Dina Rae does not disappoint her readers in The Sequel to The Best Seller. The novel has three strands. The first is that of Maya telling about her trip back in time. The second takes place at Broom Lake, Nevada during the early 1970s. The final strand of the novel takes place in present day Nevada as we uncover betrayal and murder at Broom Lake.
Maya Smock is back telling her story in the first person. We soon learn she has a very special ability. Within her DNA there is the genetic code for time travel. Glenn Lucasek, the head of T.A.H. (They Are Here) Institute sends his partner, Jay McCallister, back in time successfully. When Maya takes the trip back to World War II Germany, something goes wrong and Maya doesn’t return.
At Broom Lake septuagenarian General Robert Andreas is about to retire from the base that created babies with human and alien DNA. But before he does, he must get in touch with his old flame, Kate, who informs him by letter about a child at her daughter Lori’s orphanage in London that could be an alien half-breed. He flies to London to find out that Lori is actually his daughter and Kate’s life is at risk.
The final strand is the springboard for the other three subplots. This is the anchor for Maya’s trip back in time and a point of reference to the development of the Dr. Lori character, the fates of Claude Kazinsky and the Nazi scientists from the first book.
Many of the characters from the first novel are aged and returned to the present. Geneticist Dr. Lori Blacksmith has figured out the time travel gene and her two subjects, Jay and Maya, are successful in its implementation. Of course she has help, but a few of the source of that help could best be described as paranormal.
Throughout the novel there are high stakes tensions as conspiracy theories are opened raw to a gaping reader—flying saucers, government conspiracies, Roswell, and Area 51, to name a few. There are several murders, sanctioned torture, a few alien races, a world beneath the Earth, and the historical figures we meet don’t disappoint. Rae does a wonderful job of developing her characters, describing the settings, and moving the plot along like a staccato beat.
To enjoy The Best Seller Series start with book one, The Best Seller before reading The Sequel, otherwise you may feel lost. Happy reading.