The Bottom Line: An unputdownable conspiracy thriller that deftly explores the consequences of immortality and the nature of unchecked power without ever missing a beat.
North Carolina resident Geoffrey Cannon has a growing reputation as a benevolent healer. He detects illnesses. Like a messiah sent from God, he cures the gravely ill with a touch of his hand. A noted metaphysical author and speaker, he is revered as a source of comfort and hope for people in distress.
But Geoffrey isn’t his real name. Despite his relatively youthful appearance, he’s a former World War II veteran who was born Peter Smithwick. Due to exposure to a bizarre U.S. Navy experiment, he ages at a rate twelve times slower than the average person. He is also able to create objects – such as roses — out of thin air.
Could he also be a killer? Lately, he’s been harboring a “dark desire” that he struggles to comprehend. Enter Detective Katherine Taylor, who is investigating a series of murders in Kleary Creek and becomes suspicious of Geoffrey due to his connection to several of the victims. With one question, Detective Taylor is about to change Geoffrey’s life forever: “Would you mind giving me a DNA swab? You’re not under arrest or anything. It’s strictly voluntary.”
Author Lonnie Busch, author of All Hope of Becoming Human – voted the Best Sci-Fi novel in the 2023 BestThrillers.com Book Awards – has delivered another mesmerizing read. This time, Busch has done wonders with conspiracy theories derived from The Philadelphia Experiment and The Montauk Project, rumored U.S. military experiments related to time-travel and otherworldly technology. Busch details Geoffrey’s journey through the ages from 1943 to the present, with references to experiences in prior decades. But lest you think this is more vampire fiction than sci-fi, locals swear there are bigfoot sightings. To say more about how those items are all connected would be to spoil the plot, but credit Busch for wrapping them together in a fashion that would make the X-Files’ Fox Mulder proud.
While creating pulse-pounding suspense throughout, Busch has created more than just a great thriller. The novel explores the nature of immortality, the power of the mind, the consequences of unchecked power and raises questions about the idea of fate and destiny.
