Robert Thales, an otherwise unremarkable cop in a mid-sized city, is developing an ability to read minds. This ability gets him promoted from a report writing car to a solo car in a high crime area. His work in the high crime area gets him noticed – not in a good way. Reading minds helps in his love life -- with reservations. The economy of the city teeters along everywhere except where illicit drug sales and adult businesses are concerned. Criminals can’t launder their illicit monies fast enough and the business leaders can’t get the loans they need. Financing the new convention center requires billions in municipal bonds and this need is the root of a political takeover. The formerly unremarkable cop is thrown into the middle of the scheme. Everyone is trying to get Thales out of the picture. How can he get the Feds to prosecute a case that nobody wants -- and do something in only one month? Injured, out-of-work, and hounded by hired guns; he may not live long enough to perfect his talent. The reader plunges into the mind of a young street cop who is faced with current and developing criminal conspiracies. The criminal leader becomes obsessed with removing this threat. Business leaders are drawn into a criminal web of murder and extortion through their quest for good investments. Reading minds may help in sexual encounters but its not living up to its potential anywhere else. Now he can find the girl of his dreams if he can keep her alive. A fun read.

Review

The idea of mind reading can be tough to pull off, but in At First Thought it is done very well. The protagonist suddenly discovers he can read minds and then goes on a journey to pull down a corrupt crime lord who is running the politics of the city. Set in a future Nashville that is somewhat reminiscent of today. Overall, a great read, but do be warned this book has some explicit sex scenes so it may not be for your 8 year old.
Drew Scoggins

On a given day, any time I started to read this book, I simply could not put it down!!!
To me, Thales' character is kind of an everyman with mental powers.... His reactions made sense for the average Joe who was suddenly given the power to read minds. That includes the ways in which Thales, like any other human being, takes advantage of his new abilities for his own personal Gaines ;I don't know which is funnier: Thales' reactions to what he reads from people's minds, or other people's reactions to Thales' behavior after he reads their minds...Again, a compelling read and a must-get!!!
Birddog

From the Author

Yes - they are currently (2011) building a downtown convention center but it only cost $585 Million - chump change - yes - they did sell $750 million in municipal bonds to fund it...not sure who bought the majority of those bonds or who financed them. Yes - there were two reports on the financial viability of the new (2010-2011) convention center - and, yes, the first report said it would be a drain on the economy of the region -- that one never really hit the light of day. The second report was enough to get it started with the help of the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce - surely it will not reduce attendance at Opryland Hotel and Conference Center.

The convention center in the story is to built around 2035...so the story is simply fiction loosely based on a few happening a quarter decade earlier...I don't know anyone with ESP...the Feds couldn't do a better job than they do today...I'm sure of it...this is just for fun.

From the Inside Flap

This is a work of fiction. Any semblance to real people and events, in this story, is purely coincidental and characters do not represent any living persons. Any of the unethical, selfish, self-righteous bastards mentioned are fictional and none correspond with corrupt individuals in the present day. This story occurs about twenty-five years in the future and technologies and happenings will seem quaint and obsolete when observed in the future. I think most politicians couldn't do a better job. They set new standards for government every year. No amount of money is good enough for the jobs they do. We have the best politicians money can buy. Bless their hearts.

Note - In the story - Robert Thales develops the ability to read thoughts and that is indicated using the convention that follows. If I were to read your thoughts - it might look like this:

Come on. Is this book worth me spending my valuable time reading? I wonder what it would be like if I suddenly had the ability to read minds?
Read on and you'll see what it's like.

From the Back Cover

Robert Thales, an unremarkable cop in a mid-sized city, is developing the ability to read minds. This ability gets him promoted from a report writing car to a solo car in a high crime area. His work in that high crime area gets him noticed - not in a good way. The unremarkable cop is thrown into the middle of an organized crime scheme. Everyone is trying to get Thales out of the picture. How can he get the Feds to prosecute a case that nobody wants - and do something in only one month? Injured, out-of-work, and hounded by hired guns; he may not live long enough to perfect his talent.

About the Author

Ken R Pence, PhD is an engineering professor at Vanderbilt University and an active martial artist, a 5th degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do. He is a retired captain from the Metro Nashville Police Department where he served 31 years (16 on SWAT) and has taught police and military in the US, and Europe (England, Germany, France, and Northern Ireland) in confrontation management skills. He specializes in weapon recovery and retention and fighting multiple subjects.