Biblical

Starred review from August 4, 2014
The pseudonymous Galt, the author of two crimes series under his real name of Craig Russell, successfully juggles a wide cast of fully developed characters in this inventive near-future thriller. Around the world, people in all walks of life begin having unusual visions—of the immolation of Joan of Arc, or, in the case of U.S. President Elizabeth Yates, of William Taft, in shirtsleeves, walking a dog on the White House lawn. Yates’s hallucinations have national security implications, as they call her fitness to govern into question, and psychiatrist Josh Hoberman is summoned to a secret meeting in D.C. to offer his guidance. The ante is upped when people begin to have tangible manifestations of the visions (e.g., a woman who believes she survived an earthquake that never happened has her arm broken by masonry that never fell). Few readers will anticipate the jaw-dropping conclusion, and fans of thoughtful scientific thrillers will hope Galt will continue in the genre. Agent: Noah Ballard, Emma Sweeney Agency.