With Singularity, Steven James (Placebo; The Pawn) returns to his series of thrillers starring the illusionist Jevin Banks, pitting Banks and his team against a secret conspiracy involving human experimentation and narco-trafficking that threatens the future of humanity.
Secret experimentation in artificial intelligence and human consciousness at Plyotech has begun spinning out of control. The first victim is Emilio Benigno, a young magician whom Banks has been mentoring. After Emilio dies during an illusion gone wrong in the Philippines, Banks finds a USB drive in his belongings containing enigmatic information that implies Emilio was mixed up in matters way over his head.
Banks and his devoutly religious assistant/girlfriend, Charlene, return to their home in Las Vegas. With the help of their hacker friend Fionna and her four homeschooled children (who are also hackers), they start investigating Emilio's death and the mysterious--and morally questionable--research a murderous man who calls himself Akinsanya is implementing at Plyotech.
James skillfully weaves together widely disparate elements in Singularity, from Area 51 conspiracies to magic tricks to prostitutes to discussions on the nature of creation and what exactly it means to be human. The book moves at a rapid pace, as Banks and his associates race to stop the dangerous forces at work. Fans of techno-thrillers, Christian fiction and magical mysteries will all be intrigued by Singularity. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm