Hidden Doors, Secret Rooms by Jamie Eubanks

After enough explanatory interaction to build Mel’s character, Eubanks shows us her story, a device often used in film. Perhaps the most engaging occurs as Jill relates her story to Mel Talbot, a computer hacker par excellence that Mills has summoned to help. Eubanks utilizes a variety of techniques such as character interaction and dreams to fill in past details without bogging down in exposition. Mills tries to protect Jill from the FBI and her dreams, and in so doing, opens hidden doors and rooms within his own psyche. Ostensibly, the FBI is after her to secure this power and keep it out of enemy hands even if that means killing Jill and Valerie. However, a side-effect causes her nightmares to become real and do physical harm. Not to spoil the adventure, some of what comes out is that Jill, dying from Hodgkin’s disease, was given an illegal surgery which effectively endowed her with the ability to heal herself. This book is a study in how to show and not tell a story, and should be required reading in creative writing courses. Superbly crafted and flawlessly executed, Eubanks doles out both plot and back-story in small doses, expertly keeping readers turning page after page. As she recovers, puzzles gradually unravel, only to expose yet other mysteries.

Mills, who walks with the aid of a cane, ventures out into the storm and surprisingly finds Jill alive. Valerie stumbles into the cabin of John Mills, a former rock star-turned-recluse since the deaths of his wife and child. Lost in a blizzard with her young daughter Valerie, badly hurt, the FBI in hot pursuit, Jill Braedon sends the child off into the raging storm alone. The story begins in medias res: tossing the reader squarely into the midst of the action. This finely wrought sci-fi/mystery/thriller explores the themes of rebirth and renewal through characters on the run and those who come to their aid.

Hidden Doors, Secret Rooms by Jamie Eubanks