Since his first SF novel, Resurrection, Inc. in 1988, Kevin J. Anderson has become a prolific author now probably best known for Star Wars and X-Files spin-off novels. Blindfold uses a traditional SF background and gimmick. A struggling human colony on the inhospitable planet Atlas has discovered the drug "Veritas", theoretically promising perfect justice since trained Truthsayers dosed with Veritas can read the minds of the accused. But the infallible system goes wrong--and justice is once again blindfolded--thanks to a high-level conspiracy involving one power-mad landowner and the orbital lab that refines the drug. Before long, a falsely convicted man and a disgraced woman Truthsayer are on the run together. The bad guys" schemes are duly exposed, perhaps a little too easily--one major conspirator simply has a change of heart and tells all. The unlikeliest plot turn: the leading Truthsayer, who by this time is aware that the conspiracy has deliberately poisoned someone with contaminated Veritas, confronts the villain with his guilt and then accepts a dose of unbranded Veritas from him. Blindfold is efficiently written SF action-adventure with some nice surprises, twists and daring escapes--a page-turning entertainment rather than a novel written at full stretch. --David Langford