• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Carolyn Crane’s Website
• List Price: $7.99 US/$10.99 CDN
• Publisher: Spectra (March 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553592610
• ISBN-13: 978-0553592610

Buy Mind Games on it’s release date March 23 at:

• Chapters/Indigo
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble

Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.

Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

This is Carolyn’s first book & the first book in the Disillusionist Trilogy.

In Mind Games we learn about Justine, who is a big time hypochondriac enough of one it makes YOU nervous. Justine is a panicked mess, not only does she spend countless hours obsessing over vein star syndrome but she’s constantly in the ER & it’s ruining all her relationships. While out to dinner with her boyfriend Cubby, she meets a strange man named Packard who ends being the key to ending her hypochondria.

Packard is a highcap who can take negative energy into himself and give out good energy instead. He’s been leading a small band of emotionally unstable people (alcoholic, gambler, etc) aka Disilliusionists to reform the bad people in Midcity by using their negative emotions. But there’s a catch, the disillusionists are now dependant on Packard, if he doesn’t take their negative emotions away once a month, they come back ten times worse which has lead to one of them becoming a vegetable. On top of that, Packard has some secrets that could kill them all.

Mind Games is a fast paced book from start to finish, you never know what’s going to happen next! It is completely different from any other Urban Fantasy, since most of the main characters are human but highly dysfunctional. Justine & the Disilluisionist use their phobias as a weapon, they push their issues into the target which causes the targets brain to shutdown and basically reboot. Totally original and slightly frightening if it were possible!

Justine is a easy to relate to as a character, how many of us have a little bit of hypochondria in us? Though not to the degree Justine has it, she made ME nervous. But she turns out to be a formidable heroine that is very likable. The other disillusionists have varying degrees of phobia’s that we all have, but to the extreme. Then there is the highcaps, which are people who use their extra brain functions sometimes for good but most times for bad. There’s also some relationship drama going on as well.

Carolyn has a great new series on her hands, from start to finish a fast-paced journey into the human mind. Her writing stays with you so much so, I think I might need to make a trip to the doctor…just to be sure.