New Book Alert: Glossolalia: The Agents of the Nevermind Vol. 1 by Tantra Bensko ; Bizarre But Gripping Psychological Conspiracy Theory Thriller

New Book Alert: Glossolalia: The Agents of the Nevermind Vol. 1 by Tantra Bensko ; Bizarre But Gripping Psychological Conspiracy Theory Thriller


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: Of the New Books I have read for this blog, I would say Tantra Bensko's novel, Glossolalia is certainly the most bizarre, most confusing but I will also say that it is the most engrossing and hardest to put down.

The plot is one third psychological thriller, one third conspiracy theory, and one part alternate universe with a lot of dark fantasy thrown in. It could be a mess with so many genres battling for dominance but it is the strange narrative that makes it so compelling. It would be interesting to see if the book takes off to become a movie or a series. It definitely has a dark Twilight Zone-early season X Files- Jason Bourne movies vibe and could do well alongside those and other well known titles.

The novel's universe exists in an Alternate United States where occultism is the preferred religion. Also there is a sinister organization called Agents of the Nevermind which seems to have its tentacles in just about every business and government organization from schools, to corporations, to reality television (explains a lot), to blockbuster Hollywood films, to the half time productions at the Super Bowl. They are in charge and the frightening thing about it is that while some may rebel, the majority of the populace are either in denial or are too terrified to do anything about them.

With good reason too. The Agents of the Nevermind are prone to using just about anything to achieve their goals and that includes brainwashing, drug therapy, subliminal messaging, and an odd cocktail combination of magic and science to create the perfect sleeper agents.
While the Agents of the Nevermind would make some Readers roll their eyes over their obvious evilness, there is an understated quality that makes the situations horrific and at the same time believable.

For example their plot to create subliminal messages during the halftime show of the Super Bowl to wake up sleeper agents on paper sounds like something that could come out of Pinky and the Brain. Thankfully, Bensko focuses on the psychological torture that the sleeper agents would go through under the circumstances particularly one of the football players who comes to a bad end because of the mental torture. Bensko gives us the results of such a situation that makes these potentially ludicrous situations more terrifying and somehow more real.

The effects of living in such a world is traumatic for all the characters particularly the lead. Our Protagonist, Nancy is in for quite a bit of trouble. She is a martial arts student and works for her greedy uncle's toxic chemical factory. One day she stumbles upon some of her uncle's employees illegally dumping chemicals. After a frightening car chase, Nancy plans to report the dumping to a concerned citizens environmental bureau only to discover that number gets rerouted to her uncle's office! (So in other words the guy who is in charge of cleaning up environmental disasters is also the one who makes them in the first place.)

Finding no help through legal channels, Nancy seeks help from outside sources to report her findings. She goes through the obligatory uncertainty over who to trust by confiding too much in people that she shouldn't and withdrawing from people who are legitimately trying to help but she pushed away because she is concerned for their safety. This journey feeds on her paranoia and damaged psyche and leaves her to lose herself in Jolly Wests, psychotropic addictive drugs that become key to her rediscovering answers to her identity.

Glossolalia takes some really bizarre turns particularly in the characters of Emily and Angela. Emily is a spiritual child prodigy who has an interest in Glossolalia, the strange language created by 16th century astrologer, John Dee. She is part of a highly influential cult (whose pastor is yes an Agent of the Nevermind.) and is either the inspiration or the actual lead character in a series of Harry Potteresque movies about an adventures of a young girl.

Angela is a hardened sexy Nevermind Agent who appears whenever dirty work needs to be done. She is often involved with seducing agents, providing drugs, and being a go-between with the agents and their higher ups. She is almost a stereotypical character in these type of novels but she is more than she appears, She has an almost metaphysical knowledge of situations in which she was not an eyewitness or personally involved. She later reveals that she, Emily, and Nancy have a unique bond that changes the course of the book once it is revealed.

Glossolalia is the first book in Tantra Bensko’s Agents of the Nevermind Series. If the first book is any indication, it should be a long strange trip but a completely unforgettable one.