has done it again… which is a feat worth mentioning because he has done so by crossing genre lines. Trial Run fits into the genre of Thriller proper but can be further categorized as techno- and psychological making this only the second I’ve read of this exact kind (the other being Skin by Ted Dekker). But if you’re familiar with the movie Inception, you’re familiar with the genre of Locke’s latest book.


*This is an analytical review; for plot overview please read the book description or other reviews. My goal here is to help you understand in which ways you will be influenced by this book (in addition to offering a few suggestions at a literary level).


This book presents the world as one in which external forces will always attempt to divide & conquer the good, loving, and true… but of course the good, loving, and true is more powerful (if only they face the evil head on). Indeed, a purpose-filled fate pulls us forward and although we don’t exactly know what the purpose is…we can trust that the transcendent “fate” is one which has the good, loving, and true as its end. If fate is the main theme, its supporting themes are love, forgiveness, community (teamwork), and inevitability. I list inevitability as a distinct subtheme because there is only one instance in which the characters question fate and attempt their own path… in other words: not only is there a fate guiding circumstances, but the characters simply accept fate as inevitable… there is no libertarian questioning here. Readers might be surprised to find several cases of romantic tension in the book, but they will be happy to discover that it is never forced (and to my literary critic mind, happy to find that all things aren’t tied up tidy with bows).


The book takes place in a contemporary world in the collegiate, scientific, and government settings and introduces us to a wide array of characters. In fact it’s hard to determine who the “main” character is—which is something I am glad to struggle with! There is no primary character which allows us readers to hear the stories of individuals as they fit into the whole and to be an outside observer… seeing ourselves in parts of the individual and being able to evaluate them in relation to the whole; consequently allowing us to do the same with our own persons. The character profiles aren’t exactly stock, but some of their relationships are unfortunately. There is, in my opinion, a character who plays the Deus ex Machina (if I can say that at all when the book is nearly based on the motif!); but it’s done in such a way that I didn’t realize until the book was over. That, I believe, is an excellent use of the plot device. The plot itself is rather curious. There is no overtly noticeable plot structure, and yet I wanted to read and read more. The best way I can describe the plot is “filling in the blanks.” The book presents so many questions all the way through that you continually want to know. It does this through both assumption and introduction, or both dropping you in the middle of the story without the assumed facts to bolster your understanding and by presenting new events and ideas that are certain to play a role later (and maybe already have! If we only knew the answers).


I think that, literarily, Locke needs to work on variety of sentence structure. During one instance, we are supposed to feel the calm tranquility of love and communion, but his sentences are so short that I read it like a rushed tryst. It seemed like once he started a flow of sentences, most of them followed that pattern for paragraphs & pages at a time. Included in this, Lock often resorted to the construction: “Not so much _______________ as _______________” which became pretty annoying. I think the construction is a good one for giving nuance and for heightening the moment, but it was certainly overused.


This book is written for thriller/sci-fi fans, and I think it offers them purpose… even if the purpose itself is still unknown. There is a reason, and a good one, that this technology is extant. There is a reason, and a good one, that we as humans feel peril and want a resolution. In comparison to Locke’s first book Emissary, it is similarly well-written (using a few stock elements), but ultimately engaging. In comparison to Skin, I much preferred the ending of Trial Run, if ending it could be called since this is the first in a series to come, but the tension of Skin is more poignant than in Trial Run.



I offer this book 8/10 stars, or 4/5 and recommend it to fans of the movie Inception who appreciate a bit of romance along the way.



I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book from the Publisher for review; my thoughts are my own.

This review is crosslisted on Amazon, Goodreads, and ejboston.blogspot.com.

[Debbie Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I have to admit though, it took me a long time to really get into the book, til chapter 60 of 89. That's page 267 out of 374. This book is not the type of book I typically read. I am not sure if I would have finished it if I did not agree to do a review of it, I probably would have. I don't like to quit things that I start. I can not be sure of course, since I felt I had to finish it for the review, but I think I would have continued to read.

