Your writing is eloquent. So stunning Mirage and I've come to expect this caliber of writing from you because you are a wordsmith. This is dark yes but beautifully dark and plausible.

You know where to put each character and where to place each word. Thank you for writing and for sharing with us.

I wait eagerly for more.

So exciting when Mirage updates! You like to let the dark come out and play don't you? This is dark. It's exactly what I think the Centre would be. Dark. Scary. Evil.

Your descriptive work and characterisations are both brilliant as are the dialog and the mood. I'm a big fan of clarity too and you delivered there too. This is a solid chapter to a solid story.  I can't get enough.

First... I'm glad you didn't put a stigma on ECT in general but had Sydney's thoughts make it clear that certain things were necessary for ECT to be safe.

The guy who has Sydney is doing probably what was done to him... it's a kind of ECT I can't remember the phrasing but it was dangerous. ECT used to kill people or hurt them badly.

This is all plausible and accurate. Scarily plausible and accurate. Your descriptions of the surroundings, Sydney's feelings, how he's focusing on a rope ladder instead of the real things keeping him imprisoned. You show the fear and how disorienting it is but also Sydney finally making peace with his own wrong doings and how he thinks he deserves punishment. I mean... damn....YOU ARE good.

"Salvation is a remarkable, often unendurable, imposition." I love that line. He will be saved by Jarod and Parker and they will know the truth and he fears they won't love or respect him anymore. The fear of rejection of disappointing them... is heartbreaking and real.

I can't wait for my day off so I can read your other stories. I hope you will continue. Congratulations!!

This is my second read through of this in 30 minutes and ... I need to more about the weekend Jarod and Miss Parker had together. I don't know how you're able to write all of the characters so in character. It's like watching an episode, like being on the set and watching.

I love Broots' actions. He's so totally Broots. The window fogging over... all of it.

Jarod sort of feeling the power here and it going to his head only because he's not thinking clearly because he's so terrified for Sydney.. you do extremely well at straddling that line between good and evil. He seems to be losing it and that's what he would do in these circumsatnces. They always said if the umbilical was severed things would get nasty.

Thanks for all the forensics stuff, too. Fab chapter.

I'm new. I found you after being on twitter and you should like social media. It's a good thing. Your prose is gorgeous stuff.

This first chapter is so painful and I have a cousin that argued with his own mind too. It's plausible for The Pretender that someone would suffer this way.

You keep me coming back for more and I still want more and more. This is stunning, dark, and in character. I love Sydney's internal dialog too.

You took this in a direction I didn't see and it's so exciting and I'm so afraid for Sydney. But he's done some evil too. You pointed that out before. It's so complicated. Poor Sydney.

I'm always grateful for an update from you. You are keeping my favorite characters alive. Please always write for us.

I can't wait to see what happens next. More please? 

Every now and then I read an author's stories and I'm wowed and blown away and speechless. It happens every time I read your work. This is plausible and should be expected in a place like the Centre. We saw Einnad/Dannie come back but he didn't finish Raines and Sydney is somehow always viewed as not complicit. But he is. He was the adult, the medical professional, and he had a responsibility to do no harm and that includes not letting others do harm. I remember Jarod telling Miss Parker she could stop Raines when he was in her home after she untied him but he never put that burden on Sydney. It pisses me off a little bit that Sydney comes out smelling clean every time. I hope the search for Sydney will bring Jarod and Parker closer to at least be friends again. I want to hear more about the weekened they shared. Did they have sex? Details please! More of this. You are a paragon of literary excellence. Why are you still here and not on some best seller's list? Thank you for staying here though... really. You keep this crazy series alive for me.

You astound me. How you're able to write so many different stories at once is a mystery. Perhaps you're a genius? Oblivion and Lucanae are both excellent pieces, the substance and quality in each one isn't dimished by the quantity. Some might say Jarod went too far with Lyle but they'd be wrong. Jarod loves Sydney like a son loves a father or grandfather and would go to any length I believe to protect him. It's a violent scene, a masculine scene where Jarod pushes the gun into Lyle's mouth. It's because Jarod is afraid. The first line where Lyle scolds the driver is masculine too. You are brilliant at writing the genders. Mirage you're brilliant. There's not much else to say. Until next time...

Oohhh deliciousness. "drives like my sister" That car does rock will be rocking after Miss Parker gets out sometimes lol. This was dark and nice. This side of Jarod, trembling and enraged tryng to control himself and not kill Lyle. THis is what Jarod would do if Sydney were missing. He's got the wrong guy this time though. The realization that Lyle was telling the truth ... Jarod's thoughts. Love this all so much. But ooh so short Mirage. More please.

Please continue. Don't stop now.

Was I supposed to leave a review for each chapter? I will do that.

Congratulations. This is a fantastic story! Few writers write Jarod and Miss Parker well. On top of a plausible plot and correct characterisations you use correct grammar. That's very rare these days. You are talented m'dear.

I'm finally out of the sticks and my internet connection is restored. I think last time I was here you were considering a continuation of Combustion. I hope you'll update us on that eventually. Either way thank you for this well written story. It's a real treat Mirage.

Thank you.

It never gets old.

I love it.

Keep going please.