Review of J. Elder’s Entity…
(J. Elder, Entity, MuseItUp Publishing, B008QWRL9M)
This novel is the sequel to the author’s Spectra, which I also reviewed. Consider this review a sequel to the first. In that review, I introduced the idea of sci-fi thriller, a sub-genre of science fiction. My definition differs from Hollywood’s, where “thriller” often signifies an over-abundance of action to the detriment of the thrills and suspense. Both Spectra and Entity are fine examples of sci-fi thrillers: they are Goldilocks books where the author gets the balance just right.
Entity can be read independently of Spectra. The author provides enough backfill and it doesn’t intrude. Most of the survivors from the first book are present (I mean that literally—as in Hamlet, few people are left on the stage in Spectra). You will find the protagonists Dean and Laura. Dean is almost over his first wife Karen (murdered in the first book), but Karen’s brother Matt is still around and somehow still blaming Dean. Dean and Laura provide initial sex and lust that leads to tension as distrust builds when the entity begins to take over.
The Russian expert on human auras plays a more prominent role in this novel. We also have a new character in Sam, a willing pawn of the entity and nemesis of Dean, Laura, and friends. Sam grows in stature as a villain as the story progresses. The novel ends in a Rosemary’s-baby moment that probably sets up another sequel.
My nit about not knowing where I am in the story remains, but it’s softened now by familiarity with the author’s name for places. The nit abut an implied agenda is gone. (It almost seems Ms. Elder followed my advice here. If true, I’m flattered. Authors helping authors, and all that….) Discussion of the human aura is neatly relegated to providing a means for the entity to interact with humans. And what an interaction it is! There is visual power in the words describing the scenes.
Besides the material on the human aura, the sci-fi part of this sci-fi thriller contains particle physics and time travel. The particle physics has hardware like antimatter collectors, complicated little boxes that allow physicists working on this accelerator of the future to scoop up particles like minnows in a pond and feed them to the machine. Sci-fi is always an extrapolation of current science, so I look for the latter. Maybe fusion research and tokomaks? So far antimatter and neutral particles are not used in accelerators as far as I know (the first are difficult to contain and there’s no way to accelerate the latter), but who knows what it will be like in the future?
The time travel (Ms. Elder calls it “interdimensional displacement,” if I remember correctly) doesn’t bother me as much. It has been a staple of sci-fi for so long that no one cares anymore to look for the science it extrapolates. The author cleverly employs a second Dean called Buck, the real Dean’s twin and man from a parallel universe (another of the many worlds of quantum mechanics?), to provide tension and a foil to some of the entity-controlled people on the real Dean’s team as well as to Sam. Dean-Buck joins that team suffering interdimensional sickness (worse than motion sickness—OK, I made up the term), a device that allows the author to avoid the contradictions of time travel. Dean-Buck also provides a poignant moment at the end of the novel.
Let’s return to Sam and the entity’s evil nature. It’s clear that the author, like Dean Koontz, can paint a powerful picture of how evil can walk among us and possess our fellow human beings. Some consider Koontz a writer of horror stories. He’s a better writer than King, for example, because sci-fi and fantasy are so much a part of Koontz’ horror. Entity shines because the horror is so much a part of the sci-fi.
When I first paged through this book on my Kindle, I noticed that all the action takes place at the accelerator site and surrounding area. I asked myself, “How is the author going to maintain the action, thrills, and suspense at this one site long enough to fill out a novel?” At the end, I said, “Geez, she did it!” Commendable. A truly fun and breathless read for all who like sci-fi, thrillers, and, yes, horror stories.
[This book review was written for Bookpleasures.]
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