They call this type of book tapestry book. Many threads in the book come together. It was hard in the first 20 or so chapters to keep the characters straight. I had to keep checking back to previous chapters to see who was in which group. There are two basic sides in the novel, two groups, though at first there were 4 or 5 groups of characters, maybe more. I did consider making a chart of the characters, that may have helped, but I never did it. As the novel went on some of the groups merged and that, with the familiarity of learning more about the characters, and the plot of the story, made the reading easier.

Also, there was a lot of science involved in the novel, quantum physics, not exactly something I ever studied. I struggled with this and I am not a dumb woman. I studied a lot of science in high school and college, as well as while I homeschooled my children for 24 years. But, not this deep. It was over my head. Until in chapter 60 Thomas Locke explained some of the science in terms that I began to understand.

“Elene asked, “What is the rate of infection?”
“One hundred percent.”
“What is the cure rate?
“Zero. If a person ingests the misfolded molecule, that person is gone. This transformation takes place at an alarming rate. To put it bluntly, the beta-pleated sheets eat holes in the brain. This results in a steady degeneration of physical and mental, and finally death. In cows, where this phenomenon was first identified, it is known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, or mad cow disease. When it is transited to humans, it became known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, or nvCJD.” (pg. 272)

This is just a little taste of the science in this book. But, mad cow disease. That, at least, I have heard of.

This book, unlike most of the other books that I have read by this author (not as his alias Thomas Locke but as Davis Bunn) did not have much of a spiritual basis. Most of the other books I read do have a spiritual understructure to them.

The transiting/ascents/out-of-body experiences were strange to me. I am not sure what I feel about those kinds of things. I don't really believe those things can happen. Fantasy, I don't mind reading fantasy. Out-of-body experiences, I don't know what to think really.

It may sound like I have more reservations about the book than positive things. That is not really so. I enjoyed the book. It was challenging to read, but maybe a challenging book once in a while is good for us. It stretched my mind, and my comfort zone as well. It is good to stretch the mind. It needs “exercise” as much as our body does. Keeps it sharp.

The character were well developed and likable, especially the ones on the “right” side. I liked the slight good vs. evil side of things as well.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book. Gabriella is speaking to Shane...

“Logically there is no possible way the two could be connected. He dreams and receives experiences you call images. He has no control. He cannot make them happen. He is a passive observer. You, on the other hand, ascend by your own choice and actions.” She smiled once more. “But I am Italian. Logic plays a much smaller role in my society. So my professional mind says, we cannot verify any connection without a great deal more study. But my heart says, we have all been drawn together for purposes beyond our wildest dreams.” (pg 293)

I think I like this quote because it shows the human element in the story. The characters, relationships, the connections are what made me keep reading.

And, the rest of the book bears out that quote. The book gets more and more exciting as it goes on
from there. Chases, bombs, grenades, breaking people out, attacks, sleeplessness, airplane trips,injuries, and more.

[Janet Sketchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Trial Run, Thomas Locke delivers an international techno-thriller set just beyond our current technology. Gabriella Speciale's research team has fled danger in the US and set up a secret base in Switzerland, where their experiments with out-of-body consciousness have resulted in an unexpected casualty.

In the US, a shadow group within the government wants to replicate their work for the purposes of espionage.

The third key players are two California university students, Trent Major and a girl named Shane Schearer. The information Trent receives in dreams from an older version of himself puts them in the shadow group's sights.

This is one of those novels you start reading without a clue about what's going on. In the hands of a skilled writer like Thomas Locke, it makes for a good ride. (If you want an easier entry, read his free ebook novella, Double Edge , which introduces Gabriella and Charlie Hazard and explains the experiments.)

Trial Run is book one in the Fault Lines series, and I suspect questions that aren't answered yet will be resolved in future books. (For example, does Trent really see a future version of himself, or who is it really? And how does future-Trent do this?)

The writing is tight and evocative. Some of my favourite lines:

He felt it too. Like the dark had grown claws that scraped the skin off his spine. [page 9]

It was a warrior's grin. A drawing back of every facial muscle, exposing the raw power of a man who knew the business of death. [page 278]

Part of the plot involves quantum theory, which is presented in small, layperson-level instalments. I didn't get it, but apparently most people don't, and it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. Two minor things that did act as speed bumps: the use of "lay/laying" instead of "lie/lying" (I work so hard to get this right, myself) and the expression "Indian territory" for dangerous territory.

