A Step Beyond

by John Molik

Dr. Brigitte Sheen, an ambitious scientist, and her colleague develop a gene therapy system to extend human life spans. In her search for venture capital, Dr. Sheen, having strict moral and ethical guidelines, is quite particular on how this technology should be provided to the public.

Just two years prior, Brigitte had helped her friends Kyle Pickens and Nikita Patel, and her husband, Jeremy Hughes, steal $33 million in bearer bonds from a contemptible rogue agent of the Horsemen who had killed Kyle's uncle, Doug Gervais, a vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank.

Kyle Pickens, owner of a brewpub in Marin County, had sold the bonds to a Chinese financial conglomerate, but as he had never been paid, Nikita Patel, a private investigator and now Kyle’s live-in lover, travels to Shenzhen, China, determined to collect what is rightfully owed. What she finds there is completely unexpected. The Chinese company, Mingzhen Fortune Capital, is a front company for Chinese interests and seems to have its own secret agenda. Its mission is to buy into every conceivable emerging technology in the burgeoning transhumanism megatrend—mixing man and machine, artificial intelligence, cyborgs, genetic engineering, and anti-aging technologies.

The Horsemen, a secret cabal based in London who control most of the affairs of the UK, US and their allies, also desire control of Telomere Senescence Systems, Dr. Sheen's anti-aging technology company. A covert treaty with extraterrestrials had provided them with an edge in the race for domination and control of key transhuman technologies, but a serious rift in that relationship has threatened their mission.

In a fierce proxy battle between East and West, the future of mankind is at stake. Pursued by a crazed super soldier with enhanced physical abilities, Dr. Sheen, together with help from her husband, Jeremy Hughes, Nikita Patel, Kyle Pickens, and others, must overcome dark intentions of unseen powers... But are these intentions really that evil? Do the Chinese investors have nothing but good intentions in their bid for the technology? Or are they hiding their real intentions? Should Brigitte allow the fate of this profound life-changing technology to be decided simply by the whims of the market? Or do the Horsemen know more? Is there something happening at this particular juncture in human development that warrants the covert collusion of the Horsemen and the use of their nearly absolute power?

A timeless human desire is to be transhuman, and it's only a step beyond.

392 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2017

Reviews

[Matt T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will start off this review by saying that I rarely read fiction. Nine out of ten books that I read are non-fiction. For a work of fiction, I love this book. I can hardly wait for the third installment in this trilogy. I read the first installment called, The Fiduciary Delusion, and it was the most fun and entertaining piece of fiction that I had read in years. For a author's first book, I thought it was 'off the charts' entertaining. When I found out that this book, the second installment, called, A Step Beyond, had been released, I was thrilled to finally be able to find out what happened with the main characters from the first book. For as entertaining and humorous as the first installment was, this second installment is full of character detail. The first book sets up the characters quite well and makes them interesting and this second book fills in all of the character history that one wonders about in these characters. The detail in the story is equally impressive. It is full of pertinent information surrounding the plot and it made the book much more entertaining for me to read. I love the details that a good author gives to us readers in their stories and John Molik does not disappoint in his descriptions and details. While this second installment is still peppered with some great bits of humor, this second book is much more intense than the first book. This second book mixes both science fiction and action throughout the entire book. This story will make you want to know exactly who the horsemen are and what they ultimately will do to the world population and the main characters in this trilogy. These books would make great movies or teleplays considering the fantastic characters that make you want to root for them and know more about them. So much in fact that I cannot wait for the third installment and any future works from this author. This particular author, John Molik, has made me enjoy reading fiction again and that is the highest compliment I could give a fiction writer. So with that said, I highly recommend reading the first installment of this trilogy, The Fiduciary Delusion, then going on to read this great, action packed, second installment, A Step Beyond. I predict you won't be disappointed and that you will want to read the third book as much as I already want to read the third book when it eventually comes out. So Happy Reading and Enjoy. I am sure that you absolutely will if you like reading a great and entertaining book.

[Paula Panther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed John's first book and this one, which was a much faster, thriller-paced read with a SciFi element, was equally enjoyable. I read it in about 10 days. While his first novel laid the foundations for the characters, their intentions, goals, and backstories, A Step Beyond provided enough background for me that I got back up to speed quickly. Dr. Brigitte Sheen, the strong female secondary character from the first book, rises to become the protagonist in this one. Her goals with the anti-aging system are admirable, but we are reminded that we can never be in total control of individual pursuits when the greater good is at stake. One of my favorite themes that runs through A Step Beyond is how John compares drug rehabilitation, or the overcoming of personal addiction in the microcosm, with our transcendence as a species in the macrocosm. Once again, I love Kyle Pickens and all his flaws and his tongue-in-cheek attitude. His irreverence is a great contrast to the seriousness that his friends face, but his challenges are in no way diminished by this. He's a lovely character and provided great counterpoint to the main thread of the story which was quite intense. I like flawed strong female characters where their men are not completely neutered in contrast. I don't want to provide spoilers, but Jeremy Hughes, the protagonist's husband, is very believable in his role as the beta-male whose persistence, love, and brains overcomes both his wife's domineering personality and in the end, saves them all. I learned so much from this novel too. There was so much science information packed into it. The super-soldier villain was also a fun character. Although, at one stage I was a bit tired of the repetition of some of the scenes in the Fort Ord prison, all the back and forth and his fall into madness, it didn't distract from the main purpose of the story. There are some new characters that I really liked too. Although I was left with some serious questions at the end, I'm hoping that these are answered in the next book. Anyway, I would have given this book 4 stars, as I'm not a SciFi geek, but since the characters, themes, and humor were so good, and I really like this author, it gets 5 stars.