Rock Breaks Scissors Cut

The mysterious Dr. Gold has heavy-duty backing to fund a project having to do with the recording of dreams. Her three star volunteers—Jovana, a fashion model, Gilbert, a pop journalist, and Melinda, a bookstore employee—seem to have nothing in common until the experiments interlink them in unanticipated ways. Joined via their own dreams and nightmares, they begin to discover that each is critical to the very existence of the other two. Is it part of the research, just another dream, or have they crossed a line that cannot be erased? Schow's first novel-length work in over a decade explores just what it means to be connected in a world where commitment is fluid, and nothing is ever really what it seems to be.

From Publishers Weekly

A scientific experiment to link participants through dreams gives way to a sensitive exploration of the emotional barriers that keep people apart in Schow's first novel in more than a decade. Events center on the sleep research laboratory of Dr. Helen Gold, who has carefully culled her pool of applicants for three promising guinea pigs: Melinda, a nondescript bookstore clerk; Jovanna, a sleekly sculpted fashion model; and Gilbert, a jaded pop journalist. They seem to have nothing in common, other than their ability to dream in similar brainwave patterns that produce a unified pattern of "dream sounds." But a moment of unexpected intimacy between Melinda and Gilbert suddenly exposes a daisy chain of desire that binds all three and sets off uncanny experiences outside the clinic, including simultaneously experienced episodes of physical and psychological malaise and dovetailing identity crises. The farfetched explanation for these puzzling expressions of interconnectedness leads back to Dr. Gold's bizarre objectives, which requires some prolonged exposition to ferret out. However, this in no way detracts from Schow's sharply etched studies of three very different modern characters whose personalities have been tempered by thwarted emotional needs and whose quest for fulfillment opens doorways to mysterious possibilities. Their vulnerability softens the cynicism of his usual hard-boiled approach, and the result is a moving, offbeat dark fantasy that rises above the usual genre fare.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Veteran horror writer Schow treats his fans to a new novel. Rock Breaks Scissors Cut is the story of what seems to be a simple experiment recording the dreams of three people. Dr. Helen Gold's chosen subjects--dumpy intellectual Melinda, slick journalist Gilbert, and beautiful model Jovana--are very different. At first, they have very little to do with one another, but as the experiment drags on, they begin to focus on each other. Soon, each finds he or she knows things--habits, facts, thoughts--about the others. When Dr. Gold disappears, and then Melinda, Gilbert and Jovana must puzzle out the frightening results of the experiment. Capped by an ending that is creepy and fascinating, Schow's tale expertly mixes science and horror.Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Reviews

News