To the Seventh Power

by Felice Picano

Six children who possess a wide range of powerful psychic abilities are manipulated by an adult who hopes to use these powers for his own evil ends

Genres: Horror

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Felice Anthony Picano was an American writer, publisher and critic who encouraged the development of gay literature in the United States. His work is documented in many sources.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover blurb states that Picano gives us a "riveting tale of mind-control and psychic terror in the stunning tradition of The Fury and Firestarter," and that is generous; 'knock off' would be more appropriate. Our main protagonist Barry starts the novel working in an 'occult' store in Boston when one day a young woman stops in and requests some books. There is something about her that hits Barry deep; they have lunch and she discloses some of her past and then runs away. When Barry receives a long letter she left him, he discovers that she is his daughter. What?

Turns out Barry dodged the draft in the late 60s by joining the CIA (god help him) and going to France to help nail an agent of the KGB. While there, he had a love affair with Anna, who turns out to be the agent the CIA were looking for. Long story short, the young woman, Kyra, must have sprung from their union. Well, Barry is determined to find her even though she warns him not to. His first clue comes from his old CIA handler (or rather someone working for him on his horse farm in Virginia) that Anna (his ex from France) is still alive and in the states. After tracking her down, the two begin a quest to find Kyra. Like in Firestarter, it seems some deep black government agency is collecting kids with psychic powers to put to nefarious ends, in this case, against the Soviets (this was first published in 1989)...

This is really more thriller than horror, but I guess having several kids with awesome mind power could situate it as horror.

The Good? Picano's frenetic pacing really moves the story along, interweaving the backstories of Barry and Anna while they are on their quest. The Bad? The story is premised on an old trope and Picano does not do much to reinvent it. What made King's Firestarter really stand out was the plausibility and the depth of the characters; here the characters are pretty cardboard and the entire set up seems rather trite. Not a bad read, but really nothing exceptional.

[Berk Rourke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young woman visits a book dealer. The dealer meets her a second time and she disappears. She leaves him a letter saying she is her daughter. She has left him enough clues so he sets out to find her. In the process of finding her he finds the woman with whom he had created this wonderful girl. The adventure begins then. The young girl, Kyra, is a gifted child. She works together with a group of other gifted children in a facility in Colorardo. In time Kyra meets her Mother who she has never known. And in time things change in the psychic group called EDGE so badly that Kyra and some of her friends, along with her Mother and Father must try to escape. I will not tell you more. To do so would ruin the read for you. And this is a book you should read. It is fast reading. It is compelling reading. It moves very quickly from one scenario to another, to another, to another and finally to an explosive ending. Pick it up. Read it. The time and effort are so well worth it.