An orphaned heiress struggles to survive after past-life memories reveal a conspiracy to seize her family's fortune — a conspiracy spanning two lifetimes that involves murdering her and everyone she loves.
“I was twelve when I realized I was a ghost.”
So says Constance Fairchild, an eccentric poetess who is heiress to a fortune — and a girl who, from an early age, has believed that she had been reincarnated.
Orphaned at the age of 14, when her parents die under suspicious circumstances, she is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland, a country that had haunted her dreams. Here, she makes her first real friends and stumbles on clues to her past life.
When several of her friends die under suspicious circumstances, Constance has reason to believe that her legal guardian may be responsible. What possible motive could her guardian have? Searching desperately for the answer, Constance only uncovers further questions that convince her that she may be part of some grand conspiracy. Who keeps planting listening devices in her dorm room? Why were people following both her and her friends? Why did her dead grandfather require emails from him to contain an electronic signature that was lost when he died?
Spanning two lifetimes, this conspiracy — involving pieces of a puzzle that Constance must strive to unravel through her instinctive knowledge of virtual reality, cryptography, and the Internet — threatens to destroy everyone she knows and loves.
Pursued across Europe and New York, Constance searches for answers and tries to survive. With the help of her friends, she manages to expose the conspirators, turn their tools against them, and by the novel's end, she solves the greatest mystery of all: Her reason for being.
Excerpt
“I was twelve when I realized I was a ghost.”
Professional Reviews
Bookpleasures site
Combining corporate espionage, intrigue and murder with poetry, art and the
enduring strength of the human soul, 'The Mills of God' is a pleasure to
read.
Justin Smith's suspenseful tale is woven around the theme of reincarnation
and the nature of corruption. Clever, witty and at times shocking, the novel
is set in the not-too-distant future and enters the world of the rich and
powerful through the eyes of a teenaged girl who remembers her former life
as a middle-aged male.
The novel offers a unique perspective into the world of the protagonist,
Constance Fairchild, who is the reincarnation of Richard Steele.
Smith engages the reader in the life of a girl who has never really lived
her life until her parents die and she is transported from her secluded life
in New York to a boarding school in Switzerland, where she meets Monika, who
becomes her roommate and best friend. Through Monika, she begins to
experience life and meet new people who play pivotal roles in the ensuing
chapters. For the first time, Constance can free herself and discover both
who she is and who she was in her past life as Richard Steele.
But there is more to this story than the theme of reincarnation. Smith draws
us into a mysterious plot of deception, money, corruption and murder which
keeps us turning those pages until we come to the awaited climax.
Constance is a poet and through her poetry we get a rare glimpse into her
inner world. Lyrical and moving, the poetry elaborates on the themes of the
novel.
The novel questions the nature of the soul, and in doing so, makes us
question our own beliefs. In examining the soul, Smith also explores the
meaning of life, coming to the conclusion that every life is part of a
"living tapestry, an artwork of indescribable beauty."
Delving into such big questions can be a daunting task and not every writer
is up to that task. It can easily become a sermon or a moral commentary on
the world, and although there are aspects of this in 'The Mills of God,'
Smith never allows it to be overpowering. It is all beautifully interwoven
into the story of this young woman who is fighting to survive while still
aware that her physical death will not kill her spirit. While urging us to
question our own spiritual beliefs, 'The Mills of God' remains an
entertaining read full of lyrical language.
Professor Thury
Like the stories of mythology, Justin R. Smith's The Mills of God immerses the reader in the timeless issues of human striving in the face of the implacable forces of the universe. The heroine, Constance Fairchild is an innocent child and a poet, but she is also the reincarnation of Richard Steele, a cutting-edge mathematician who may have died under mysterious circumstances.
Her terrifying journey sends her traveling across Europe and takes her into the world of modern art as well as into the realm of computers serving as tools for the most malicious kind of identity theft. You are swept along with Constance as she struggles to escape annihilation through navigating the mysterious labyrinth built by the wiles of big business at its most malevolent. I could not put this book down until I finished it. I can hardly wait for the sequel.
Eva M. Thury, coauthor of Introduction to Mythology: Contemporary Approaches to Classical and World Myths (Oxford University Press)
Front Street Reviews
Some of the best mystery novels juxtapose tricky concepts seamlessly with both real life scenarios and great characterization . . . The Mills of God does just exactly that with the same deft skill as (Dan) Brown or (Stephen) King
The Reed’s faith, a mystery to some, will be tested like never before. Will it hold? Mark’s love for his wife and their intimate romance is shattered by Brandy, a barmaid.
