If you had the ability to stop a masterminded killer; would you? If your exper
imentation was responsible for that killer’s very presence in your world, would you do all you could to undo your “oops” experiment? If you knew that this same man could not be killed but could easily kill you; would you even try? These are the very questions that a young William Bell and Walter Bishop face in The Zodiac Paradox. Experimentation with mind altering drugs can always get “out of hand”; especially when Belly and Bishop are involved. This is just what happens on a particular September night in 1968 on Reiden Lake, but with serious consequences.
Their first glimpse into an alternate universe is through a telekinetic connection created by a concoction of drugs and soda pop. This combination opens a window into another world. A man stumbles through from the other side and links minds with Bell and Walter. In just a few short moments the three of them see into each other’s minds. They begin sharing memories and plans that are yet to come. This strange new man’s dark mind full of twisted sadistic plans becomes clear to Walter and Bell. Then, as soon as the stranger appears, he vanishes into the night, severing the mental connection. The young Bell and Walter are left stunned by the experience.
“Walter looked around. The lake was quiet, pristine and calm. Their cheerful little Coleman lantern on the shore was burning low, nearly out of fuel. The cooler was still there, too, sitting right beside the lantern filled with perfectly ordinary soda. No sign of any tiny women. No kinds of cosmic gateway, and no one there but him and Bell. But the gateway, the stranger, and those awful bloody visions. They’d all seemed so real.
“Belly,” Walter said. “We are NEVER using that formula again.” “
Five years later and the night on Reiden Lake has been virtually forgotten by the 2 budding scientists. Then they discover that the same man they saw that night is not only real, but a serial killer with a history of taunting and stringing along the police as he goes. Further research reveals that the images they saw in the stranger’s sadistic mind are in fact plans for his next murder.
““My God,” Bell said, looking disoriented. “ What are we going to do?”
“That’s obvious,” Walter replied. “We have to find a way to stop him.””
The only problem with this plan is that to stop him they have to figure out where his next attack will be, trying to remember from the mind-meld when it will be, and what to bring in order to stop it. Bell and Bishop pool their resources and with the aid of Nina Sharp they try to thwart his next murder plan. As they break the code in his personal journal and figure out a way to stop him; they discover something even more disturbing and dangerous about this Zodiac killer.
“Blam!
Pain flared hot in Allan’s left shoulder, and he staggered back, grunting as fear and rage melded with the pain, and transmogrified into something more than the sum of their parts. The unnatural sparks of his strange sickness melded together and blossomed out like a miniature mushroom cloud, enveloping the cop, the alley and the buildings to either side in an eerie glittering light.
And then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the glowing cloud was gone- and so was the cop, reduced to atoms by the radiation exploding from Allan’s body. Half the trash bags were gone, too, vaporized. The other half were on fire. The metal of the dumpster had melted like candle wax. The bricks in the walls of the buildings to either side were charred and smoking…
…He forced himself to focus. He’d never been shot before. It was… illuminating. Interesting to be on the other side of things, for once.”
Nina Sharp and a group of brave college students provide the people power to help as Walter and Bell set out to out-think the Zodiac Killer, put an end to his sociopathic killing spree and accomplish what the police could not. Whether they succeed or not is for the fans to discover for themselves in this exciting addition to the “Fringe” saga!
Just when you thought “Fringe” was finished…
Titan Books and author Christa Faust have come together to continue the “Fringe” legacy by bringing us The Zodiac Paradox (May 2013) and The Burning Man (July 2013). In addition, Sins of the Father, the final installment will be out in October!
This trilogy begins where the show started; Reiden Lake. Revealing how it all began with William Bell, Walter Bishop, Nina Sharp and the famous drug, Cortexiphan. Giving us deeper insight into the main characters’ psyches as well as connections previously not known before; this series is a MUST HAVE for any “Fringe” fan!
-Tiffany Bishop
