Vision Impossible

May 30, 2011
In Laurie's lightweight eighth Psychic Eye mystery (after 2010's A Glimpse of Evil), the CIA taps psychic investigator Abby Cooper to help recover a stolen drone carrying powerful neurotoxins and technology that can target individuals from a distance by their auras. In Toronto, Abby poses as the new assistant to her fiancé, FBI assistant special agent Dutch Rivers, who's masquerading as weapons dealer Rick Des Vries. Abby finds the soft side of tough dangerous men by a mixture of competence, sex appeal, and pulling secrets about their families out of the ether. The central romance between Dutch and Abby, unfortunately, amounts to a lot of her fussing over his welfare, their wedding date, and whether it's unfaithful to flirt with the handsome bad guys. And it's hard to love a female-narrated story where the main way for women to succeed is to get things done while acting as sidekicks and eye candy.

June 15, 2011

A psychic helps her fiancé crack the case of the missing CIA whatsit.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Dutch Rivers, FBI, is exactly what you'd expect: He speaks several languages, has extensive weapons training and is ready to do what it takes to protect his country. His fiancée, Abigail Cooper, is none of the above, and so is more than surprised to be rounded up by the CIA for a special mission. The agency is in trouble when a special drone is stolen—a drone programmed to see people's unique auras. Originally intended to track our most deadly enemies, the drone could be a unique threat to world safety if it fell into the wrong hands. Abby's psychic skills are key to the mission. Not only can she see the same auras as the machine, but her skills may give Dutch added protection. Before Abby can rattle off a handful of the reader's favorite signature catchphrases, she, Dutch and CIA handler Agent Frost are off to the great white north on a mission of recovery. Abby is suddenly thrust into a world of weapons dealers, international espionage and real threats on her life. She'll need more than psychic powers to make sure she and Dutch make it through alive.

Fans of Laurie's Psychic Eye series (A Glimpse of Evil, 2010, etc.) will notice the absence of some of their favorite characters in this latest addition. Natural pacing and humor offer compensation for a plot freighted with heavy-handed exposition.

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July 1, 2011

Psychic Abby Cooper, FBI profiler and newly minted spy (A Glimpse of Evil), is in trouble when military software can mimic her aura-reading skills.

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