Placebo by Steven James - REVIEWED!!!

About the Book:
While covertly investigating a controversial neurological research program, exposé filmmaker Jevin Banks is drawn into a far-reaching conspiracy involving one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms. After giving up his career as an escape artist and illusionist in the wake of his wife and sons' tragic death, Jevin is seeking not only answers about the questionable mind-to-mind communication program, but also answers to why his family suffered as they did.

Rooted in ground-breaking science and inspired by actual research,Placebo explores the far reaches of science, consciousness, and faith. Readers will love this taut, intelligent, and emotionally gripping new thriller from master storyteller Steven James.

My Thoughts:

“Our thoughts can heal or destroy us.  Placebos.  Curses.”  (p. 396)

Steven James has plunged into the depths of the human mind in Placebo – the first of his new Jevin Banks series!  Once again, he has created a very three dimensional, very flawed and sometimes quirky group of characters that capture your heart from the very beginning.   (well, some will capture your heart and others will inhabit your nightmares!)  James doesn’t shy away from some very esoteric ideas in this novel, and you really have to stay open-minded and intellectually flexible while you read.  I love it when that happens!  Not only are you challenged to figure out the answer to the plot, but you are challenged to consider how the human brain responds to a variety of information.  Apparently, our thoughts are far more powerful than I ever considered.

Jevin Banks is introduced to the reading audience during a particularly traumatic time in his life.  He has changed careers, and sets out to debunk a theory of quantum physics as it relates to the way the human brain transmits thoughts and how those thoughts impact the lives of those with which you are emotionally entangled.  Well, that’s stretching it a bit as far as Jevin Banks in concerned – especially when it seems he is entangled with his co-worker Charlene.  Things quickly get dangerously entangled when Charlene and Jevin are brutally attacked as they try to breach the security of the test facility!  They discover in very short order that what they set out to do is only the tip of a very large iceberg of alarming and disturbing information.

What is unexpectedly discovered in the lives of a least one of the characters is the power and strength that exists within faith and hope.  Something that science cannot explain.

The pace and complexity of this novel is unbelievable!! It builds the story into something the reader never expects and takes your mind and heart places you never expected to go!  So hang on, readers! It’s a pretty wild ride! And as far as understanding quantum physics Mr. James describes it best:  “Progress was more often than not about one person piggybacking on the work of another to answer a question neither of them fully understood.” (p.  111)

ENJOY THIS THRILL RIDE!!

About the Author:

Critically acclaimed author Steven James has written more than thirty books, includingStory, A Heart Exposed, and the bestselling Patrick Bowers thriller series. He is considered one of the nation's most innovative storytellers and versatile authors, and is a contributing editor to Writer's Digest. Steven lives in Tennessee with his wife and three daughters.