Hiding Hand — Lee Denning

The boy Joshua comes of age in a blistering conflict between the love of power and the power of love. As the precursor of the next stage of human evolution, he must confront more than the forces arrayed against him: the greater danger is the dark side of his evolving self.
 
Joshua's baby sister Eva is the first true Nova sapiens -- an Earth Mother, a potential Messiah for troubled humanity. She is kidnapped by the darkest of beings, a brilliant psychopath masquerading as a pious Muslim cleric; he wants the power of the Novas all to himself.

A mysterious young Muslim woman, Elia, is accidentally rescued from the cleric by Joshua. She helps him on his mission to rescue Eva, using her strange rapport with psychic forces. They fall in love, a thing forbidden to her and unwise for him.
 
Joshua is slowly stripped of his resources, then Elia is captured. Joshua now has only his mind and soul to rely on to rescue Eva, and the cleric's power nibbles away at his mind. ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist, USA Book News Best Book Award Finalist.

Hiding Hand is Book II of the Nova sapiens trilogy, speculative metaphysical fiction that takes off from the present-day science of evolution and consciousness and leaps into the dangers of an alternative future for humanity. Book I is Monkey Trap. Book III, Splintered Light, is scheduled for publication in July 2012.

In this middle book of the trilogy, an evolutionary feedback loop in the human genome has been triggered. It will better integrate the three evolutionary segments of the brain. The result will be extraordinary physical and mental powers and accessibility to greater consciousness, developing within Eva as she approaches puberty, and within all human beings over a relatively short span of generations. But is the human race ready?

In a monkey trap, the bait is nuts of which monkeys are particularly fond. If they can't let go of the nuts, they get trapped and become monkey soup. Equivalent bait for human beings is power. This is an old parable, found in the myths and fables of other cultures and times. Hiding Hand continues exploring this fundamental human weakness, in a rich and complex tale.