The Shimmer By David Morrell
Read How You Want, (2010), 588 pages EasyRead Large Edition, in 16 Point Font
(Originally Published in Standard Print by Vanguard Press)
ISBN: 978-1458767356 Genre: Thriller
Reviewed by Israel Drazin - April 13, 2010
David Morrell is best known for his excellent Rambo books, but unfortunately while some of his other books are also excellent, others are not, there are books that some readers shunt aside unable to finish. This book is very good: it is generally quite exciting, it has an engaging unusual plot and good characters, but it needed an editor to remove a number of pages in the beginning of the book that are unnecessary and drawn-out.
The story involves a police officer whose wife, with whom he hasn't had a close relationship, disappears. He traces her to a small Texas town where she and countless others seem to be mesmerized by inexplicable rotating lights. The lights have appeared in the outskirts of the town for centuries. There had been many attempts to explain them, all unsuccessful. The officer's wife saw them as a child, and is now drawn back to them. He tries to pull her away, but she strongly refuses.
Besides its mesmerizing affects, the lights cause people to smell objects, such as lemons, that are not present. They also cause people to hear music that they never heard before, captivating music. Complicating the unusual phenomenon is the presence of a military scientific group nearby who, among other things, is trying to understand the lights. Additionally, there were quite a few incidences where people became murderously hostile because of the lights, including at the military installation. There is also a television reporter who wants to use the situation any way he can to further his career.
Readers will wonder what is causing the lights. Why does it affect people the way it does? Why does it seem to affect people differently? Why are some people unable to see the lights? What will the lights do to the police officer and his wife? Will the lights help or hurt the wife's health? Can people who are affected by the lights be cured, as some people claim? Is this tale imaginary or is it based on facts?
The Shimmer is available from Read How You Want, an on-demand publisher that makes books available in a variety of formats including Braille, DAISY, and five different large print formats. This range of formats makes this, and other books, available not only to visually impaired individuals, but also anyone with a reading or physical disability that makes reading standard print books difficult.
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