Revell is a Christian publisher, but Trial Run is a clean mainstream novel. If you're looking for a faith thread, the closest you'll get is one character's unexplained compulsion to forgive select people. If you just want a fun read, this is it.

Thomas Locke is the pen name of well-known Christian author Davis Bunn. Under the Locke name, he's writing this sort of near-future suspense as well as epic fantasy. I've reviewed his fantasy novel, Emissary, here. For more about Thomas Locke's books or to sign up for his newsletter, visit tlocke.com.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.]

[Nyxus · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start: modern day sci-fi is actually not my genre. I'm more into fantasy so that may color some of my comments and knowledge here.

I had the privilege to read this book before its release and I have to say that overall it was a pretty great read. The setting was in the present modern world with our technology. The only difference being the subject of the book itself which is a fun play on technology and "fantasy". The beginning gave me a little bit of trouble because I like to know what's going on and the constant switching between characters I didn't know threw me off. Once I got used to the individuals this became less of an issue, but I definitely had a desire from time to time to stick to one set of characters for several chapters (which did happen at certain points in the story) rather than bouncing around. However the style of writing did intrigue me and I actually became enticed by this constant switching. It felt very much like I was dropped into a world where events were already moving forward and it was my job to take what people said and did in order to know what the bigger picture was. There were a few times were descriptions were direct but more often this book requires a reader to look between the lines a little bit to get a more complete picture.

As far as concept is concerned, the overall plot may not be original in the general sense but the more explicit details definitely pulled me in. Of course some descriptions were over my head and I had to accept that the world either worked the way described or that it might have been a bent on reality. When it comes to the characters though, it's definitely a book focused more up front on dialogue and reactions to certain events or statements. We never know more than what is necessary for the plot. There is some romance but never anything explicit (read: inappropriate) which was really awesome to see. This book was about the problem at hand and, more like the real world, there's not much time to deal with other possible details that are irrelevant to the situation.

What I had the hardest time with personally is my inability to picture some of the scenes as they happened. I'm not sure if this is because of the style or if it's simply because I read a different genre and style more often. It was never hard to know the gist though, and while I may have been foggy on some details, it didn't make me put the book down. In fact I enjoyed trying to make sense of the situation when I wasn't quite grasping what was going on.

True to most books, there is a definite beginning, lead up, climax, and fall to the end. In the end the situation is definitely closed yet there is enough room to see this is the beginning of a series. Locke definitely likes playing the information game in his writing with this book, and I can't wait to see more!

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trial Run is the latest fiction work by Thomas Locke. It is just in time to enliven your summer reading. It’s the perfect book for that vacation at the beach, or the mountains, or just to read in your home over the weekend. Wherever you take it, I think you will find it hard to put down until you reach the last page!

The plot for this work will require you to suspend your beliefs for a little while as all good science fiction. The gap is not that wide however between what you read and what you know that you can’t make the leap safely. You just have to make sure you can come back safely. That’s a little inside insight that you will get when you read Trial Run. The story makes you totally believe in the possibility of the research being done and the settings allow you to identify with both the possibility and probability of these types of experiments being done at a facility near you!

The character development in the story is exactly what we have come to expect from Locke. They are rich, deep, and slightly problematic. They don’t always measure up to what you hope they would be and yet they surprise us in ways that makes us smile as we read. The imagery is detailed and delightfully laid out so as to elicit an almost tangible mental image of the settings of the story.
Locke and the publisher have remedied one of the issues I had with the story prior to its release. They have released a free prequel to Trial Run. Here’s the promotional copy for that as well as the link where you can download it for free:
Discover how it all began in this explosive prequel to Trial Run…
There isn’t much that can throw Charlie Hazard off balance. But the mystery woman with the striking eyes and the intense request to follow her—now—just might accomplish it.
Knowing little more than her beautiful name, Charlie leaves his post as a guard at the Satellite Beach community center for what he thinks is just another risk-containment job.
But Gabriella, an experimental psychologist, has far more in store for him than protection duty—if the two of them survive the test.
Leave behind your perceptions of what is possible and race into the unknown corridors of human consciousness in this breakneck prequel to Thomas Locke’s Trial Run. Click herehttp://tlocke.com/fault-lines/ to download “Double Edge,” free from your favorite online bookseller.

