7 in 7 is an absorbing true story about one man's intrepid life—overflowing with wanderlust, exciting excursions, and exotic locales. Through Davison's engaging prose and insightful self-reflection, we are gifted passage on his most intriguing and important venture of them all--the journey within. Not only is 7 in 7 a fantastic read, it exemplifies a life well-lived. ( )

This book is set in 2030 Los Angeles. It is about government mind control, and one man's attempts to fight back.

Jake Travissi was thrown off the police force for upsetting the wrong people. He is let back on the force after he is implanted with a P-Chip. It lets a person do practically anything with their mind; access the Web, see things through the eyes of another P-Chip recipient, record video on to a computer hard drive and talk to other P-Chip recipients telepathically. A person can even regulate their metabolism so that they can eat and drink whatever they want and not gain weight. Jake is part of a three-man squad working for Homeland Security.

Their first case is to investigate the very public murder of Dr. Veloso, a co-creator of the P-Chip. The shooter's eyes, teeth and fingerprints have been removed, making identification nearly impossible. While Jake is there, he has split-second flashes of his hands destroying the evidence. On another raid, taking out an alleged terrorist cell, Jake has more flashes of he and his colleagues doing very illegal things. He also hears voices in his head, which are the God Heads.

Sandoval, the Director of Homeland Security, who commands the three-man squad (the Enhanced Unit), also runs a super-secret squad of P-Chip hackers. It is possible to take a person "offline," to shut down their higher brain functions, controlling them to do or say whatever you want, then plant false memories to make up for it. Jake begins to push back against the God Heads, killing one of them. In retaliation, Jake is kept offline for several weeks, and controlled to resign from the Enhanced Unit. He is constantly filled with feelings of depression and suicide by the God Heads. He is also turned into something of a donut addict, becoming a fat, lazy parody of a cop. Sandoval's intention in pushing the skyrocketing popularity of P-Chips is to become one of the elite who actually rule the world, while everyone else is kept happy in some artificial P-Chip world. With help from Dr. Morris, the P-Chip's other co-creator, Jake is able to do a lot more pushing back against Sandoval and the God Heads.

This one is very plausible, it's more than a little spooky and it's really good. How long will it be before a cell phone, or Web browser, can be miniaturized enough to fit inside a human brain? ( )

Right off the bat I’m telling you that this novel is not my usual cup of tea. Yeah, I’ll watch the occasional futuristic cop action/drama movie, but read a novel about the same thing? Nah, I don’t think so. Yet here I am reviewing one.

The idea of the installation of a Personal Chip directly attached to the human brain was fascinating to me. Imagine the possibilities of having the world and all its knowledge within seconds of thinking it. Imagine how amazing life could be. The P-Chip could control my emotions, adjust my metabolism so I could eat what I want and never gain a pound. It could make me sleep less, do more. Then imagine having someone hack into my brain to make me do things like murder or arm wrestle giants without my knowledge. It gave me the creeps and totally made me want to read State of Mind.

There are some crazy twists and turns in this novel and the ending? One word…WOW. I totally blew me away. There are plenty of shocking, hanging on the edge of my seat moments. My favorite part of the novel came close to the end with the mother of all twists. I’m pretty sure I knew exactly how Jake felt, heck I didn’t see it coming either.

I really enjoyed the cast of characters. Most notable for me are Jake, the Jackhammer, our hero and overall bad ass; Parks, he idolizes Jake and whose humor is his greatest asset; Marta Padilla, the ice queen with a secret sweet spot for Jake; and Lakshmi, Jake’s faithful dog.

Overall, I really enjoyed State of Mind. Mr. Davison took the care to describe the future in a way that was very easy to visualize. I loved how some things never go out of style like a Camaro. I loved that you can’t really break the human spirit no matter how many God Heads you have controlling you. Jake was a fighter through and through. There is a lot more in store for him and frankly, I can’t wait to read it.

