Dante's Equation

June 16, 2003
Science and sci-fi go hand in hand in this ambitious, if not entirely successful, thriller by Jensen (Millennium Rising), which incorporates elements of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) as well as theoretical physics. During WWII, physicist and mystic Rabbi Yosef Kobinski vanished from Auschwitz in a blinding flash of light. Kobinski left behind at the camp his Kabbalist masterpiece, The Book of Torment, to be buried for safekeeping. Half a century later, a Jerusalem rabbi and an American journalist are trying to find it. Kobinski had also discovered a mathematical theorem that accounts for good and evil in the universe. The theorem is astonishingly similar to work that Dr. Jill Talcott and her assistant Nate Andros have been doing at the University of Washington, studying the effects of energy waves on living creatures. Talcott and Andros are not yet aware of the full destructive potential of their experiments, but the government is, and its agents are soon on Talcott's trail as she takes up the search for Kobinski's manuscript. The principals ultimately find themselves gathered at the very site near Auschwitz where Kobinski disappeared, and they too are in for an otherworldly odyssey. Jensen is on surer ground describing Kabbalah and Holocaust history than she is plotting supernatural adventures, which unravel by the end. But she gets points for the innovative, multifaceted story.

Starred review from June 15, 2003
When physicist Jill Talcott discovers an equation that coincides with the writings of Talmudic scholar and Holocaust victim Yosef Kobinski, who claimed to have identified a physical law of good and evil, she comes to the attention of government agencies seeking to make use of her discovery. Along with an Orthodox rabbi and a tabloid journalist, Talcott flees to Poland, where she and her companions embark on a mysterious journey of self-discovery beyond the boundaries of the known world. The author of Judgment Day combines hard science with esoteric mysticism to produce a compelling philosophical adventure and an astounding work of speculative fiction that belongs in all libraries.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Adult/High School-Denton Wylie, a rich and charming tabloid writer, is researching an article about unexplained disappearances. Rabbi Aharon Handalman studies Kabbalah in Jerusalem and searches obsessively for "divinely implanted" coded messages in the Torah. Big, bad Calder Farris is a Marine Intelligence operative on the trail of cutting-edge scientific research that can yield new weapons technology. The ambitious young physicist Jill Talcott is secretly testing a revolutionary new theory in wave mechanics. The paths of these people converge in a search for missing pieces of a lost manuscript written at Auschwitz by a Polish rabbi, physicist, and mystic who vanished in front of witnesses 50 years ago. Modern physics and Kabbalah merge in Kobinski's manuscript, and as the four main characters pursue different aspects of the knowledge it contains, their quest delivers them deep into their own private hells. Although this genre-defying tale takes on weighty issues, Jensen's impressive mastery of fictional technique-plotting, humor, sympathetic characters, a great McGuffin, and lots of suspense-makes it feel like much lighter fare. The middle section is a bit hard to get through, but by then most readers will be hooked enough to stick around for the fitting denouement. This interesting story has obvious appeal for SF and suspense fans, but it is also an enjoyable exercise in the arcane for readers intrigued by codes, psychology, and mysticism.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2003
In a strange manuscript, physicist and mystic Yosef Kobinski, interned at Auschwitz, claims to have discovered a physical law of good and evil. Half a century later, a young American wave physicist finds something unusual that impels her to search for the manuscript. When her search crosses paths with those of an Orthodox rabbi and a feature writer who are also on Kobinski's trail, she finds herself on the run from intelligence agents who think the manuscript may contain a code for a powerful weapon. Her predicament constitutes proof, were any needed, that there is indeed a link between good and evil. The book plays out as it has begun, in rather standard thriller fashion. Jensen keeps it moving, though, and her characters, if not always sympathetic, are fully developed. In this, her second novel, she gives lessons in style to many thriller writers with longer publication lists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)