Perception: (1 Psychics and Aliens)

Of course we're not alone. So what are they waiting for? A speculative suspense novel that may change the way you view your life on Earth. "...there are enough twists, cliffhanger chapter endings, and rich details about the Dutch Reformed community to set this gripping book apart from similar SF novels. An engaging tale with plenty of genre intrigue to satisfy SF fans."-Kirkus Reviews Minda Blake has kept the government's UAP secrets for too long. Now it's killing her. For years she used her psychic skills as a remote viewer to help Blackthorn, a government black ops contractor, to recover and conceal extraterrestrial debris after UFO sightings around the world. But she can't do it anymore. Her conscience won't allow it. Her doctor says she's suffering from a new kind of PTSD that affects drone assassination pilots who violate their sense of "what's right" day after day. Suicide is their common end and she's already contemplated it. So tonight, high on the dunes over Lake Michigan, that will stop. She will launch her scheme to reveal the truth to the world! Everything goes according to her plan-until it doesn't. Now she's on the run. While a blizzard rages across West Michigan, she's thrown together with a total stranger, Garritt Vanderhoeven, an outcast from the area's conservative Dutch Reformed community who is haunted by his own psychic demons. Together they search for a missing teenager whose life is in danger and a stolen artifact that imperils the world at large. What they uncover is so much...staggeringly much...more. And time is running out. With a makeshift team that includes a mysterious mentor, a persistent farm girl, a vagabond restaurant hostess, and a posse of friends and family willing to cross cultural taboos for the right cause, they discover that their nemeses aren't at all what's expected. New age religion factors in, and interdimensional barriers are broken with unpredictable results. As the story twists into uncharted challenges, they'll all need to bring their most profound skills to the forefront-including those society rejects. Fans of Gene Roddenberry will appreciate this shockingly hopeful leap into the unknown reaches of human perception. From the jacket flap: Minda Blake was toiling away for Naval Intelligence when someone discovered what her mind had been able to do since childhood. Next she knew she was honorably discharged and swept into the maelstrom of Blackthorn, a black ops military-style contractor working for the U.S. government. She had no idea what she'd be tasked to do after her extensive training to become a remote viewer. Like everyone else, she'd heard about the U.S. government's experiments with psychic-or what they called "psi"-operatives, fueled by its desire to keep up with Russian and Chinese research into advanced human mental capacities. Could a remote viewer locate military targets using their mind alone? It was a top-secret endeavor, highly controversial among the armed forces. Code named Stargate by some branches. But that whole operation was shut down in the mid-1990s, wasn't it? After former President Jimmy Carter let it leak in an interview that a "psychic spy" had helped them locate a downed Russian spy plane? The media had a field day ridiculing and mocking the program. Top brass denied any participation, and the files and research disappeared under a cloud of humiliation and scandal. The fired remote viewers drifted off to write books or teach classes in the "paranormal." A mocking movie was made, a documentary followed, but psi research by the government ended abruptly. Or did it?

About the Author :
Lianne Downey has spent decades exploring, teaching, and writing about the outer reaches of her own broadband perception. Books include her YA fantasy Cosmic Dancer (NIEA Finalist), her channeled space opera, The Liberator: A Psychic-Spiritual History of the Orion Empire; and her self-help psychic awareness manual, Speed Your Evolution: Become the Star Being You Are Meant To Be. She holds a BA in Mass Communication from UC Davis, and served as an arts writer for The Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune. She is a lifelong student of the works of Ernest L. Norman, and names his widow, the late Ruth E. Norman, as her most influential spiritual mentor. When not writing or reading, you'll find her ballroom dancing with her husband Joseph, playing in their San Diego garden, dabbling in watercolor, or watching movies.

Review :
"5 Stars: This book is an exhilarating thrill ride that seamlessly blends science fiction, suspense, and a touch of the supernatural. The protagonist, Minda Blake, is a compelling character whose psychic abilities and moral courage drive the narrative forward in unexpected ways. As she goes from being a key player in a black-ops operation to a fugitive, the stakes quickly escalate, making for an intense and captivating read."-Aislinn Brophy, author of Spells to Forget Us "...There are enough twists, cliffhanger chapter endings, and rich details about the Dutch Reformed community to set this gripping book apart from similar SF novels. An engaging tale with plenty of genre intrigue to satisfy SF fans."-Kirkus Reviews "A fascinating science fiction story about Minda Blake who struggles to reveal the government's UAP secrets with collaborators and confronts unexpected obstacles. Time will tell whether this fantastic work of fiction is real and should be integrated into the future of science."-Avi Loeb, bestselling author of Extraterrestrial and Interstellar; director of Harvard's Institute for Theory and Computation and the Galileo Project "5 Stars: I really became enthralled with the story and the characters, and the ending was quite a surprise in many ways! The characters are so richly drawn that I felt I knew them. The plot is intricate, and the details are vivid, weaving sci-fi fantasy together with real events."-M.L. Benrubi, Photographer "5 Stars: I enjoyed this spiritual sci-fi adventure novel which had good characterization. I look forward to book two."-Graisi O'Hara, Media/Journalist/Book Reviewer "Downey's world-building is intriguing. She blends elements of conspiracy theory with a touch of mysticism, creating a captivating scenario where psychic abilities hold a key role in national security. The exploration of this concept is sure to spark the imaginations of readers interested in the unexplained."-The Book Raven blog