THE SANTAROGA BARRIER

For those who remember Herbert for the epic DUNE, this novel provides a delicious alternative. Narrator Scott Brick proves a great companion. Psychologist Gilbert Dasein is sent to investigate a subculture in a remote valley of California. The people of this valley are ambivalent toward the outside world, preferring the quaint, idyllic life of their backwards town. Yet Dasein soon finds there's more lurking beneath the surface, such as a local ingredient that everyone seems to crave, strange accidents that befall outsiders who stick around too long, and an old girlfriend who wants him to settle down forever. Brick ratchets up the intensity during each of the "accidents" that befalls Dasein and then slows down to let the mysteries sink in. F.G. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2011]