Author: Marcus Sakey
- Performed by Luke Daniels
- Released: July 2013 by Brilliance Audio
- Category: Crime/Thriller/Suspense
In Wyoming, a little girl reads people’s darkest secrets by the way they fold their arms. In New York, a man sensing patterns in the stock market racks up $300 billion. In Chicago, a woman can go invisible by being where no one is looking. They’re called “brilliants,” and since 1980, one percent of people have been born this way. Nick Cooper is among them; a federal agent, Cooper has gifts rendering him exceptional at hunting terrorists. His latest target may be the most dangerous man alive, a brilliant drenched in blood and intent on provoking civil war. But to catch him, Cooper will have to violate everything he believes in—and betray his own kind.
This book dives headlong into a fast paced story with lots of suspense, thrills and action.
A small percentage of people, called ‘brilliants’ or ‘abnorms’ began to be born in the mid 1980’s. They have extremely high intellects and abilities, beyond anything ever witnessed before. Among other things they can read and act upon a person’s intentions and thoughts.
The brilliants have diverse abilities and differing degrees of those abilities. Some use their gifts in such a way as to become a threat to other people as well as national security.
The protagonist, Nick Cooper, is a brilliant himself and also a federal agent for a government department. It’s his job to track down and, if necessary, kill the terrorist brilliants. While in pursuit of a radical Nick is forced into an untenable position that puts his life on the line. He doesn’t know the truth from lies or who he can trust.
There’s an interesting sub plot going on which involves Nick’s daughter, who is thought to be what’s known as a ‘tier one’. Tier one brilliants are taken from their families as young children and sent to special academies where they are brainwashed into fearing and not trusting other brilliants.
Luke Daniels is a stunning storyteller, always attuned totally with the story and characters. Well paced, dynamic and well…awesome.
An amazingly gripping story, thought-provoking in that it makes you wonder about the social aspect. The plot is intense, deep and far from obvious. The characters are fascinating and complex, and in Nick’s case, driven to do what he does.