From the very first paragraph, I was hooked on this prize-winning, sci-fi, paranormal adventure. If you are not afraid of the unknown and are willing to become part of this suspenseful page-turner, I strongly recommend this book.

Alan Joshua begins The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy in the basement of a Russian brain research institute. If you’ve ever wondered if humans are being used in mind control experiments hidden in the underbelly of governments as scientific research, this realistic, fictional account will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and pulse pound. Full of astonishing detail, it reads like a handbook for psychic development: “Stefan Dürr’s wiry frame hovered in a transparent, liquid-filled, vertical sensory deprivation tank. Naked, with the exception of a soft weight belt, straps battened down a round, silver helmet covering his head and shoulders. When he exhaled, a plastic umbilical line at the top released a stream of bubbles that crept through the viscous solution toward the surface.”

In a time where understanding and controlling horrific catastrophes, far beyond the threat of climate change around the world, researchers conclude that the evolution of human consciousness might be our only salvation. For those of you who have seen or read Chayefsky’s Altered States, this is similar but Altered States on speed, reaching far beyond.

This is great storytelling and is striking in its visualizations. It is filled with dialog that will hold your interest as well as believable characters, like disgraced research professor Dr. Beau Walker. For example, in Philadelphia, Walker resigns himself to a weekend of scoring his students’ booklets on basic psychology. But the weekend is not what he imagined. As he naps, the Russian city of Podol’sk is inexplicably vaporized in deadly silence. Unaware of his paranormal bond with the event, Walker “clawed at the sweat-saturated shirt, now tinged pink with oozing blood, rolling his head back and forth on a damp pillow.” What is this puzzling link with event 5,000 miles away?

Walker’s nightmares continue when he is snatched by the government and coerced to join a U.S./Russian multidisciplinary scientific team, searching for the cause of the disasters. Their descent into a Russian crater will have you on the edge of your seat.

This trilogy is for any sci-fi, paranormal, or action-adventure fan. Certainly, worthy of a movie, it is full of surprises and twists and turns. I urge you to step into a story where science, the paranormal and human consciousness meet with unexpected and devastating results. Be prepared for the “after sense” as I call it, the lingering thoughts after you close the book. I recommend that you buy this combined version of the trilogy.

The SHIVA Syndrome Trilogy is not limited only to sci-fi fans. It is for thinking people seeking stories of some complexity that can be intriguing and mentally stimulating. If you love science fiction and are tired of the lack of imagination found in many books and movies today, this psychological thriller should be your next read.