I was most displeased with the ending of the book. Not because of the content, or the writing, simply that it was over. Without giving away the plot, I can’t wait to the next volume in the series. I think you will as well when you finish reading this summer thriller!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Jennifer Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Transit. Ascension. What would you do if you could break the bonds of time and space?

Two rival groups working from the same notes are attempting to do just that. One group is an ultra secret team led by Reese Clawson trafficking in secrets. The other is a group of European scientists seeking to discover where perception ends and reality begins.

Both groups have the same problem: members of their teams are in jeopardy and time is about to run out for everyone involved.

Trent Major is a UCSB graduate student in theoretical physics who has spent his entire life trying to be invisible. Now a series of impossible dreams have led to revolutionary breakthroughs in quantum theories, landing him in a spotlight he is completely unprepared for. Should his work fall into the wrong hands, the cost will be catastrophic.

Trial Run by Thomas Locke is a fast-paced, mind-twisting adventure that will easily keep fans of techo-thrillers turning pages and clamoring for more. Locke masterfully weaves the complexities of human relationships with our insatiable quest for ever-expanding knowledge, while offering a solid reminder that time isn’t as simple as we’d like to believe.

The story itself is filled with a rich cast of diverse characters from nearly every walk of life and offers mind-bending concepts that had me re-reading the same page on a few occasions. That said, Trial Run is written in such a way that even the most complex elements of the story still seem feasible.

I found it easy to get lost in the pages of this novel. It took me about a 12 hours spaced out over a week to read, during which time I nearly returned to work late from lunch and stayed up long past bedtime. The most difficult part of reading Trial Run was the realization that my copy was an advanced reader, which means I have to wait that much longer for the sequel.

I believe Trial Run will appeal to fans of Asimov and Philip K. Dick, and I have already recommended it to friends who enjoy the works of both. For more information about the Fault Lines series, author Thomas Locke, and for a free digital download of Double Edge — the prequel for Trial Run, visit www.tlocke.com.

Trial Run releases August 4, 2015 in both digital and traditional print versions.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A research team based based in Switzerland has discovered a way to disconnect the mind from the body and project it to other places and times, even into the future. They call it an "ascent", and it allows access to secret information hidden away in vaults, as well as knowledge of future events. Clandestine elements of the US government have gotten their hands on this research, and are working to subvert it for their own purposes. Meanwhile, a graduate student named Trent Major is seemingly visited by his future self in vivid dreams. The future self gives him information allowing him to perform research breakthroughs.

Mr. Locke has written a tightly plotted thriller, in style reminding me more than a little of Michael Crichton. It does unfortunately leave the reader in the dark about the nature of the ascent for what seems a frustratingly long time. Once revealed, the ascent process, which is central to the plot, is always frustratingly close to pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo. The parameters of the process are never clearly defined and it is difficult to establish what is or is not possible in terms of plot.

Many characters are introduced at the start, but I found it difficult to keep track of them until about halfway through the book. Certainly there is some confusion as to which characters are actually the protagonists. Some of these characters are secretive in their profession and this trait seems to spill over into their descriptions. Others are cookie-cutter caricatures of their professional personas. I had a hard time feeling empathy for any of the characters, with the possible exception of Shane and Trent. Character development and description is rather forced. And how many times do we need to be reminded that Charlie Hazard is a combat veteran and security specialist?

A final nitpick is that objects are frequently prefixed with "the" on the first description. For example, "the trio of electric carts" suddenly appears but it has never been discussed before.

While it has imperfections, and was somewhat confusing at the start, the story certainly sped up in the second half, even into page-turner territory.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1886

[Zoe Schoppa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am beginning to wonder if Davis Bunn is a genius. His books have always been excellent but this book is quite brilliant. The science, in particular quantum computing, is so far over my head it is pitiful. I don't skim through books in order to review them quickly. I enjoy reading a book and I want to make sure that I understand the nuances; to truly enjoy the story. In order to do so with Trial Run it has taken me longer than normal to read. I reread several sections in order to completely understand what was occurring. It had nothing negative to do with the writing, quite the opposite, it had everything to do with the excellence of the writing. I had to back up to make sure that I truly understood the science and its implications. Trial Run was so interesting that I didn't want to just half understand any of it.

