Don't look down while walking on the tightrope in "Mindwire"

"Mindwire" by Carl Sampson is a Psychological Thriller featuring a Psychologist, Paul Clark, and a non-responsive patient by the name of Charlotte.  Charlotte is in the Psych Ward of a hospital, which is more like a living death sentence of drug induced compliance.  Not really living, and not close to death, Paul Clark is brought in to see if he can tear down the walls between Charlotte and the rest of the world.

What has Charlotte done to be put into the hospital?  She had a normal childhood, so no one could figure out why she would snap one and beat up her manager like she was Muhammad Ali.  Poor guy didn't even have a chance to try and rope-a-dope...

So what is the real story behind this 5'4" mini tower of terror?  Paul starts to get glimpses when he convinces the hospital to reduce the medications she is on...  As Charlotte starts to come around, Paul finds that there may be more questions than answers....  One that really has Paul wondering is that Charlotte knows things about him that she should have no clue about.

I found this book to be very action packed and an enjoyable read.  The descriptions of life inside a psych ward and the patient's futile efforts to convince everyone that they are sane is right on point.  I have seen this with my own eyes in the VA hospital system.  How do you prove you are sane in that environment?  How do you respond to treatment that is only "chemically induced" and no therapy?

I would love to go into the story about Charlotte, but I don't want to give any spoilers.  The author has done his research concerning the backstory, as I have read some other books on the topic that ultimately brought her to the hospital.

One of the reviews I read on Amazon said the ending wasn't believable.  I am pretty sure that is why it is called "fiction."  I don't mean to sound snarky, but if you want reality, read non-fiction.  If you want a well written, thought out plot with action and a strong female lead that is not afraid to drop the gloves and go MMA style - then this book is for you.

As for me - I plan on purchasing the second book "Sybil" and read it just because I want to!

Strengths - The plot and pace of action was outstanding.  I was able to connect with the characters and their problems.  Sampson was able to do this without going overboard on the details (he doesn't take 100 words to say when 10 will do nicely.)  The research was spot-on and I just happen to be a fan of the things that he combined and threw some action in on top of it!  Grammar and spelling were not an issue.

Weaknesses - I really can't say there were any glaring weaknesses.  The only thing that I will say is that the ending scenes did seem to go into areas that I didn't expect it to go into and thought the book would have been fine if it hadn't.  That being said - it might have been a set-up for the next two books in this trilogy - and it did not deter from my enjoyment of the book.

Amazon Link for Mindwire
(at the time of this review this book was FREE with Amazon Prime!)

Goodreads Link
 

A haunting reminder.....

8:46 is a brief story that follows the everyday lives of people the day before and leading right up to the time when the towers were hit and when they fell.  The movie states that the stories were fictional, but were intended to show how "every day" people were involved and how their loved ones were affected.

I had reservations about watching this film, as that day and images of it still bring up multiple emotions for me.  In the end, I am glad I watched it.  The closing credits state that the movie was made to show how that day was more than terrorists, buildings, and planes - and on that point I think the movie succeeded.  However, I will say that there were some flaws in it.  First, the acting was flat at many points of this fictional documentary.  One could tell that some of the people may not have ever acted or had speaking lines in a film before.  Second, the film jumped around so often and to so many different people that it was hard to feel a connection to the people or their stories.

I think this film might have been better served focusing on fewer peoples stories and spending more time on each one instead of three or four minutes on multiple stories.

The one thing about this film that did stand out is that it still managed to affect me on some level.  Watching some of the brief stories and knowing what was going to happen to them still didn't lesson the emotions from seeing the images again.  Anything dealing with September 11, 2001 is difficult to watch, but in the end, no matter how difficult it is - as a country and a people, we can never forget what happened.

The movie does state that some of the proceeds of the film were directed to "Tuesday's Children."  Tuesday's Children "was founded to promote long-term healing in all those directly impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. Our mission today is to keep the promise to those children and families while serving and supporting communities affected by acts of terror worldwide"

The IMDb rating for the film at the time of this review was a 6.2 / 10.  I am giving it an 7 based on capturing the emotion and the cause.

This movie is currently available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.