Manifestation, Black Spiral, Book 2 - Book Review

Manifestation, by Rob Tucker, is the second volume in his Black Spiral series. The paranormal fantasy thriller is a complex physiological novel with a convoluted plot involving occult-style murders. The fascinating and intriguing page-turner is exhilarating and suspenseful with a complex cast of characters.

 A succinct preview introduces the main characters and hints at an alternate existence dominated by a rogue dark spirit.  Human reality is questioned.  A digital world is introduced, and human imagination challenged.

The prologue immediately draws the reader in with the sudden disappearance of a Wall Street billionaire, Gale Walsh, and his sudden return a week later in his office at First World Corporation. Dead, with no indication of how he died. Was he murdered with no weapon? Suicide? An inconclusive autopsy opens the case to the FBI.

The ingeniously interwoven backstories of multiple distinctive characters intensify the plot, and alternate with the primary mysterious action in a shadow world.  In order to better understand the degenerate chaos revealed by the strange deaths, Leon Safullo, a profiler, consults with a retired magician and illusionist. Maximillian Schult introduces the FBI to SIM (simulated individual module) world. A dark energy world is identified through a black spiral DNA helix where-by humans can be controlled through quantum physics and dark energy.

Bernadette Garcetti’s childhood fascination with the dark arts and occult left her mind open to intrusion by Simonetta, a programmed dark energy creation. Simonetta denies her spiritual programming with the “goal to destroy all things humankind considers of positive value” and moral. She turns rogue in the human body and mind of Bernadette to prevent chaos and avenge evil. Much of the plot is told through well-constructed dialogue revolving around degenerate contemporary issues of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and mass murder that are skillfully woven into the story.

The First World Corporation, headed by Hiram Bean, is identified as a front for the dark energy forces that are turning humans into dark beings in an attempt to destroy the world as a known reality. Can Simonetta, through Bernadette, intervene in the destruction with a DNA antidote? Can the world as we know it be saved?

Paranormal thoughts and activities introduce a parallel plane to reality with the existence of a digital world. Satanic cults, a fourth dimension, and the human mind’s ability to receive implanted thoughts, emotions, and directed commands challenge the reader’s intellect.

The story brims with scrupulous reverence for all forms of life. You'll find it startlingly fresh.  It is a beautiful, expansive tale . . . Ambitious and majestic.  Manifestation is filled with palpable characters, and a fantastic backdrop. It is a tale that should garner many accolades.

Rob Tucker provides an unexpected but satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader with expectations that a volume three will soon be coming..