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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Riveting Romantic, Paranormal, Suspense Thriller!!, September 13, 2004
"Mind Game" is the second book in Christine Feehan's GhostWalkers series. This novel stands on its own, however, and it is not necessary to read the first book in order to appreciate this one. I think the plot and pacing are much better in "Mind Game" than in the former novel, however, and the characters are more fully developed.
A deceased scientist, Dr. Peter Whitney, had experimented on a group of gifted orphaned children decades before the story begins, in order to enhance their psychic abilities. While part of the experiment worked and the children's abilities were increased, the doctor was unable to control and utilize their talents. The children were all left psychologically deformed. They do not have the defenses, or shields, normal people do to protect themselves from sensory overload. This overload causes terrible headaches, inability to concentrate and sometimes severe seizures. When Whitney saw that his experiments were not proceeding in the direction he planned, he asked for military volunteers, disciplined officers from the special forces, and attempted the same experiments with the same results. These military psychics became known as GhostWalkers because they were eventually caged, no longer considered human, and were forced to escape and live in the shadows. Whitney's adopted daughter, Lily, one of the children used in the experiments, discovers her father's military victims. She moves them into a mansion which has been overhauled to provide the men with protective facilities, where they can live and train to immunize themselves against this sensory overload.
In Lily's search to find the children she grew up with, she discovers that one of her dearest friends, Dahlia LeBlanc, has been living a hermit's existence in a secluded residence in the Louisiana bayou country. Dahlia works for a US government intelligence agency, where she retrieves stolen, top secret technologies and information. She remembers very little of her childhood with Whitney and believes she is insane. Her government handlers, in order to control her for their own purposes, have told her that all her memories of former friends, like Lily, are products of her imagination. Dahlia has amazing telekinetic abilities which she is unable to control and can cause damage to other people if she becomes overly excited. Any strong emotion she feels turns into energy which causes fires. Unknown assassins attack her home while she is away and murder her nurse and caretaker - instead of their real target, Dahlia.
Lily Whitney sends GhostWalker Nicholas Trevane, a very strong silent type, to rescue Dahlia, and bring her back to be with the other GhostWalkers. Dahlia thinks she is the only one possessing paranormal gifts and doesn't realize what was done to her years before. Trevane walks into the attack on Dahlia's home and the failed attempt on her life. He becomes determined to find and destroy her assailants. Trevane almost kidnaps her when she does arrive and finds her companions dead. She agrees to go with him when he triggers her memory about Lily and briefly explains the situation. However, the danger is just beginning as violent death follows the two, who begin to form an extremely intense and unusual attachment.
This is a riveting story, a real suspense thriller, filled with romance and the paranormal. Very original and a terrific read!
JANA
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the last book, but still a disappointment, July 29, 2004
I read Shadow Game as was very disappointed after the hype. The story was convoluted and hard to follow. I enjoyed the premise of the story (Very rich high IQ scientist experiments on children and soldiers to enhance their psychic abilities). I was looking forward to a fast-paced well-developed story line. Instead, the secondary character development was extermely vague. It was almost as if she were squeezing out the story during down time from other things. The story line was shallow and easily figured out after the first 50 pages. Ultimately, it appeared to only be a set up for the next book (Mind Game).
I am reading mind game now, and this is definitely a Christine Feehan book. The primary characters (both of them)are fully developed with all the background and detail needed to follow the story intent, Although, there are a lot of secondary characters that don't seem to have any bearing on the ultimate goal (who is the mole in the Naval Criminal Investigation Service)other than to kill or capture Dahlia but, they do not bog down the story with unnecessary information.
Nicholas on the other hand, is awesome. His character is so well developed, I feel as if we grew up next door to each other. There is a feeling of continuity in Nicholas' actions and methods from the first book to this one. There is a sense of logic to the way his character is written.
Dahlia on the other hand is a bit confusing. At her as a primary character (after the first 20 pages), the writing appeared stilted. It was almost as if Ms Feehan did not know whether Dahlia was going to be a strong heroine aware of her weaknesses but dealing with them or if she was going to be weak and whiney (like Destiny in the Dark Hunter Series). After the first 100 pages, Dahlia evolves into a very strong character who know what she wants, pushes to get it, and still understands what her handicapps are and how they will affect her mission and those around her.
The initial mission in the book (to save her friend and handler Jesse Calhoun) appears thrown in for filler. As if Ms Feehan could not find a thread to hold the book together and decided there had to be a reason for the two main characters to continue traveling instead of heading back to Lily and Ryland's
estate.
Even with these flaws (which are not all that obvious) I am still enjoying the give and take between the two main characters. While the Dark Hunter Series may have run its course, I think this one is just starting to get good.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
very thin story, July 22, 2009
I am listening to the audio version - hard to skim this way!
The premise was great - yes, its been done before but this seemed like a nice re-telling. Taking children to enhance their psychic abilities and finding more abilities than expected... now the children are grown up and dangerous. And angry. OK... I was really ready to like this. BUT the two main characters keep doing the same scene over and over and over and over...
The hero is a well disciplined military type - sent in to rescue her - and who finds himself freaking out because he is so attracted to her he can barely think about getting her out of harm's way with his sudden sexual obsession and she keeps getting sick from trying to control her abilities to keep from setting fires and he keeps going on and on and on about how he cannot control his discipline ad nauseam this is repeated over and over and over and OVER! as they go different places while pursued by nameless thugs.
Sorry - I could not finish it. I hope I can figure out how it ended by looking at the reviews here, but I am better than half way through and there is still no real story. Just can take any more!
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