Charisma

A powerful thriller of redemption, hope, and courage that overcomes all obstacles. It began well - an experiment in techniques to teach high-risk children - poor, minority, children - the life-strategies that will allow them to succeed in life. And not just succeed, but overcome the odds and become wildly successful. They chose as their model a man who had done it all - Alexander Marcus; a black man who raised himself up from poverty to become one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in America. The imprinting is effective. The children are focused, driven. They are inventive, intelligent, and love learning. But there is a mysterious darkness to them - a ruthlessness that is surprising. Renny Sand first met the children as a journalist covering the sensational trial of a preschool operator. There were terrible charges of sex abuse, but the thing that stayed with Renny was the strange poise and power of a group of eight year old children. That, and the face of the mother of one of them, Vivian Emory. Now the children are thirteen years old, and one of them has been killed in a mysterious hit-and-run accident. Renny Sands sees the possibility of big story, a human interest story, a story that might jump-start his flagging career. He'll do a follow-up on the preschool scandal; and he might get a chance to restart his love life as well - Vivian Emory has divorced her husband in the five years since he met her.

About the Author :
Born in Los Angeles in 1952, Steven Barnes began writing at the age of five, and since that time has published over two million words. His first published collaboration, "The Locusts," was nominated for the 1980 Hugo award, and his Outer Limits episode "A Stitch In Time" was nominated for a Cable Ace Award and won an Emmy for Amanda Plummer. He also wrote a one-woman show based on the life of Bessie Coleman (the first Black Aviatrix), been the Kung-Fu columnist for "Black Belt Magazine" (he holds dan rankings in Judo and Karate), and served as the host of the world's longest-running science fiction radio show, "Hour 25." Currently living in Washington State with his wife, Novelist Tananarive Due and his daughter Lauren Nicole, Steven is working on a series of novels set in prehistoric Africa, for which he recently spent two weeks on Tanzania's Serengeti plain.

Review :
"The true battleground in the fight between good and evil is the human soul, and no one is better at describing those internal battles than Barnes. While ["Charisma"], an eerie tale of good intentions gone bad, is the clear spiritual descendent of Barnes's "Blood Brothers "and "Iron Shadows", it far outclasses its popular predecessors in both style and sheer emotional impact. ... In an attempt to empower low-income youth, more than a thousand children are raised to become miniature copies of popular rags-to-riches politician Alexander Marcus, but they end up acquiring his bloodthirsty depravities as well as the brilliance and cunning he used to hide them. With a delicate unfolding of the plot and an astonishing ability to show readers the world through the eyes of his many and disparate characters, from ambitious reporter Renny Sand and Kelly Kerrigan, a CIA agent turned theatrical sharpshooter, to dressmaker Vivian Emory and her perceptive and troubled son, Patrick, Barnes keeps the outcome a genuine secret right up until the last sentence. [Steven Barnes'] talent at handling race and racism has never been so evident and polished." - "Publishers Weekly"