Beyond Belief

Rating:
Summary: Even Better the Second Time Around!
Review: "Beyond Belief" involves a murder investigation by a spiritualist debunker. Like Johansen's "Answer Man," this book has a clever entrance to the world of the gumshoe. Former magician and current Atlanta police detective Joe Bailey takes cases where he can expose the tricksters and con artists behind black magic and sleight of hand.

His latest case involves a crime apparently the work of an innocent child with other worldly powers. And, believe me, you will not see the resolution coming. Throw in a healthy dose of an ambulance chasing attorney, skeptical police officers, the FBI, psychic frauds, cult fanatics, drug traffickers, hit men, and a mysterious billionaire and you have the makings for the perfect summer read. There's also a very subtly Hitchcock reference for readers familiar with a particular Atlanta monument. Here's to hoping we haven't seen the last of detective Joe Bailey!

Rating:
Summary: A fast and brilliant enigma!
Review: A baffling conundrum for the lead character, who's life's work is based on logic and the appearance of logic, keeps the reader turning pages and putting off responsibilities in order to read the next page... and the next.

A great plot with interesting, true-to-life characters make the plot twists convincing and intriguing. Reading accurate portrayals of familiar places in my hometown makes it even more fun. The fantastic finish will make your jaw drop!

This novel is a great follow up to "The Answer Man", and I eagerly await more from Mr. Johansen and the characters in "Beyond Belief".

Rating:
Summary: A suspense story that works
Review: As a young man, Joe Bailey was a professional magician who opened many Las Vegas shows with his performance. Now he works as a detective on the "Bunko" squad with his moniker being the "Spirit Basher" because he is known for debunking phony mediums and psychics who prey on society. Joe firmly believes that there are no paranormal powers and his record of unveiling frauds is near 100 per cent.

Joe is assigned to homicide when a huge sculpture with spikes fell and killed Dr. Robert Nelson, chair of the Landwyn University parapsychology department. His girlfriend claims that one of Joe's subjects, eight-year old Jessie Randall killed him by using telekinesis powers. He rejects the notion of his mental prowess, but admits that every time he angers him strange things occur. Other people also show interest in Jessie, who becomes a target for kidnappers. To divert Joe from the case, attempts to hurt his daughter are made. Before using all his energies to find Jessie, Joe sends his child to a place of safety.

Edgar award winning Roy Johansen (see THE ANSWER MAN) has written an exhilarating police procedural that has more action per page than most novels have in several chapters. The heroine is a genuinely nice person who readers will like and admire. The cleverly designed plot hits its climax just at the point when all the subplots brilliantly converge. BEYOND BELIEF is one terrific ride into a shadowy realm where things never are quite what they seem.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Location, Location, Location
Review: For Atlantans, or anyone who has spent any time in our city, Johansen's book is spoiled by egregious inaccuracies. While the plotting is well-crafted and the pace is well-maintained, poor editing destroys credibility. Every single location, building and neighborhood reference is wrong. Every single one. No, Manuel's Tavern isn't "up the street" from Buckhead's toney Habersham Road. No, the Morningside neighborhood isn't "a couple of blocks" from Woodruff Arts Center. The police station on Decatur Street hasn't been there for many years. Techwood Homes, where a main character lives, was demolished in 1995 to make way for Olympic Village. Charlie Brown airport is not in DeKalb County. Et painful cetera.
I'd like to read more adventures of Joe Bailey, Spirit Basher. Details about a police detective who exposes fake spiritualists are fun and interestingly presented; the characters are well-drawn and appealing. But I'm too distracted by errors which could easily have been caught by an attentive editor. This book could have taken place in any major city in America. If Johansen didn't know Atlanta, what was he thinking?
The bottom line is this: Beyond Belief is a terrific police procedural for anyone who has never visited Atlanta. Natives, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Location, Location, Location
Review: For Atlantans, or anyone who has spent any time in our city, Johansen's book is spoiled by egregious inaccuracies. While the plotting is well-crafted and the pace is well-maintained, poor editing destroys credibility. Every single location, building and neighborhood reference is wrong. Every single one. No, Manuel's Tavern isn't "up the street" from Buckhead's toney Habersham Road. No, the Morningside neighborhood isn't "a couple of blocks" from Woodruff Arts Center. The police station on Decatur Street hasn't been there for many years. Techwood Homes, where a main character lives, was demolished in 1995 to make way for Olympic Village. Charlie Brown airport is not in DeKalb County. Et painful cetera.
I'd like to read more adventures of Joe Bailey, Spirit Basher. Details about a police detective who exposes fake spiritualists are fun and interestingly presented; the characters are well-drawn and appealing. But I'm too distracted by errors which could easily have been caught by an attentive editor. This book could have taken place in any major city in America. If Johansen didn't know Atlanta, what was he thinking?
The bottom line is this: Beyond Belief is a terrific police procedural for anyone who has never visited Atlanta. Natives, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: really really good
Review: I just finished reading this book and it is great.
I had never heard of the author before and I only bought the book because it looked interesting.
I'm really glad I did. I would sit and read it for a half hour every day. Today I just kept reading because I really wanted to see how it ended. Very enjoyable. It keeps you interested all through the book.

