” Mindbenders”, by author Ted Krever is a highly touted (by Amazon reviewers) indie SF novella (at 229 pages on my Kindle, it’s really a little too short to call it a novel) that lives up to (and or/exceeds) its hype. I thought all the way through that it was a single, stand-alone piece (and it certainly is stand-alone) but after finishing it I was pleased to find that a sequel is in the works.

“Mindbenders” is about a group of loosely- (very) knit everyday folks who happen to possess amazing “psychic”powers including telepathy, thought control and psychokinesis. The novel starts when one of them, the sort of guardian of a semi-catatonic severely PSTD’ed vet gets murdered. One of the murdered guy’s psychic buddies, who turns out to be the end result of a long line of Soviet selective breeding program for psychic abilities, shows up and drags our hero, the vet, into an global, international conspiracy of corporate and governmental politics, mind control, murder and intrigue. Several of the characters are drawn clearly (along with their different interesting “gifts”) and the interpersonal relations feel genuine.

I have been trolling Amazon’s kindle offerings for a while, buying lots of inexpensive (and sometimes not-so-inexpensive) SF and fantasy offerings from indie authors. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But “Mindbenders” was a big win. Krevel can write, and can plot, and has a great sense of pacing. At 229 pages, you know that there is no filler. In fact, about 3/4 of the way through I was wondering if he could really pull it all together by the end, but he does, and in grand style. The writing is tight and taught, and there is just enough (good!) science and logic mixed into the paranormal to let one easily suspend disbelief and become totally immersed. Nothing in the plot or writing feels forced and everything flows smoothly. There are none of the typos, formatting errors and other major and minor gaffes that mar so many other indie pubs.

A great, fast read at a great price. 4.5 stars! I’m looking forward to more from Mr. Krever.

Highly recommended for all SF fans.

JM Tepper