Place of Mirrors

One unfortunate side effect of the commercial success of James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy is the raft of similar but inferior titles that lack the dramatic momentum that made Redfield's yarn so engaging. Criscenzo's first novel, a wide-eyed exploration of the Mayan legacy, begins when down-and-out New York freelance writer Christina Rossi agrees to be hypnotized by a mysterious client. While in a trance, Christina recalls a past-life Mayan experience that has such a powerful effect on her that she journeys to Mexico with her pre-adolescent daughter, Kit, to try to discover the ancient cause of her modern discontent. While on a tour of the ruins at Palenque, Christina takes a strange potion and is transported back 1400 years, assuming her ancient identity of Hanab Pacal, a young Mayan ruler struggling to appease the gods and ensure the continuity of his royal legacy. Criscenzo introduces so many characters and gods that Pacal's story is virtually incomprehensible. After returning to the present, Christina tries to apply the lessons of her Mayan experience to her current romantic predicament with Jose, the tour guide she thinks may be connected to her Mayan past. The appalling lack of coherence in this New Age daydream makes for flat fantasy and an extremely shallow learning experience. (Aug.)