Daniel Keyes, The Asylum Prophecies

A coalition of terrorists have merged with a plan to deploy Operation Dragon's Teeth that will make 9/11 look like a quiet day at the park. The only person outside of gangs who knows of the specifics of the upcoming assault is Raven Slade, the daughter of a CIA field operative; resident of a mental institution in Athens, Greece as she suffers from multiple personality disorder (MPD) and talks with her dead sister.

Her father hypnotized Raven to insure she cannot reveal what she knows about 17N and MeK to anyone even the FBI or CIA until they are defeated. However, she is kidnapped and tortured by one of the terrorist groups, the 17N. Rookie FBI agent Frank Dugan is sent to Europe to prevent the plot scheduled for 17 November by the Mujhadeen-e Kalq starting with rescuing Raven so he can learn what she knows.

The Asylum Prophecies is a fast-paced action-packed thriller from the strange opening scene in the Athens hospital and never slows down until the climax. However, readers need to set aside their plausibility meter as several spins like the hypnosis and sending a novice to prevent a major terrorist attack seem farfetched even with late denouements. Still fans of Daniel Keyes will enjoy this exciting tale mostly seen through the hypnotized mindset of an alleged MPD sufferer with voices on her head.

Harriet Klausner