Timing is everything, so I was thrilled when I finished "K-PAX" to learn that it's sequel, "On a Beam of Light" had hit the shelves only days earlier. In the middle of a snowstorm, I bundled myself up and my husband and I braved the veritable frozen tundra to make our way to the local Barnes & Noble.

(Okay, okay, so it's virtually right across the street from me.)

At any rate, there I was holding the sequel to the book I'd just raved about to everyone. It was a glossy new hardcover even, something I'm an admitted sucker for, and already there I was, judging the book by its cover.

Where "K-PAX" had a tastefully simple cover, "On a Beam of Light" had a rather "busy" cover, making it look, at first glance, like a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" wannabe.

I sighed, knowing, already, that this was not the sequel I'd so hoped for, but book in hand, I returned home to read.

The truth is that "On a Beam of Light", Gene Brewer's second novel, is not a bad book. It just doesn't live up to its predecessor.

"On a Beam of Light" brings the return of Prot, with whom we made our first acquaintance in "K-PAX". Prot has returned to help Robert Porter, whose body he inhabits, become a whole person again.

Dr. Brewer, of course, sees Prot as simply a secondary identity, part of the multiple personality scenario of a very disturbed patient. And here is where "On a Beam of Light" becomes so different from "K-PAX".

The balance of perspective that Gene Brewer achieved so perfectly in "K-PAX" is abandoned in favor of a more one-sided approach. "K-PAX" allowed the reader to constantly question his or her perspective: Is Prot really a visitor from the planet K-Pax? Is Prot just an alter personality of a mentally ill man? What is really going on here? "On a Beam of Light" doesn't indulge that juicy perspective shift until the very end. Consequently, gone is the sense of wonder that graced each and every page of "K-PAX".

In fact, "On a Beam of Light" is often self-indulgent and bland. Though characterization is still excellent, many of the characters seem unnecessary, existing simply for the sake of existing, neither catalysts for furthering the plot, nor vessels for imparting crucial information. They simply come into being and then disappear during the course of the story, as if these were characters Gene Brewer just couldn't bare to leave out, regardless of their lack of importance.

Even Prot, whose wonderfully multidimensional characterization truly carried and delivered "K-PAX" to a satisfying conclusion, is absent through much of "On a Beam of Light." We are left, instead, with the character of Robert Porter, who, despite his tragic history, is much less interesting. In fact, despite otherwise impeccable characterization, it seems as if the character Robert Porter, "On a Beam of Light"'s main focus, was an afterthought

"On a Beam of Light" is, in fact, more of a tease than anything. There is little, if any, conflict, to keep the pace, and carry the story along. It seemed almost like one long set-up for a third in the Prot series.

"On a Beam of Light" is still a good read, and I'd be lying to say that I didn't, at least in part, enjoy it. The main problem here is that "K-PAX" was a book that demanded a sequel, and this is certainly not the sequel it merited.