Thought Readers Feels Mostly Mindless

What if you had the power to freeze time, and wander through frozen crowds, picking pockets as you pleased? The Thought Readers by Dima Zales starts off interesting and realistic. What would I do if I could secretly spy on everyone? I’d get rich quick, and that’s what main character Darren does. He’s considered a prodigy and, at the ripe age of twenty-one, he’s raking in the dough working for a hedge fund.

While Darren is playing the tables in Atlantic City, not honestly of course, he meets someone in The Quiet, which is what he calls the place where time is frozen. He has never seen another person here, and he suspects the long, leggy brunette has a gift similar to his. Little does Darren know that he has the power to read minds, so he’s considered a Reader. By placing his hand on another person in The Quiet he can delve into their memories, and experience their thoughts and feelings. He also learns that there are Pushers. These are people who can manipulate minds, and the two powers certainly don’t seem to get along.

The book has a really interesting premise. We’d all, at some point, like to read someone’s mind, and I wouldn’t mind being a sleuth in a quiet place while no one else can bother me on the account of their being frozen. However, the action comes to a halt every time it’s presented. The idea of “phasing” into The Quiet is a cool idea, but it’s so over explained that it takes you out of it almost instantly. The story isn’t expanded through these moments, rather lost.

Characters are introduced quickly, and it’s hard to like them when the details are sparse and the dialogue is stiff and unnatural. Darren finally meets the girl, named Mira, I think. Her personas were hard to keep up with. Her brother, Eugene, is likable, and they’re the target of a kidnapping plot. Darren, who uses his newfound mind reading ability to discover what it’s like to have sex (as a woman) with himself, is thrust very quickly into the plan to fight the Pushers and save Mira.

The book is short, and should be a quick read, but I was taken out of the action so many times because of poor dialogue, and the unnecessary explanations, that it took me a while. The ideas are interesting and it’s only the first in the Mind Dimensions, so maybe the story progresses further in those books, but I doubt I’m going to find out.

If you’re interested in checking the book out for yourself, it’s available for $2.99 on Amazon and iTunes.

If you enjoyed Carly’s review, you can find the rest of her work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow her on Twitter @MrsCarlyRodgers.

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