Waiting

Veteran thriller-writer Robinson (The Towering Inferno; The Power) approaches the millennium at full strength with a truly frightening and plausible story about another species of human beings, in hiding for 35,000 years and now ready to take control of the planet. Dr. Lawrence Shea finds himself stalked from Berkeley to San Francisco, then killed by a brutal, secretive telepath. Shea was a member of the Suicide Club, a set of professionals who give informal lectures for one another. TV journalist Artie Banks, a club member, probes Shea's death and finds it extremely suspicious--especially after more doctors are killed. Other members of the club, as well as Artie's wife and disabled stepson, come under scrutiny as the facts about the secret species emerge. ""Our original plan was simple: Stay hidden until all of you died in wars or starved to death in a habitat you had ruined beyond saving,"" a secret-race member finally explains. ""Unfortunately, it's our habitat as well. In the meantime, our chances of being discovered have grown... We want you gone. Now."" Robinson grips his readers by combining visceral fear with intellectual inquiry. This creepily credible tale will have his readers looking more closely at their so-called friends. (Apr.)