As someone who doesn’t normally read (or even like) this genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I liked the fast-paced action, the undertones of good vs. evil. I liked the conspiracy of it all, how the US is not the powerhouse of old. This is definitely the kind of story that made me think and keep thinking long after I put the book down. ( )

In order to save his career Detective Travissi sign on the lead the Enhanced Unit for Homeland Security. The implantation of the P-Chip allows his to access information in a way that previously has only been dreamed of. Crimes that would've taken months, if not years, to solve are now taken care of in a couple of days. Sounds fantastic, until Jake starts experiencing some pretty vivid and horrific images. As he continues his work for Homeland Security, he realizes these may not be random images and he discovers a conspiracy that goes deeper than he (or the reader) could've possible imagined.
This book takes place in 2030. Since that is less that twenty years away, a number of the characters were alive in our current time period. As a result there are a number of references to current pop culture (ex: Lady Gaga's Poker Face is referred to a cheesy oldie). I found these references a little silly and unnecessary. I also found that they took away from the futuristic setting the novel takes place in. Thankfully, however, as the plot thickens these references seem to stop and it becomes much easier to get lost in the story.
The story centres around Jake Travissi, a man that fulfils all the characteristics of an everyday man turned hero. Though he's not perfect you find yourself rooting for him and hoping he discovers the truth in time. His fellow agents – Parks and Koren are also excellent characters, relate-able and engaging. Alternatively, the “bad guys” don't have as much depth as the aforementioned characters so they feel interchangeable and dispensable. It would've been nice if a little more time had been spent developing them and their motives.
Though a long time science fiction fan, this is really one of my first experiences in the cyberpunk genre and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are quite of few turns and surprises. Make sure you're paying attention because it would be easy to miss some important clues. The depiction of our future, though extreme, strikes a few familiar cords. The eerie world, in which technology rules, seems to fit with the current way our society is heading. It makes you question how much faith we put in technology and how much we're willing to give up our free will and decision making power to “the machine”. ( )

The Computer-Mind Meld

As a near future techno-thriller, this book does a decent job of holding you in your seat, trying to follow all of its twists and turns while racing along through some tough, gritty, and very bloody crime scenes.

Jake Travissi is our main character, a disgraced rule-bending cop who gets a chance to redeem himself by being one of the very early adopters of the P-Chip, an device implanted directly into the brain which, besides being wired up to the net, allows direct and conscious control of many of the body’s autonomous functions, such as thermal regulation and adrenaline control. Jake loves his dog and grieves mightily for his wife and daughter, whom he witnessed being blown to bits by a bomber on a carnival merry-go-round. With his new P-Chip, Jake has the opportunity to do major damage to other creeps like his bomber, and he launches into his new career with Homeland Security with gusto.

But there are some flies that quickly appear in this rosy view: are his memories real? Is he really the person he thinks he is, or is the P-Chip’s web connection an avenue that will allow others to completely control not just his body, but his very recollections of what his body is doing?

Around this scenario Davison creates a very good picture of a future world with lots of new high-tech gizmos coupled with a much higher degree of government control than currently exists, as global warming’s effects have finally gotten serious attention and moves to ameliorate the condition, such as practically mandating the end of the gasoline driven car and laws restricting the use of air-conditioning. Beyond the world scene, Davison is bringing to the fore the question of personal freedom versus control by either the government or by those who think they are the elite and therefore have the only right answers to how the world should be run. His characterization of not just Jake but those around him is quite good, especially in the area of showing just how many people are quick to take the easy road and leave personal morality behind them.

There are some areas that I thought could have been better. For the early third of the book, there is a general level of confusion about what is really going on, and a lack of definition that would have made me ‘see’ the scenes, while at the same time having almost too much detail about the scientific gadgetry. Sanchez, the main player behind the manipulations, doesn’t really become visible as more than a talking head till almost halfway in. Some of the plans that Sanchez comes up with seem overly complicated and unnecessary to achieve his goals, so much so that they started to strain my suspension of disbelief. Public acceptance of general use of P-Chip seems to happen too easily and too quickly, even with the shown heavy advertising and the positive news generated by successful crime busting by P-Chip enhanced police. This area could have used some more exposition, showing just how those who question its use are side-lined and how most people’s fear of invasive surgery is overcome.

As both a warning about loss of personal control and a promise of what might be possible in the future, this book comes across very well. It’s a quick, page-turning read, but might have been a little better with more philosophizing and scene exposition.

Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat) ( )