The Fear Principle

Rating:
Summary: Bravo B.C.
Review: B.C. Chepaitis has taken sci-fi to literary levels not seen since the work of Heinlein. As both friend and fellow writer I can merely recommend this book and suggest that readers have NOT heard the last of Jaguar Adams!

Rating:
Summary: Bravo B.C.
Review: First novel by this author, The Fear Principle is a good science fiction story with some horror elements. Features some fresh ideas about criminal justice, social controls, and telepathy. Comparable to recent work by N. Lee Wood, or early books by Joan Vinge. Sure, it's a first novel and a little rough in spots, but the author shows some real potential.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, exciting but dark
Review: First novel by this author, The Fear Principle is a good science fiction story with some horror elements. Features some fresh ideas about criminal justice, social controls, and telepathy. Comparable to recent work by N. Lee Wood, or early books by Joan Vinge. Sure, it's a first novel and a little rough in spots, but the author shows some real potential.

Rating:
Summary: It's a fast read that holds up to a 2nd and 3rd read
Review: The first time I read Fear Principle, I was compelled through the story by the twists of plot and action. The second time I read it, I relaxed, knowing I was in good hands. The third time I read it, I realized all the fear is about getting somewhere closer to - love? Being alive? It's subtle, and a compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: It's a hit of gritty magic that keeps you reading hard.
Review: What I love about this book is the uncompromising nature of the main character, Jaguar Addams, who refuses to be less complex than she is. She's good, and she's not. She's in control of her life, and doesn't pretend not to be. Her morality is her own.

And her motto: See who you are. Be what you see.

In a futuristic prison system, Jaguar Addams works telepathically with criminals to make them face their fears. In this novel, she's assigned to Clare Rilasco, a hitwoman who took out a governor. When Jaguar and her cohort Alex Dzarny try to find out why she made the hit, the plot quickly thickens into a soup made of some of our worst nightmares. Jaguar's past, which includes surviving The Killing Times, becomes a part of the present fear of her own, which she must face and solve.

As the author takes us through a world made of sharp edges, the reader is compelled to find out what will happen next, and might make the mistake of not pausing to savor some of the poetic use of language used to create a sense of the difference between "normal" space and "telepathic" space. I was distinctly impressed by the way this was accomplished, and found the language and ideas of the book as worthwhile as the fast-paced plot.

I'm hoping the author has more in store for Jaguar. She's a character whose world I'd like to visit again.

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: _The Fear Principle_ is the first book about Dr. Jaguar Addams, an empath with a haunted past who "cures" criminals by uncovering the root of their fears. It takes place in a penal colony in the future, after an epidemic of serial murders called the Killing Times. In this book, Jaguar deals with a dangerous female assassin who has an unusual "gift" against empathy. Courageous, strong, and principled, Jaguar is on my list of favorite heroines.

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: _The Fear Principle_ is the first book about Dr. Jaguar Addams, an empath with a haunted past who "cures" criminals by uncovering the root of their fears. It takes place in a penal colony in the future, after an epidemic of serial murders called the Killing Times. In this book, Jaguar deals with a dangerous female assassin who has an unusual "gift" against empathy. Courageous, strong, and principled, Jaguar is on my list of favorite heroines.

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: _The Fear Principle_ is the first book about Dr. Jaguar Addams, an empath with a haunted past who "cures" criminals by uncovering the root of their fears. It takes place in a penal colony in the future, after an epidemic of serial murders called the Killing Times. In this book, Jaguar deals with a dangerous female assassin who has an unusual "gift" against empathy. Courageous, strong, and principled, Jaguar is on my list of favorite heroines.