Mind Storm: A Strykers Syndicate Novel    by K. M. Ruiz Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2011 (2011) Hardcover, e-Book Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Mind Storm by K. M. Ruiz is an action-packed post-apocalyptic thriller that's a cross between Psi Wars and X-Men. It's set in a future (2379) in which nuclear war almost annihilated mankind two hundred and fifty years before, and left a legacy of genetic mutation. The story regularly flashes back to a time (2128) during the war when a little girl named Aisling - a psion who can see the future and mentions many of the individuals who play an important role in this story - is being studied in an Institute of Psionics Research. In 2379 the pure humans have retained power. They capture and enslave - by means of neurotrackers grafted to cranial nerves - those born with psi abilities, and force them to do the will of the World Court as Strykers. Meanwhile they secretly implement a plan to send a select few off the dying Earth to colonize Mars. The World Court is in league with Nathan Serca, head of Earth's most powerful family and secretly a multi-talented psion. He uses his own children (all psions) and his Warhounds (rogue psions secretly recruited from Stryker ranks) to carry out his own long-term plan for offworld domination. But Nathan's eldest son Lucas works against him. Stryker Threnody Corwin, a psion who channels electricity, has come into disfavor for insubordination and has been assigned the job of tracking down a high-Classed psion who's running loose in the Slums of the Angels. She's accompanied by her partner Quinton, a pyrokinetic, and they're teamed with a local pair of dysfunctional psions, Kerr and Jason. But someone else has plans for Threnody and her friends - Lucas Serca, executing a plan foreseen by Aisling centuries before, forcibly recruits them for his own game plan - to secure a seed bank that could be used to revitalize Earth before it's taken off-planet. They have 'a world to steal.' It's quite a story - Mind Storm reads - and moves - like a video game, filled with psi action and violence. Though I had a little trouble with the premise (that psi-less humanity would be able to control powerful psions in the first place), I enjoyed it. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews