The God of Smoke and Mirrors

Book excerpt: Simon Senlin, a sophomore at Wilbur College, discovers a dead professor when attempting to visit office hours. Despite the complacency of the local authorities, he soon finds that the reason for his professor's death is far darker than the merely sordid surface would indicate. Simon is drawn beyond the tranquil lawns of Wilbur College into a nexus of power, where budding techno-fascists lust after coveted Silicon Valley internships and ancient rites of dark magic fuse with modern technology. His investigations uncover an occult conspiracy, one that holds the attention span of the human race in the balance. Teaming up with his friend Emma and an eccentric professor who has harnessed the universe's fundamental forces, Simon attempts to prevent an apocalyptic reckoning. Together, they quest to save the integrity of human consciousness from the supernatural and technological forces arrayed against it.