Inside Job

By Connie Willis

Rob and Kildy are debunkers. They investigate psychics, mediums and channelers and other such con artists and prove they are scammers. Kildy has recently discovered a channeler who is a little different. This woman, Ariaura Keller, usually channels an entity she calls Isus. Lately a different entity has spoken during the sessions and this entity rails against channelers and reviles the fools who believe and waste their money on them.
Ron thinks this is just a publicity ploy but Kildy thinks that Ariaura might be channeling an real spirit. She and Rob attend one of the sessions at which this entity does appear and it commences once again to rail at the audience:

"But fear not," Ariaura said, "for a New Age is coming, an age of peace, of spiritual enlightenment, when thou -- doing here listening to this confounded claptrap?" ... "It's a lot of infernal gabble," she said belligerently. ..."This hokum is even worse that the pretentious bombast you hear in the chautauqua," the voice croaked. ... "But there you sit, with your mouths hanging open, like the rubes at an Arkansas camp meeting, listening to a snakecharming preacher, waiting for her to fix up your romances and cure your gallstones --" ... "Have you yaps actually fallen for this mystical mumbo-jumbo? Of course you have. This is America, home of the imbecile and the ass!" ... "You sit there like a bunch of gaping primates, ready to buy anyth--" Ariaura said, and her voice changed abruptly back to the basso of Isus, "--but the Age of Spiritual Enlightenment cannot begin until each of thou beginnest thy own journey."

Rob is pretty sure it is all just another aspect of Ariaura's con game but still he and Kildy do some checking up and discover that the unwelcome spirit spoiling Ariaura's meetings bears a striking resemblance to an early 20th century newspaperman, H.L. Mencken.
Is it really Mencken? Rob works up a list of questions and the spirit is able to answer them all correctly. It even pronounces Baltimore, Mencken's hometown, the way he did: Bawlmer. So what is really going on? Is Ariaura a ultra-devious and intelligent scammer or is she really involuntarily channeling H.L. Mencken? Rob and Kildy investigate further and their investigations just may cause an unhealable rift between the two good friends.

This was a pretty good though short read. (It's only 99 pages long.) It was fun reading about Mencken and it was interesting reading about the channeling sessions. A lot of people have strong opinions about Mencken but the author must be a fan of his and after reading this book it has made me more curious about that very opinionated man, Mencken. An interesting and thought-provoking book!

For another review see Bookotron.com.

New Word

Papuliferous: having pimples. '"The problem is, if you prove you're Mencken," Kildy said earnestly, "then you're also proving that Ariaura's really channeling astral spirits, which means she's not --" "--the papuliferous poser I know her to be." Exactly," Kildy said, "and her career will skyrocket."'