'Magician, mystic, or out of his mind?' Consider the following: 27-year-old Olaf, disembarks a flight from his homeland, Iceland, seats himself on a broken terminal at Heathrow airport, and begins to meditate, to reach his guides. Attracting the attention of Irish airport security, he is eventually sectioned and escorted to a psychiatric unit.For what wrongdoing, he questions? For the harm done unto whom? As he sees it, he is merely embarking on a pilgrimage as directed to by his spiritual guides. While the medical director is caught up in a web of politics, counter-terrorism and Home Office demands, his colleague, Patricia, a fellow psychiatrist, concedes that while his beliefs are at odds with her own, Olaf is not a risk. Discharging the enigmatic Olaf, however, their path continues to overlap.What unfolds is a fascinating and intriguing exploration of alternative beliefs, and an encounter in which the pair have a lot to learn from each other. Whilst Patricia uncovers Olaf's story, marked by great loss and a childhood during which nature was his only solace, she finds herself caught up in his present journey, guiding his path on his mission, and surprisingly forced to question her own hard-held, rationalistic beliefs. Amid a messy divorce, a troubled teenage son and an estranged daughter, for Patricia this case couldn't have arrived at a worse time, and yet, in the end, couldn't have arrived at a better time; in opening her mind to the childhood lessons of her Irish grandmother, and the possibility of something else, she finds great healing in the lessons of Olaf.Fast paced and riddled with twists, this tale is infused with the ancient folklore of Britain, Ireland and Iceland. Legends, ley lines, maps and the mystical culminate in a read that is both thrilling and thought provoking. A foray into the realm of the metaphysical and geometrical might sound off-putting, but with Patricia and her son, Colm, as new to this as we might be, we are expertly guided along throughout, by none other than the knowledgeable Olaf. Preaching acceptance, tolerance and personal growth, Olaf's presence brings changes for all of those open to considering his perspective on life. With a bit of a twist from Patricia at the end, though, one is left wondering whether a sequel will follow.Raising much bigger questions, such as the influence of science and culture in regards to mental illness, this book does not shy away from some of its grander themes. Indeed, amid the twisting plot, one is asked to consider the beliefs that are shared, to weigh up and to judge whether Olaf is in fact, 'magician, mystic or out of his mind?' Perhaps in the end the better question is, are we willing to open our own minds? -- Stacey Barkley Bookbag, February 2016