Davis Bunn a.k.a. Thomas Locke is an author that you should definitely pick up. You will want to read a large sampling of his work. I honestly and without reservation recommend this book to one and all. It is a thoroughly engaging story. It is complex in a very good way. The characters are so real and fascinating.

Trial Run is the first book in the Fault Line Series. The author also has a free prequel called Double Edge that you can read while waiting for the second book. I’m headed there.

I know that I gush a bit about this author; it’s all because I have been reading him since I was a preteen and he is one of my all-time favorite authors. I can tell you that in no way, shape, or form was my gushiness due to any promises or payment on the part of the author or his publisher. I actually won the paperback version of this book in a contest on Thomas Locke’s website which made me a bit giddy.

In case that you are interested I have reviewed two other books that he has written over the past couple of months or so; each representing different genres.

Genre: Christian Fiction
The Pilgrim by Davis Bunn

Genre: High Fantasy
Emissary by Thomas Locke | Legends of the Realm, Book no 1


Happy reading!

For all of my reviews visit Blessed and Bewildered

[Eliza Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind-bending and high action!

Series: Book 1: Fault Lines
Characters: Reese, Trent & Shane, Charlie & Gabriella
Setting: California, Italian/Swiss border
Mature Themes: Violence

Recommendation: Overall, the plot keep me reading and the well developed science fiction had me on the edge of my seat for more and more details. If you’re looking for a new tech series or enjoy secret agent characters you’ll want to give Trial Run a read.

Trial Run follows three groups of people; Reese Clawson and her team in California, Trent and Shane in Santa Barbara, and Gabriella and her team in Europe. Each set of characters is expertly woven together to create an epic conspiracy that covers the globe. How do you fight an enemy you don’t know exists and add to that your inability to see them and you’re in for a wild tale.

The descriptions of the locations were immersive and felt real and it was easy to walk through them with the characters and keep your bearings, even through the chaos as the story progressed. Specific props or details for key scenes were focused on carefully to impress the importance of an outfit or a dream sequence to the main story. The plot was engaging, twisting and turning at all the right moments that left you hanging at the end wishing you had the next book.

In a story with so many characters, it’s extremely important to have defining features to ease the reader’s ability to tell them apart, when the story begins this isn’t the case and the POV swapping makes it harder to discern. A few chapters in is where they all being to expand into their own personalities and their goals are revealed. Except for one pair; Shane and Trent. These two are definitely the outliers when it comes to motivation. Even with Trent being the only character to have a provided backstory, it didn’t give him a motivation for his actions later in the story. the other characters had some strange quirks too. Charlie is involved in a strange love triangle that doesn’t feel integral to the story, and Reese, though listed on the back cover synopsis as the main character, felt more like support than the whole point of the novel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Meagan Myhren-Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trial Run
Fault Lines 1
By Thomas Locke

Time and space as we know it are about to be redefined. No longer will we be limited by our bodies instead we will only be limited by our minds and our beliefs. So starts an exciting and thought provoking new series.

What would you do if you could enter any building anywhere in the world and yet never leave the place you are currently at? What would you do to acquire such power? And who would pay the costs?

Gabriella Speciale has developed such technology with the goal of helping humanity. But she and her team have hidden themselves away in Europe hoping that their experiments will go unnoticed. But someone else, someone dangerous, Resse Clawson, has access to similar technology and she is determined to keep everyone else from this discovery - this technology. And they are willing to kill anyone who is a threat to their goals.

But something has gone wrong. Several of those who have attempted these trips have not come back. The question is why and how can they rescue those who are trapped in a world that is virtually unknown.

Two UCSB students suddenly find themselves at the center of attention of these two groups. Shane Schearer and Trent Major never imagined how their lives would change because of an algorithm and a dream.

Trial Run is an exciting and intense story. The first couple chapters help establish both the story and the main characters and then the reader is drawn into a story that has non-stop twists and turns that leave wondering what comes next.

It is also interesting to examine the two competing groups and what drives them. Gabriella and Reese are definite contrasts and it shows in their programs.

