Be prepared…. Debut author Alan Joshua’s The Shiva Syndrome isn’t a thriller in the typical sense. And that’s a good thing.
The novel, Joshua’s fiction debut, certainly spares no expense in raising the stakes as the protagonist, former Special Forces operative and secret empath, Beau Walker and his compatriots deal with the unexplained vanishing of a central Russian territory into a man-made black hole singularity. But frankly, that’s the least their problems as the book untangles the winding web of such new horizon sciences as tailored genetics and nanotechnology while also exploring such concepts as parapsychology and Jungian ideals of motivation.
Joshua puts the question to his readers. What if we achieve an ability to create in ourselves a superhuman level of power but we don’t understand anything about our own motivations to do such a thing?
The Shiva Syndrome sets its standards high and keeps them there throughout the course of the novel. It has a certain cinematic quality to the narrative, requiring the reader to balance the advancement of the tension with engaging debates about life, the universe and everything. While making for some tough sledding in the early portion of the book, you’ll be rewarded in the latter half immensely as the story, and the world, really begin to burn.
The Shiva Syndrome rewards the reader with a return to intelligent speculative fiction writing in the vein of Crighton, Rollins and Cussler. Ambition is rewarded in the end and you’ll find yourself pondering the ponderables heavily while also dying to find out what’s next. A most promising bow by an author to watch.
From the Author’s Website: As a native Philadelphian, Alan Joshua has the appropriate fondness for soft pretzels and cheesesteaks. He is married, has two grown children, and lives in the suburbs. He is currently a practicing Clinical Psychologist.
Always curious about the unknowns of human experience, he is fascinated with creativity and paranormal abilities. This led to his involvement with Psychology and research into Parapsychology. Unsurprisingly, he is a science fiction fan and has been influenced by such writers as Asimov, Bradbury, Crichton, Heinlein, Serling, and the extraordinary genius of Phillip K. Dick.
Website: http://alanjoshua.com/
Hear the entire Active Voices interview @http://sabbx.com/
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