(NAPSI)-A novel just released in paperback examines concepts of free will, reincarnation and energy-healing in a fictitious, engaging lost civilization.

"Those who love deep intricate stories, full of mystery and action, dripping with power struggles and battles for dominion, this work is for you," author Shirley P. Johnson writes in Midwest Book Review.

The ideas are familiar to C.L. Talmadge, author of The Vision-Green Stone of Healing(tm), Book One (Quiet Storm Publishing, $16.95). As an energy therapist, Talmadge understands what she calls "the intimate link between spirituality, energy, and healing."

The Vision is first in the Green Stone of Healing(tm) series. The book introduces heroine Helen Andros-an opinionated, tough-minded physician who wears a mysterious green stone. Helen is also emotionally wounded and vulnerable, an illegitimate half-breed in Azgard, a nation divided by race and rank. Caught in political machinations that almost cost her life, Helen learns her father's true identity as one of the country's most powerful Toltec lords. Helen struggles with unaccountable rage unleashed within her by their meeting.

The revelation that impelled Helen's Turanian mother to bear a despised half- breed comes to light thanks to the otherworldly Mist-Weavers. These ancient, secretive beings, appearing and dissolving at will, know of the jewel's potentials. Targeted for death by the Temple of Kronos, Helen is unable to reconcile with her newfound parent. She must learn to make full use of the stone and necklace and an energy called "kura" if she is to survive and fulfill her spiritual path.

The Vision is "a gripping page-turner, and the characters are well-drawn and convincing. The story is compelling and quite captivating," writes Anne Garber of evalu8.org. "Helen is a formidable protagonist," notes Kirkus Discoveries.

The author describes her work as "a blue-state version of 'end-of-the-world' fiction without a traditional religious viewpoint. Instead, it examines alternative spiritual themes and sets forth a different interpretation of free will, good and evil."

For more information or to purchase click on the title The Vision: Green Stone of Healing