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AND DISREGARDS THE REST by Paul Voermans

AND DISREGARDS THE REST

by Paul Voermans

Pub Date: Oct. 15th, 1993
ISBN: 0-575-05143-4
Publisher: Gollancz/Trafalgar

Near-future yarn involving aliens, time travel, the CIA, and mind control: Australian Voermans's intriguing, strongly accented debut. Landscaper Kevin Gore begins to hear weird voices in his head; even worse, his blood has turned blue! He feels compelled to seek out Martin Leywood, a voluntary patient in an insane asylum. Eleven years ago, you see, actors Kevin and Martin rehearsed together for an oddball production of The Tempest, held out in the bush, whose director was a UFO nut and psychic-phenomena enthusiast; the project ended in a ghastly tragedy where both the CIA and real psychic effects seemed to be involved. So why Kevin's voices, the blue blood? Why are people worldwide experiencing bizarre and compelling hallucinations? Helped by reporter Gemma Stranger (she's trying to find the CIA connection), Kevin learns that aliens are approaching Earth; somehow, he also knows that they must be prevented from landing if the human race is to survive. The voices and the blood are messages from the future—from Martin Leywood and Kevin's own daughter-to-be—instructing Kevin on how to go about communicating with the aliens so as to prevent disaster. Voermans's wild mix-and-match structure produces some spectacular special effects—but there's a fair amount of substance here too, though none of it particularly original. An encouragingly thoughtful and well-crafted first outing.