What would happen if most of the people in America became deaf almost overnight: chaos, financial collapse, anarchy?
None of the above?
MindField is a thrill ride with a message; a premise torn right out of today’s headlines. A terrorist cell ignites an aerosol dispersion of what is thought to be a deadly bacteria—spinal meningitis. It quickly spreads from a small town in Montana to nearly 30 states, eventually affecting more than three million people—an epidemic of nation-threatening proportions.
A Russian scientist seeks U.S. asylum while at a nano-technology conference in Paris, the same scientist who originally developed the bacteria for the KGB during the Reagan administration. He has stolen the cryogenically stored organisms, which in turn are stolen by Iranian extremists.
Once the bacteria has spread across most of the country chaos does ensue, including a presidential order to send all those who survive the disease to internment camps.
However, the problem isn’t death—it’s deaf. The physical symptoms of the disease disappear after three weeks, the only remaining tragedy is all those who are stricken become permanently deaf—a common side effect of spinal meningitis.
A paradigm shift of consciousness and behavior occurs, an extremely rare occurrence, because changes of that scale can only come about when millions of people nearly simultaneously become aware of, and agree to a new way of thinking—the Renaissance
Those who can hear do not understand the power of a world perceived only visually, but they do begin to see the beauty, tranquility and peacefulness that ensues as the story unfolds.
Imagine a world with no verbal abuse; the din of traffic and the cacophony of horns, shouting, nasty arguments, rage, loud obnoxious music, boisterous airline jets roaring overhead, mad slamming doors; where any of a hundred other distractions and annoyances are forever replaced with silence. In this world, the blather of politicians, the exhortations of dictators and the shrill of prejudice and anger are replaced with a restful, quiet ambiance.
In MindField, people are forced to listen with their eyes, to learn to communicate in a way that is fluid, graceful and nearly symphonic—American Sign Language.
Finally, people are forced to pay attention to each other, to listen deeply, to listen with their eyes and hearts for once instead of trying to talk over or through one another, to slow down and not only smell the roses, but see them.
MindField is a fast paced, plot driven suspense novel with a pleasant surprising, and incredibly potent message about the way we might live our lives if we all had to listen with our eyes and hearts, and how the world might be a much better place for it.
MindField is a compelling, thought-provoking tale that takes us on a neck-snapping ride of intrigue; at the intersection where civil rights, national security, technology, and humanity collide. Ultimately though, it makes us look at the ways we try to understand the world around us and within us; leaving us wondering: what if, what could be?