One moment Matthew Caxton is in his workshop, the next gone without a trace, leaving his wife, Triss, terrified and alone. The police have no leads, the chief investigator is openly hostile, and even the environment seems malevolent: storms, hauntings, and outbreaks of mindless violence in the community.
Local reporter Lacey Prentice's initial interest is purely professional, but she quickly identifies with Triss' grief, having recently lost her own husband to a heart attack. She asks Gideon for assistance, and he soon comes to realise supernatural forces at work threaten the very fabric of the world, a crisis he has been in training for since first meeting his tutor, Cassandra, in adolescent dreams.
Over the years she has taught his sleeping mind to fold intricate birds and flowers from featureless sheets of paper, metaphorical representations of the universe that he must now protect from the forces of chaos.
Gill's interest in psychic phenomena is evident, particularly in the extracts of Gideon's hypothesis that science and mysticism are converging in proof of the paranormal.
Suspension of disbelief will help here (I felt like shouting rebuttals occasionally), and Origami Dreams is not recommended reading for sceptics, but if you like Paulo Coelho, you'll probably enjoy this novel.
-- Cushla McKinney
