Book Recommendation: Open Minds

"I was a match in the middle of a keg of gunpowder."

So began my love affair with Open Minds. . . .

Almost two years ago, my friend Sue, aka Susan Kaye Quinn, submitted portions of her NaNoWriMo baby, Open Minds, to our online critique group. To say I was blown away by the concept behind the novel is not an understatement. I remember Erynn and I having long conversations outlining how incredible we found it that these addictive chapters were a result of writing a novel in thirty days. I distinctly recall talk of creating Team Raf and Team Simon t-shirts. Seriously. It was that good.

Fast forward to this fall when I get an e-mail from Sue explaining that she's planning to self-publish Open Minds as the first in The Mindjack Trilogy and could she send me an ARC (advanced reader copy)? Could she? That wasn't even a question, was it?

I opened the e-ARC the moment it arrived in my inbox. I savored my favorite characters and lines from the first draft, spiffed up to be their best selves, while enjoying the new scenes and ending I'd never had a chance to read. Sue has created a dangerous and intriguing world of mind-reading and mind-control (known as mindjacking) that makes me glance over my shoulder to see whether others are close enough to read my thoughts. And her protagonist Kira is a strong, sarcastic, and empathetic character thrust into a world she never knew existed, or wants to be a part of.

When I read the quote above in its position halfway through the book, I was stopped in my tracks. It's the perfect summation of Kira's immediate situation as well as her life in general. Kira is the key: to control, to the future, and to freedom--an empowering and frightening thought for a sixteen year old girl.

And that's why the book works. It's why I can't wait until Closed Hearts releases next year, and it's why I think you'll enjoy Open Minds too.

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Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn will be available in e-book (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and print (Amazon, Createspace) on November 1st.

Just in case you're counting that's only seven days from today!