A world without Marie Curie is it possible?

A Vision of Fire

Book One of The EarthEnd Saga

Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
Simon and Schuster, 292 pages, published 2014

Okay I will admit the cover saying Gillian Anderson was an immediate hook and I had to read this book. When you were a hard core X Files fan and by that I mean watched the show with the lights out, the appeal is always going to be there. I was not deterred when I realised that the book was written in collaboration with Jeff Rovin.

Caitlin O'Hara is a child psychologist who is called in to treat the Indian Ambassador's daughter after she witnesses the attempted assassination on her father. What she initially appears to delayed post traumatic stress takes on a far more sinister turn. Caitlin finds herself trying to connect a series of bizarre incidents involving two other teenagers and to add further fuel to the fire, tension between India and Pakistan is verging on outright war.

There is a great deal to like about this book, it is intelligent, as a reader you are not treated like a moron, you are given concise information and at times it is a bit gory. The brain episode while yuck was really well done. A lot of information is thrown into the mix from Norse Mythology, Voodoo, languages, psychology and international relations. However one of the key players (I presume) in the next series of books is 'The Group' and there was not enough information about them. I mean you know they are up to know good but just not why.

A lot of threads are in this first novel and you begin to see how they are being gathered especially technology versus spiritualism. Yet some of the threads really struggle to be joined, the linking of three teenagers does require a leap as a reader. Plus it seemed too easy for Caitlin to identify and link the three teenagers together.

I will read the next book as I would like to see where the series will go. There are some clues in this novel and I would be intrigued to see if they come into fruition.

At the end of the book Gillian Anderson has provided her favourite books which I found rather interesting. I have seen some authors list their favourite music or even recipes but not books. I might have to check a few out and a few I have read.