Author: Dima Zales
Genre: Science Fiction
Published on: July 27, 2015
After teaching myself French, I searched for novels in that language in the Kindle store. It ended up being harder than I expected, as there aren’t that many. Les Lecteurs de Pensée is one of the first I came across. It’s part of a series centering on the character of Darren Goldberg. He’s a guy in his early twenties who has an unusual ability. Darren first discovered it when he was a kid. He can stop time, in a way: Darren can phase out of his body, a la Doctor Strange, and the world around him freezes. He calls this “drifting into the Calm”. Darren has used this power to his advantage a myriad times once he learned how to control it. For instance, freezing time allows Darren to cheat at casinos without being caught. The book introduces him during a game of poker.
Unbeknownst to Darren, his life is about to change irrevocably. A new challenger comes to the table to play. All of a sudden, the world freezes around Darren. Only this time, Darren didn’t willingly drift into the Calm. Then he sees the challenger, a woman around his age, who has phased out of her body and inadvertently brought Darren with her. This is significant because his whole life, Darren has believed he was the only person who could “freeze time”. He goes to regular therapy sessions because of this. Before Darren can question the woman, though, she bolts out of the place and vanishes.
Luckily, Darren’s power once again comes to his aid. While in the casino, he learns the woman’s identity: Mira Tsiolkovsky. With this information, Darren goes to his best friend and colleague, Ben. Using his hacking skills, Ben is able to point Darren to Mira’s address. There, Darren meets another of the series’ supporting characters: Eugene Tsiolkovsky. Yes, he’s Mira’s brother. Eugene vets Darren, after which the latter recounts his story. The Russian siblings are incredulous about it. They have no clue how Darren lived so long without knowing that others like him exist. He wasn’t even aware of the full extent of his ability. All three turn out to be Thought Readers. This is a common power, but the way it works in this series was quite original to me.
A short time later, Darren and his new friends find themselves in serious trouble. It turns out Mira and her brother are at odds with a bunch of Russian gangsters. The latter are being controlled by a powerful enemy. Mira tells Darren that her and Eugene’s parents were murdered by members of the Thought Readers’ mortal enemies: Thought Pushers. The latter can’t read minds, but they can control them. Fortunately, both groups are immune to their own powers, so no Thought Pusher can control Mira and turn her against Darren, for instance. Anyway, due to the Russian gangsters’ attack, Mira and Eugene bring Darren with them to a secure location: the base of the New York Thought Readers.
Darren’s discovery of what he truly is creates a personal issue. This concerns something pretty controversial: Darren was raised by two mothers. Since one of them has to be a Thought Reader, Darren feels betrayed that they never told him the truth. But the answers that await him may be more upsetting. Darren will have to sort through it fast, because Mira soon finds herself in danger. In order to save her, Darren will have to call upon his newfound friends and use everything he’s learned about his powers. In the end, Les Lecteurs de Pensée is a rather short novel that takes place over a very short period of time. It doesn’t feel that rushed, but it sort of leaves you wishing for more. Fortunately, there are three more books in this series. I’m certainly going to carry on with them.
My rating: ★★★★
4 stars - Definitely enjoyed it!
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