There is a definite thread of science running throughout the entire book - it is the backbone of the story. But don't let this scare you off if you have an aversion to science as this book is some much more than just a science story. This a story of life and death. Of mind over matter. Of love and friendship. Of human nature and its vices and virtues.

I admit it I'm anticipating book 2 and can't wait to see what comes next!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher through their blogger program in exchange for my honest review.

[Jessica Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Locke’s new series kicks off with a bang in this new futuristic thriller!

Shane Shearer is an MBA student at UC Santa Barbara. She would rather have gone somewhere else, but with no money and a free ride to UCSB, she is stuck there. Then one day another student she has never met named Trent Major walks up to her and says he needs her to set up a business meeting with a lawyer to discuss an algorithm that he developed. It has to be her and it has to be this lawyer and he will accept to make the patent on a paid when paid basis. Shane is a little freaked out but goes along with it. When things start to happen just like Trent says they will, she begins the ride of a lifetime.

In Switzerland, a close knit team of scientists and doctors have been working on a new program of intermind teleportation. But when one of the subjects stays trapped in his teleportation, it’s up to two of the team members to figure out a way to get him back. Elizabeth Sayer and Charlie Hazard travel to Los Angeles to follow a pattern that Elizabeth says she received from her future self. She and Charlie must both confront their demons if they want this to be successful. When they realize that their paths must cross and align with Shane and Trent, everything they thought they knew changes.

When I saw that Thomas Locke was coming out with a new series, I didn’t even bother to see what it was about, I just picked up the book. I enjoyed Emissary so much that I felt confident that I would enjoy this one as well. Needless to say that Locke didn’t disappoint. He quickly pulls the reader in with his opening and keeps the rapid pace going so that you almost never have time to set the book down. The short chapters help to keep the pace for the book so that you want to read just one more chapter before you put it down each time.

The characters came to life quickly and were very believable. This is more of a futuristic/political spy thriller, so the world keep turning every couple of chapters. There were several different viewpoints throughout the story, but it wasn’t difficult to keep up. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off - WOW! Thomas Locke (otherwise known as Davis Bunn) has literally knocked my boots off with this one! This genre is so completely new to him (as far as I know), that his feat is amazing! Other than the prequel "Double Edge," Locke comes into this new genre fully loaded to run with the best of them his first time out! Davis Bunn is a master story teller who has kept me spell-bound over the years. As Thomas Locke, well, what can I say? Already a master story teller in other genres, he just leaps into this new genre like its old hat, but even better! The idea in this book is that a person can leave his body and literally go anywhere and time is frozen. Take that to another level and that body can now be used as an ultimate weapon! Nothing can be hidden. Nothing can be secret. An amazing concept! I don't know a lot of the technical things, but Locke has written this in a way that even I can understand. And unlike some authors who really focus on the technical details of any given thing, Locke puts a lot more humanity into this book than mere technology. That human factor comes from his writing in different genres as Davis Bunn, and in my opinion, it just makes this new debut even better! Honestly, I was kind of discouraged in the beginning of this book because there are several groups of role characters. It was hard to keep track of each one at first, but the further and further I got into the book, the better it got, so if you get a bit frustrated, I'd encourage you to keep reading, because the end of book one is WELL worth it! I can hardly wait for book two! Also, if you read the prequel, "Double Edge," it will help you understand Trial Run much better. Thank you Thomas Locke for a TRULY THRILLING RIDE! (I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review. This is my own honest review, and the opinions are strictly my own.). This is a link to the free complimentary prequel "Double Edge." http://tlocke.com/fault-lines/

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying, I love books like these. Suspenseful, action packed, detailed, scientific books that create whole new alternate futures. But this book? It was all that, and more. I could not put it down. The story sucks you right out of your world, and into this new place. One where you choose oh so carefully who you trust, and what you believe.

At a certain point in reading, you start to understand what is going on, the interactions and consequences between people and locales. You drink it in, wishing you could absorb the information faster, wanting to know all of the actions at once, the characters' emotions and entanglements, the story's end, the story's possibilities. Reese, Gabrielle, Shane, Trent, Charlie - everyone seems so real. You feel their pain, their ambitions, their anger, their sadness. And when it ends? A sense of relief where it ended, and an urgency to search for more.

