Urban Fantasy Wiki
Advertisement
Urban Fantasy Wiki
Urban Fantasy Wiki
606
pages
in: Mages or Wizards as main supe, Psychic Powers as Main Supe, Telepathy, Mind Talk, Mind Reading,
and 11 more

Disillusionists series

Sign in to edit
Mind Games (2010)

1. Mind Games (2010)

The Disillusionists series, aka The Justine Jones: Disillusionist trilogy — by Carolyn Crane.

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Romantic Urban fantasy

Series Description or Overview[]

Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem. ~ Goodreads

Lead's Species[]

  • Human Trained to use innate emotion

Primary Supe[]

  • High Caps (mages)

What Sets it Apart[]

Narrative Type and Narrators[]

  • First person narrative from Justine Jones's perspective.

Books in Series[]

The Disillusionists Trilogy:  

  1. Mind Games (2010)
  2. Double Cross (2010)
  3. Head Rush (2011) ~ final book

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

  • 2.5. "Kitten-tiger & the Monk" Wild & Steamy (2011) ~ ebook & Anthology
  • 3.5. "Devil's Luck" (2012) ~ ebook

Themes[]

World Building[]

Setting[]

Midcity, USA — A fictional city located on the shore of Lake Michigan like an alternate Chicago or Milwaukee

Places:

Supernatural Elements[]

✥ High Caps (mages), wizardry, sleepwalking cannibals, paranormal copycat violence,

  • Powers: telekinesis, telepathy, dream invasion, structural interface, psychological insight, memory revision, prognostication.

Glossary:[]

  • High Caps: acronym for high capacity humans, each with a particular magical ability—can manifest any one of a number of psychic powers

Groups & Organizations:[]

  • The Disillusionists:

World[]

In this world, people with magic (who would be called mages in other series) are called high caps (an acronym for high capacity humans), each with a particular magical ability and each tending to misuse his or her power. Individual high caps can manifest any one of a number of psychic powers, including telekinesis, telepathy, dream invasion, structural interface, psychological insight, memory revision, and prognostication.  ~ From Fang-tastic Fiction

✥ One highcap, Sterling Packard, has the ability to understand any person’s psychological structure. Packard has assembled a team of humans with crippling psychological problems (e.g., alcoholism, gambling compulsion, depression, rage, extreme angst), and he uses them as psychological vigilantes to punish various villains who have somehow escaped unscathed from the judicial system.

✥ Team members (called disillusionists) are taught to channel their bad feelings into the villains’ psyches. As the bad guys and gals absorb more and more of each disillusionist’s fears and anxieties, the team members have a "glory hour" in which they feel much better, but the villains feel much worse, to the point that their lives eventually collapse and they must rebuild their essence from the beginning. Thus, the villains are punished—but nonviolently—and turned into good citizens who have learned from their past mistakes. What a concept! No need for prisons or trials or executions or criminal lawyers! ~ Goodreads | Mind Games

Protagonist[]

✥ Justine Jones:

Sidekick[]

  • Name: / What: / Sidekick-to: / About: / Book First Seen:

Characters Chart[]

Resources (to fill out list):

Characters What About
Justine Jones hypochondriac. She uses her fear to fight crime
Sterling Packard Disillusionists Leader recruits Justine Jones to fight supes
Otto Sanchez chief of police Justine is a fan
Simon Fitzgerald: disillusionist of recklessness
Shelby Shavoyavich disillusionist of hopelessness friend of Justine
Cubby Justine's boyfriend
Ben Foley conman subject of the disillusionists
Carter disillusionist
Helmut disillusionist
Sophia

To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table or Column (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. In Source mode: Copy paste rows.

Carolyn Crane

Carolyn Crane

Author[]

Carolyn Crane

  • Website: Carolyn Crane
  • Genres: Urban Fantasy, Romantic Suspense
  • Other Pen Names:

Bio: Carolyn Crane has long been fascinated by hidden worlds--the wiry insides of old gadgets, the strange workings of secret societies, the mysteries of people's minds and hearts.Today she lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two daring cats. She spent years as a waitress and shop clerk before graduating to ad agencies and the freelance writing life. When she's not writing novels or working her day job, she can be found reading in bed, running, helping animals, or eating Mexican food. ~ Fantastic Fiction

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Gene Mollica

Publishing Information[]

  • Publisher: Spectra
  • Author Page:
  1. Mind Games: Paperback, 371 pages, Pub: Mar 23rd 2010—ISBN 0553592610
  2. Double Cross:
  3. Head Rush:

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE—Mind Games (2010): Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem. Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears. ~ Goodreads | Mind Games (The Disillusionists Trilogy, #1) by Carolyn Crane

✤ BOOK TWO—Double Cross (2010): SOME SECRETS COME BACK TO HAUNT. OTHERS COME TO KILL. Justine Jones lived her life as a fearful hypochondriac until she was lured into the web of a mysterious mastermind named Packard, who gifts her with extraordinary mental powers—dooming her to fight Midcity’s shadowy war on paranormal crime in order to find the peace she so desperately craves. But now serial killers with unheard-of skills are terrorizing the most powerful beings in Midcity, including mastermind Packard and his oldest friend and worst enemy, Midcity’s new mayor, who has the ability to bend matter itself to his will. As the body count grows, Justine faces a crisis of conscience as she tests the limits of her new powers and faces an impossible choice between two flawed but brilliant men—one on a journey of redemption, the other descending into a pit of moral depravity. ~ Goodreads | Double Cross (The Disillusionists Trilogy, #2) by Carolyn Crane

✤ BOOK THREE—Head Rush (2011): JUSTINE JONES FACES HER ULTIMATE ENEMY: HERSELF! In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, Justine Jones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to Otto Sanchez, the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’t adding up, and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keeping secrets from her? And what’s with this strange sense of unease, and her odd new headaches? Justine tries to stay upbeat as Midcity cowers under martial law, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycat violence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mindgame yet. With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dad and best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the most startling mystery of all. — Product Warnings: This book contains high-speed rollerblade chases, a mysterious green dashboard ornament, a father of the bride in full hazmat gear and a delicious kebab. ~ Goodreads | Head Rush (The Disillusionists Trilogy, #3) by Carolyn Crane

First Sentences[]

  1. Mind Games (2010) — From where we sit I have the perfect view of Shady Ben Foley, dining on the other side of the lavishly decorated Mongolian restaurant.
  2. Double Cross (2010) — EZ THE COAT CHECK GIRL, a.k.a. the Stationmaster, draws her face right up close to the glass window of her little booth and fixes me with a piercing gaze.
  3. Head Rush (2011) — Simon skids his souped-up Cutlass to a stop on the tire-strewn ridge.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

Awards[]

Read Alikes (suggestions)[]

— Series with similar elements:

Notes[]

See Also[]

External References[]

Books:

Summaries:

World, Characters, etc:

Reviews:

Author:

Community and Fan Sites:


Gallery of Book Covers[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement