Isaac Leroy is a young man of little means and has a sister who is gravely ill. He feels his only option to get the funds necessary for his sister's operation is to sell his creative mental energy to the Collective Mind. The Collective Mind is willing to pay a handsome sum for his level of creativity, but the outcome of this would basically render him uncreative and at a monumental loss for critical thinking. Fate intervenes in Isaac's decision to be downloaded when he becomes entangled in a terrorist plot on the very day that his mind is to be drained of its OE (Orange Energy). He leaves the download facility with his faculties intact and with knowledge of the terrible side effects that the procedure causes.
As Isaac becomes more knowledgeable of the downside to the procedure, he recruits other like-minded, highly creative people to help him in his goal to expose the true outcome to the human minds that have been downloaded. Aside from Isaac, a whole cast of characters comes into play - Bikie (a Harley-driving bar bouncer), Michelle (a world-travelling millionairess), Professor Link (the scientist who created the Collective Mind technology), Pascal (Isaac's best friend who had his creativy drained), Pellegrini (the police commissioner) and the unassuming Paul Wolanski (the man funding Isaac and Bikie's mission).
The twist and turns in the story-line kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. I could not help but root for Isaac and his team to complete their heroic mission of changing the world for the better and exposing the lies that the Collective Mind and its creators so skillfully kept hidden from the world's population.
For a debut science fiction novel, this was a very good read. The characters were well-developed and the plot was unique and different. I would definitely recommend it to those who like futuristic, thought-provoking stories that engage not only the mind, but its capacity for critical thought.