A book like this causes you to realign your view of the world, of what is possible or probable. The concepts presented are astounding and believable at the same time. Can your consciousness function apart from you body? Is time linear? The potential answers are terrifying, and keep you on the edge of your seat.

One of the plot points focuses on an online gaming community. The nerd in me enjoyed the stereotypical and atypical game and gamer descriptions. Other fun parts where the characters tripped all over the world were enjoyable even just as part of the setting descriptions. The characters were varied in personality and purpose. The change in viewpoints throughout the story, switching from character to character, was sometimes jarring, but eye-opening.

I highly recommend this book. I give it five out of five stars, for character development, setting, story pace, action sequences, and descriptive details. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buckle up and hang on!

A mind-bending tale where nothing – and no one – are quite what they seem.

Trial Run was a little bit of a different story than I am used to. For one thing, I'd never read a techno thriller before. Also there was no single protagonist, rather a cast of main characters, and there was no clear 'bad guy'. Instead these very different characters are connected by, sometimes tenuous, threads that are only revealed as the story progresses.

At the end I was still left questioning. My concrete mind wondered what force was controlling the place they ascended/transited to? And what was the source of the images of future events, received while making ascents? But just suspend belief for awhile and enjoy the wild and dangerous ride!

One of the things this book brought up, at least in my mind, is the ethics of science. How far should we go in the pursuit of knowledge? When are the consequences too great? And just how much does humankind really control? In these pages Thomas Locke presents a truly thought-provoking tale.

I've been a fan of Davis Bunn ( Thomas Locke ) since I was a young teen and I have avidly read any of his books that come my way. He has a way of telling a great story while stretching my mind. And his descriptions, especially in Trial Run, leave me totally immersed in the story, seeing what the characters see right alongside them.

On the whole this was one fascinating techno/psychological thriller, a little hard to understand at times (prions and quantum computing?), but so hard to put down. And the showdown at the end of the book was fast-paced, action-packed, and I think likely my favorite part. Fans of this genre and of Thomas Locke are in for a mind-bending treat!

(I received a copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.)

[Holly Smit · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the movie Inception, you will thoroughly enjoy the concept of Trial Run. As with any well-sculpted biotech thriller, the plot is compelling and complex (as in, don’t expect to fold laundry while you read this and keep everything straight). While I am nowhere close to a mathematical savant, I found myself catching glimpses of what quantum computing could mean for Locke’s story world—and our own. Add to that a breakthrough in teleportation research and you enter a realm of psychological warfare unlike any I’ve encountered before in the fiction world.

The story’s greatest strength is Locke’s ability to cast characters with equally viable motivations and set them at odds with one another. That is to say, I didn’t know who was villain or hero until the end of the book.

On the flip side, Trial Run’s weakness is the sheer weight of characters on either side of the story equation. The plot forks into three distinct character lines early on, then tangles back on itself many times thereafter. Sheer writing genius on Locke’s part, but it left me confused at times, trying to remember if this minor character was part of the Italian research group or the US government group or the Santa Barbara grad students caught in between. In addition, as Locke wrestles elusive theoretical concepts onto the written page, I found myself alternating between boredom from the repetition of explanations to frustration that even with that repetition, I still failed to comprehend their entirety.

In the end, the positives far outweighed the negatives. Locke’s strong writing craft and the Mach 3 race through an utterly original alternate present-day world were enough to propel my interest to the very end.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Revell on condition of giving an unbiased review of it.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast Paced Drama
Thomas Locke’s use of language to paint a picture and emotional scene without wasting words engages readers in this speculative read. The strong development of character interaction lends a human dimension to the right-at-the-edge technological nature of the story.
The back cover of Trial Run has a descriptive sentence that is remarkably true. “Davis Bunn writing as Thomas Locke delivers a thrilling psychological journey that will leave you turning the pages and grasping for solid ground. The reader is never sure which people are good guys and which are bad guys until the end. I did indeed find myself grasping for solid ground. Once I found it, I enjoyed the story.
I had trouble keeping the characters straight for the first half of the book. Perhaps some kind of overview / simple chart would have been helpful, even just a list of who worked on the Swiss team and who did not. I agree, the story is mind-bending in scientific concepts, and it took some rereading for me to keep track of what was happening. I’d like to see more information (perhaps in future books?) about the psychological aspects, what happened to the people who were in comas, the prion that had deadly potential, etc.
Trial Run provides a different kind of escape for those who read for pleasure. It takes readers into the world of what if? in a new way and leaves the door open for human potential and creativity to take the next step. Even though I had to hang on to any threads I could find to make sense of it at times, I give Locke’s latest work 4 stars for the excellent writing and enjoyable read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trial Run is marketed as a thriller/suspense title, but it's really more science fiction than anything—which is fine by me! In a way, Trial Run reminds me of the film Inception because of the idea of entering dreams, but really that's where the similarity ends. In Trial Run, people in a dream state are able to travel back or forward in time, but then several subjects end up comatose.

This novel features a very large cast of characters, and at first I struggled to keep them all straight. A few of these characters only appear sporadically, which sometimes made me stop and question who they were. Fairly quickly, though, the novel's main characters come to the forefront—grad students Shane and Trent, government operative Reese, and researcher Gabriella and her guard Charlie. When this happens, things get much easier to follow. I also appreciated that it took me a long time to figure out which faction (Reese's or Gabriella's) was good and which was bad ... and I'm still not entirely sure that the good guys are truly good!

The action moves at a rapid pace, and, while there's a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo (which isn't actually mumbo-jumbo if you take the time to try to understand it), it doesn't become overwhelming or confusing. The ending features a great blend of dream world and real world action, and it sets up what is sure to be a fascinating second book.

Trial Run is not for everyone, that's for sure, but those who enjoy smart science fiction will really like it. I'm already looking forward to next summer when book two will release. 4 stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell through the Revell Reads program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Trial Run,” book one of the Fault Line Trilogy, by Thomas Locke, is a techno-thriller that will hold your attention all the way through! The story has an unimaginable storyline that makes the reader really “think.” There are two main groups involved in this book. They both want the same thing, sort of…
They both want to be the first to travel, without moving their bodies. They transcend, in a dreamlike state, only physically moving, while not moving. Confusing right? Well, admittedly, it is a tad confusing, but exciting also. This transcending may take five minutes in our time, but these folks who are in another time and place, can actually be gone for weeks in the other time zone. Their goal is to steal some secrets from a locked safe, which is in a locked room, and return with the secret! The catch is that one group wants to be able to do this for the benefit of science, while the other wants to do this to for nefarious purposes. Which team will be the first to succeed? If they die in “fake” time, will they live in “real” time?? Can they change the future? There are many questions
I found Trial Run to be suspenseful, exciting and sometimes confusing. Don’t worry if you feel yourself getting bogged down in some of the technical details. If they seem overwhelming, just skim over them. You will still be able to understand the story! Trial Run is clean and uplifting, but not preachy. There is some war like violence and blood in the story, but I liked that if the good guys could survive without hurting someone, they didn’t hurt them.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.

[Phillip Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two teams with a similar process but widely different goals are seeing if they can push the boundaries of the human mind. A graduate student learns of breakthroughs in quantum physics, and all three groups' futures come together. Thomas Locke's Trial Run tells the story of what happens and how one thing can be used for good or bad.

The concept of having an out-of-body experience is familiar to most people, but what if it could be done at will? What would this enable people to do? Two separate teams, one a pioneer in the field, the other using technology stolen from the first team, are pursuing two different outcomes to these experiences. One is looking the knowledge to be gained, the second is looking for a new weapon.

Though the story switches to different areas and people, all of the pieces fit together nicely. Locke's plot, though dealing with something that many consider to be "out there," is easy to follow and something that you can get immersed in. It lived up to the category of suspense; each chapter draws you into reading the next to see what is going to happen.

There are points that can be used to illustrate ethics and morals. People must decide on whether to put their own ambitions first, or the welfare of others first. Dealing with the past takes a prominent place in the story, and the characters face challenges that they would rather not have to deal with.

I fully recommend Trial Run to others who are looking for a story that keeps your attention. Though it wasn't full-tilt action all the time, it doesn't have any dull moments.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my honest review.