Mindfront
by Dave Becker

Product Description (from Amazon.com):
After uncovering a universal code in the brain waves of all living things that could revolutionize psychology, Martin Keller wakes one morning to find himself covered in blood, surrounded by his butchered family. Convinced he’s being framed by a diabolical organization set on stealing or sabotaging his work, he dodges a multi-agency manhunt that pursues him from the seediest corners of DC to the highest offices of government. Struggling to stay alive and find his family’s killer, Marty soon finds himself lost in a maze of conspiracies and paranoia, and eventually begins to doubt his own sanity. How can he find the truth when he doesn’t know what’s real?

My Thoughts:
When the author of this book asked me to review it last fall, I was in the mood for a good thriller. Despite this, I didn’t have a chance to read it until last week, when I was immediately so absorbed in it, to the point where for two days, I was reading it constantly. (During those two days I was also kind of drugged on muscle relaxants and pain killers because of a sprained back, which may have colored my reaction to the book.)

Thrillers – good thrillers – are a tricky thing to create. They have to have an element of mystery, a dash of danger, and a hint of good crime fiction, but still be rooted in a plausible version of reality or they don’t really work. With Mindfront all of the elements were there, and more – an interesting plot that was part techy, part bureaucratic, with nice family/spousal scenes that added dimension.

Martin Keller seemed like a three-dimensional character, and even I didn’t see all the twists til the very end of the novel. If you like thrillers, you will love this book. The physical copy is out of print, but the Kindle edition is available from Amazon.

Goes well with a pastrami sandwich on rye bread and a vanilla cream soda.