Fans of the X-Files will find this novel of the paranormal a very worthy diversion. With its consistent and intelligent narrative voice, Superstition heightens the terror with its careful balance of the real, the scientifically plausible, and the fantastic. When university psychologist Sam Towne assembles a group of eight people to test his hypothesis that group telepathy can call into being a ghost who exists only in their imagination, he gets much more than he bargained for. And Joanna Cross, the cynical reporter who sniffs another headline-making story about fraudulent spiritualists, is glad to play along. But when Adam Wyatt, the Revolutionary War hero created in a group exercise, breaks through from another dimension and reveals himself to be a darker shade than anyone could have guessed, those who thought him into existence are stymied in their efforts to send him back where he came from. As members of the group who would deny him reality begin to die, Sam and Joanna realize the strength of the force they've unleashed, but it may be too late to recapture it. Reason, logic, and faith fail them, and even the power of the love that flourishes between the two attractive protagonists may not be enough to put the genie back in the bottle. Superstition is a riveting supernatural thriller that will keep readers turning pages--each more horrifying than the next--until the shocking denouement. --Jane Adams
From School Library Journal
YA-Based on an actual experiment from the 1970s, this novel takes an unusual turn. Former physicist turned parapsychologist Sam Towne believes that ghosts can actually be created. Called a "tulpas," or "thought form," a "ghost" is energy created from thought. In an effort to prove this theory, he gathers eight people who agree to participate in a bizarre experiment. Together they will create a fictitious character, give him a history, and conjure the presence of this ghost solely from the energy of their collective minds. Unfortunately, the experiment works only too well. Their ghost, Adam Wyatt, is given a past as an assistant to Lafayette in the Revolutionary War. After a move to Paris, he marries and becomes a contemporary of the Marquis de Sade and the infamous alchemist, Cagliostro, according to their script. He makes his presence frighteningly apparent at their gatherings and then, suddenly, history seems to have changed. There is evidence of an Adam Wyatt having lived. Worse, the members of the group begin to die off accidentally. Sam and his lover, Joanna, struggle to resolve this deadly enigma. Just scary enough, this novel grabs readers and keeps them turning pages. Most young adults will enjoy the Stephen King-like aspects of the story and wonder about the original experiment, possibly enough to research it. A short history lesson about the French Revolution is relatively painless, as well. A fascinating romp through parapsychology and ghostly lore.
Carol DeAngelo, American Chemical Society Library, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Still another hypnotic paranormal thriller from Great Ambrose, (Mother of God, 1996; The Man Who Turned Into Himself, 1994, etc) that, once again, will drag you unfailingly into the small hours. No movie or book can be taken as evidential proof that a world of spirit exists parallel with ours. But paranormal investigators press on, peering into the invisible. In imitation of a real-life famous experiment conducted 20 years ago, when parapsychologists in Toronto claimed they'd invented a ghost named Phillip, a team of Manhattaites decides here to invent its own ghost, or thought-form, by pooling their mental energies and focusing them on a fictitious English-speaking character named Adam Wyatt, whose life they write, placing it in the well-researched period of the French Revolution. As psychologist Sam Towne and his group of six volunteers (including a magazine reporter) go on meeting they become so familiar with Adam that when he actually begins table-rapping as presumably did Philip, they're naturally elated and begin asking him all sorts of questions. Many he can't answer because they can't answer the questions: He knows only what they know, being made of their thoughts. But, as it happens, he's also made of their darker natures, and the time own and starts sucking them into it by leading them to their deaths. As always, Ambrose misleads us toward one climax, only to substitute a hugely inventive, jaw-dropping, bittersweet alternate climax.
Featuring a cast of warmly attractive adult characters and no human villain in sight, the latest from Ambrose has been sold to Tri-Star films for one million. If the film sticks to Ambrose's terrific ending, instead of going soft like Ghost, this could make one of the scariest, brainiest, most memorable love stories ever made about the unseen. -- Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1998
About the Author
David Ambrose studied law at Oxford University and has worked internationally in films, theater, and television. He is the author of Coincidence and The Discrete Charm of Charlie Monk. He lives in Switzerland.
In this supernatural tale, Sam Towne, a parapsychologist, conducts an experiment to see if it's possible for a group of people, all volunteers, to create a ghost. Taking part is Joanna Cross, a journalist, who has just been "cursed" for exposing a couple of charlatans claiming to be psychics. The experiment turns into a nightmare as, one by one, each volunteer dies, until only Joanna and Sam are left. Ferrone maintains an appropriate, unique voice for each of the characters. He reads with a natural tempo and effectively conveys the suspense of this spooky story. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
