From the Back Cover:
"The true battleground in the fight between good and evil is the human soul, and no one is better at describing those internal battles than Barnes. While [Charisma], an eerie tale of good intentions gone bad, is the clear spiritual descendent of Barnes's Blood Brothers and Iron Shadows, it far outclasses its popular predecessors in both style and sheer emotional impact. ...
In an attempt to empower low-income youth, more than a thousand children are raised to become miniature copies of popular rags-to-riches politician Alexander Marcus, but they end up acquiring his bloodthirsty depravities as well as the brilliance and cunning he used to hide them. With a delicate unfolding of the plot and an astonishing ability to show readers the world through the eyes of his many and disparate characters, from ambitious reporter Renny Sand and Kelly Kerrigan, a CIA agent turned theatrical sharpshooter, to dressmaker Vivian Emory and her perceptive and troubled son, Patrick, Barnes keeps the outcome a genuine secret right up until the last sentence.
[Steven Barnes'] talent at handling race and racism has never been so evident and polished." - Publishers Weekly
About the Author:
Born in Los Angeles in 1952, Steven Barnes began writing at the age of five, and since that time has published over two million words. His first published collaboration, "The Locusts," was nominated for the 1980 Hugo award, and his Outer Limits episode "A Stitch In Time" was nominated for a Cable Ace Award and won an Emmy for Amanda Plummer. He also wrote a one-woman show based on the life of Bessie Coleman (the first Black Aviatrix), been the Kung-Fu columnist for Black Belt Magazine (he holds dan rankings in Judo and Karate), and served as the host of the world's longest-running science fiction radio show, Hour 25. Currently living in Washington State with his wife, Novelist Tananarive Due and his daughter Lauren Nicole, Steven is working on a series of novels set in prehistoric Africa, for which he recently spent two weeks on Tanzania's Serengeti plain.
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