Reading The Shimmer is a bit like riding a roller-coaster for the first time.  You can tell by the cover and the description on the dust jacket that the story is going to be thrilling and more than a little bit scary, with a lot of ups and downs and even some swerves away from the norm.

Author David Morrell has written many, many books including Rambo First Blood and Rambo III.  Yet The Shimmer is a departure from his usual style in that it is as much a psychological thriller as it is an action packed one.  It is a book that is not for the faint of heart.

There were many things I enjoyed about The Shimmer.  Not only is the story unique, the characters are as well.  Police Officer Dan Page’s wife has left him suddenly.  He finally tracks her down to Rostov, Texas, a remote town where more is going on than meets the eye.  She has been drawn there to watch some mysterious lights that appear in the night sky.  Not everyone can see them, but those who do are transfixed, while some of them are driven to madness and violence.  One may be led to think of stories from Roswell, New Mexico, about lights and unidentified flying objects.  Yet even having read the entire book, I cannot reach a conclusion about exactly what the lights that "shimmer" are supposed to be.

The book is intriguing and engages the reader in their own personal exercise of trying to put all the pieces together coherently.  The characters are well rounded enough that you learn to understand the nuances of their behavior.  There is a great deal of violence and also strong language.  While I did not care for the depth of detail of some of the more violent chapters, I do understand why the author did this, and that he is first and foremost a writer of thrillers.

The Shimmer is a darn good read, and much as with the aforementioned roller-coaster ride, I can see a reader thinking "again!" and rereading it for the excitement of the several different stories that converge over time, space, war, and peace.  I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy thrillers with a military bent and some 'science fiction like' components.  There are even a couple of love stories—primarily the one between Dan Page and wife Tori—as their relationship is explored and changed forever.  Buy it, read it, perhaps read it again, and share it with a friend or book group so you have a chance to talk about it.  There's a lot to think and talk about in this gem of a book!