DARK MATTER - Cameron Cruise
MIRA
ISBN: 978-0-7783-2503-1
July 2008
Paranormal Suspense

Southern California, the Present

DARK MATTER has a complicated plot with several main characters and no easy way to summarize the set-up. Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that DARK MATTER is a direct sequel to the author's debut title, THE COLLECTOR, and most of the characters carry over from that book. Enough references are made to events in the past that DARK MATTER can stand alone, but I suggest finding and reading THE COLLECTOR first. DARK MATTER is intriguing enough to make that well worthwhile.

There are people in this storyworld who believe that Atlantis existed, and that when the cataclysm destroyed that advanced civilization, there were survivors whose descendants live among us. At one point in the previous book, they thought they had found a powerful crystal called the Eye of Athena that could be used to enhance powers. They also believe that they can identify certain highly evolved young people with psychic powers...and are not above experimenting on them.

The good guys and the bad guys are not easily identified in this novel; several fall somewhere in between; others show their true colors gradually. On the side of law and order, Detective Stephen "Seven" Bushard of Westminster PD and his partner, Detective Erika Cabral, are called into a case by FBI Special Agent Carin Barnes when a body is found in the wetlands in Huntington Beach. It's the third missing fourteen-year-old to be found dead near water. Seven, Erika, and Carin have met before; the relationship between the two women is uneasy.

Also a major carryover from THE COLLECTOR is artist Gia Moon, who paints prophetic pictures. Gia, a single mother, comes from a long line of psychic women, which distresses her thirteen-year-old daughter. Stella just wants to be a normal girl from a normal family. That proves impossible, however, when the spirit of a boy about her age attaches himself to her. She tries to banish "ghost boy" but he keeps popping up...at home, at school, in her dreams. Stella's father runs the Institute for Dynamic Studies of Parapsychology and the Brain in San Diego. Seven and Gia have a history and will soon meet again.

Tall, good-looking and redheaded, twins Adam and Evie Slade are strong psychics raised by their father for a special purpose. Evie works with Agent Carin Barnes's autistic brother. She is the only one who can communicate with him. Another person interested in special children is billionaire Gonzague de Rozières. Zag owns Halo Industries and runs schools for "halo-effect" children.

With so many characters whose lives have intersected in the past, more than one with hidden agendas, I found DARK MATTER hard to follow at times. Still, I didn't want to put it down. It's replete with interesting concepts and people. Gia and Stella have a powerful impact, as does Seven, and so does a boy named Jack, with whom the book opens. Do I recommend DARK MATTER? Yes, especially to those who enjoy speculative fiction.

Judging from the copyright page, Cameron Cruise is a new pen name of author Olga Bicos. I found no website in either name, but it's possible that THE COLLECTOR and DARK MATTER are the beginnings of an ongoing series. If so, it will be good to meet Seven, Gia, and Stella again.

Jane Bowers