Rating:
Summary: A good mystery
Review: Joe Bailey is a police detective in Atlanta who specializes in debunking psychics. Dr. Robert Nelson, a professor at the local university, whose specialty is parapsychology, is found impaled on a wall by a sculpture that no man alone could have lifted. The number one suspect is an eight-year-old boy. In steps Joe Bailey.

Roy Johansen has written a good mystery, and in creating a skeptical and rational character, as portrayed by Bailey, a refreshing one at that. Johansen shows how easily charlatans and psychics fool people.

A solidly written mystery, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Inside the covers:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Johansen's first book, The Answer Man, was just terrific. So I pre-ordered Beyond Belief and the more I read, the more increasingly dismayed I became. The author starts out with a swell premise: a hero who's a debunker (along the lines of the Great Randi)-a former magician now a cop, asked to assist in solving the bizarre death of a parasychologist. There are some good characters, particularly little Jesse (who may or may not have paranormal powers) and his down-to-earth, very believable mother. Our hero, Joe Bailey, (also known as The Spirit Basher) has some good moments when he tries to find the hidden causes behind the accidents that suddenly begin threatening his life. Up to the halfway point, there's a lot of potential here. The second half, unfortunately, is so chock-a-block with bad guys that the book's believability drains away. It's a pity, because Johansen's a good writer; he doesn't go in for unnecessary gore or a lot of fussy set dressing. But this tale really does suffer from too many villains and, as a result, slides almost into Monty Python territory. ("Villain? Yes? To the right, please. Villain? Yes? To the right, please.") By the time the grand poobah of bad guys was introduced, I actually laughed.

To see what Roy Johansen can _really_ do, read The Answer Man. With luck, his next book will see him back on form again, exercising a little judicious, authorial restraint.

Rating:
Summary: Better Than Answer Man: Beyond Belief by Roy Johansen
Review: Sometimes when a first time author wins awards, the second book is not as good. It seems like the confirmation and praise goes to the head and the author never lives up to the true potential that was shown in the first work. Roy Johansen won an Edgar a few years back for The Answer Man. In that novel, Ken Parker runs a one man polygraph firm and is solicited to help a suspected embezzler to beat the polygraph. He accepts the job, with some misgivings and then his entire life begins to fall apart. While it is a pretty good read, this novel is so much better.

Beyond Belief opens with Joe Bailey. He works for the Atlanta Police Department and has been tagged with the nickname "Spirit Basher." Joe works the magician cons where he goes after the phony psychics and spiritualists that prey on people. Since Joe used to be a professional magician, he is pretty good at scouting out the fakers. But, usually he does not have to deal with murder.

One night, he is called out to investigate the murder of Dr. Robert Nelson. Dr. Nelson ran the parapsychology program at Landwyn University. Dr. Nelson searched for the paranormal and Joe was involved in the program as well, in the job of exposing the fakers. The two did not get along, but that isn't the issue at this point.

What is the issue is that Dr. Nelson has been found dead in his home. Not just dead, but impaled at the top of one wall by a sculpture of chrome spikes that no one could have lifted. But he is hanging there, clearly dead, and Dr. Nelson's girlfriend is convinced she knows exactly who did it. Jesse Randall, Dr. Nelson's latest and very spectacular find.

Jesse seems to have the ability to move objects with his mind. Nelson was studying Jesse and Jesse was fed up with being the object of curiosity. Jesse's anger seemed to have erupted in his sleep in "shadow storms" --violent telekinetic activity-directed at the professor. The culmination of these increasingly violent episodes was the murder of Dr. Nelson.

Joe is convinced that the boy is a fake and there is a rational explanation. As he investigates, Jesse seems to turn his anger towards Joe stepping up the pressure. Is he real and is he the Child Of Light as one of the millennial cults claims? As more and more unexplained happenings occur, and strangers seek to exploit Jesse for a cause, Joe must find out once and for all if his powers are real or not.

This is a very good book and very well written. Strong in action, the characters are multi dimensional and interesting. Mr. Johansen's writing style in this novel is completely different than his earlier work and the resulting storyline is much more complex. This thoroughly enjoyable book is one to make sure you read.