Borderline Dreamtime — Luke Mitchell

Borderline Dreamtime is the sequel to Luke Mitchell's first novel, Mind Bomb, making it the second book in The Landmine Chronicles trilogy. Complete in itself, the story begins where it left off in Mind Bomb, with Hamish Macleod sitting on a land mine in Cambodia. His hellish predicament is used as a door that opens into the past, where Hamish's twin brother's life story is waiting to transport the reader to dimensions beyond the known. It is 1973. Angus Macleod and his motley crew are on their way to India in a luxurious Mercedes bus, called 'Rolling Thunder'. Through Angus's eyes we see the long and winding road that crosses Western Europe, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal on its way to the hippy Meccas of the era, Kathmandu and Goa. A bizarre gamut of characters is introduced, which includes Dirty Ali, a depraved Iranian opium addict, Swami Ram, an enigmatic holy man who wanders the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, and accident-prone Glaswegian, Jimmy Bradley, who has lost his mind on Anjuna Beach after eating a hallucinogenic omelette. The story evokes the serendipitous spirit of a colourful and chaotic epoch in recent history by conjuring up a unique melange of dark humour, mind-bending anecdotes and pure adventure. Part ode to being on the road, part spiritual quest in the style of Carlos Castaneda, Borderline Dreamtime is offbeat, wild and a triumph of the imagination. - Salvador Harguindey, M.D., Ph.D.