The Tesla Gate

Novelist and paranormal researcher Mimms (Death Theory) delivers a flawed but touching sci-fi story that takes the reader on an unlikely road-trip adventure. After his wife and son die in a car accident, Thomas Pendleton is wracked with guilt over his neglect of family life until a mysterious (and never explained) world-wide storm seems to bring back the spirits of the dead, including that of his six year-old son Seth. Given a second chance to make things right with his son, Thomas decides to fulfill a promise he made while Seth was alive: a trip from their home in Arkansas to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. As they make their way, the military enacts an ominous plan to round up the "impals" (short for impalpables). Thomas and Seth encounter mediums, hijackers and some familiar ghostly faces on their increasingly perilous journey. Although there are many asides which do little to add to the story or expand the world of the book, it is a fast read with some entertaining ideas and a real emotional core in the relationship between father and son. Agent: Italia Gandalfo, Gandolfo Helin Literary Management. (Feb.)