The bold novel that follows teases apart the spiritual, philosophical, and practical truths and implications of that message and its sender in a series of brisk yet thoughtful scenes among a diverse cast of characters. As before, Harvey is engaged with the everyday life of psychics in thriller scenarios, penning crisp, engaging dialogue and a host of surprising scenarios, including special attention paid to the role of sex and eroticism in intimate psychic connections. At the same time, Harvey takes wild narrative risks, introducing surprises it would be churlish to spoil—let’s just say that, after much talk of UFOs and alien intelligence, the startling giant figure who eventually confronts a tech billionaire is not something readers will see coming.

That scene’s a doozy, and Harvey’s inventiveness extends to cosmic alt-history, millennia-spanning conspiracies, futurology, untapped human potential, memorable tech-thriller action— a “plastic explosive bullet” shot from sunglasses!—and more. But it’s the ideas that drive this series. “Your species seems to have a death wish,” one mysterious personage tells a young Lama, which gets to the core of these books: Harvey spins a secret history of all of us, urging us to be more. (The novels are published out of narrative order and can be read independently of each other, though their connections are rewarding.)

Takeaway: This bold, brisk conspiratorial psychic thriller series imagines humanity’s secret history.

Great for fans of: Lindsay Ellis’s Axiom’s End, Michael Flynn’s Eifelheim.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A