Mark Wheaton

Who Haunts You is a fast-paced book that made me think back to my university psychology courses with a pang of nostalgia. I loved the main character, thought the story was really engaging, and enjoyed the overall story.

My favourite thing about this story was Rebecca. Autistic and neuro-divergent, Bex's character and her development was far from stereotypical, and I appreciated the research he put into his character. She attends a competitive high school, but keeps to herself and hides away show more in the library. It is rare to see autistic characters as the MC and this is the second book in recent weeks that has happened, so I was glad to see more diversity in the characters. Because I am not autistic, I liked seeing things through Bex's eyes and how she views the world. Gosh, she was so fascinating, and I loved going along with her on this journey as she was trying to discover what was happening with her schoolmates.

Because we get the story from Bex's POV, the story is naturally twisty and convoluted, and it took me awhile to figure out who was guilty. I loved how the author threw in those red herrings and took you down one rabbit hole after another, until I actually had difficulty wondering what was real and what wasn't. The writing style was compelling and fast-paced, and because it was so engaging, I read it in one sitting. Looking back, it was hard to believe it only came in at 170 pages.

The one issue I did have was the ending. It's not that I have an issue with the way it went, it's mostly due to its ambiguous ending, like the author was working so hard to be mysterious. While it did have quite an impact, I felt like it took such a one-eighty turn that I was a bit disappointed. I should have seen it coming though, as there was a lot of talk about Bex becoming too obsessed with what was happening.

Verdict
Who Haunts You was a fascinating look at the power of psychological persuasion. It was thought provoking, with interesting twist and turns, and had a great main character that I enjoyed tremendously. While I wasn't a fan of the ending, the author manages to pack in so much to this short novel, that I recommend it to anyone interested in a psychological mind bend. show less

I would never have imagined that I would enjoy a novel with a protagonist who was not human. However, I enjoyed this very unique science fiction book, which focuses on the problems humans face on earth, as told by a narrator whose uniqueness is outpaced only by her curious humanity; curious, because Emily is an AC, or Artificial Consciousness. She is housed in a mainframe, but can appear as human to those around her who are outfitted with an interface chip. Emily is so uniquely different as show more a character and a narrator, so fleshed out, so to speak, and a delight to "interact" with. She is funny, self-deprecating, caring, compassionate, and at the same time imbued with all the abilities of a computer, it's hard not to like her. So kudos to the author for creating a being that we want to get to know.

The plot is fast-paced and engrossing. Great read all around. show less

I’ve read the Father Luis Chavez series in order. What I enjoyed about the first two books was their strong characters and pacy plots and the way they immerse you in a world – the first, Mexican migrant labourers, and the second Triad gangs, as well as exploring the Los Angeles of Luis Chavez and his complicated relationships with his God and his past.

Luis Chavez was a gang member before he changed his life and became a priest, and still maintains a close friendship with his childhood show more friend Oscar de Icaza, who is involved in that world. A crime in the first novel brings him into contact with Deputy District Attorney Michael Storey, and despite conflicting aims and values they work together to solve a crime, a relationship that continues, with a certain degree of implausibility, throughout the series.

Wages of Sin is the third in the series. It begins promisingly with a life-changing event for Michael Storey and the discovery of a money-laundering conspiracy. There is also a possible connection to the death of Luis’ brother several years ago. Oscar is expanding his criminal empire. Meanwhile Luis is having a crisis of faith. These connected events soon mushroom into a massive plot which draws in all the key characters in the series, plus a significant number of new ones, with action taking place across continents.

In the earlier books we become immersed in the stories of the different characters and their worlds. In this one, there are so many people that I found it hard to stay involved. New characters whose stories were set up at the beginning were forgotten in all the rushing between locations. Luis’ questioning of his religion didn’t get the treatment I thought it deserved.

In the other books in the series the conflict comes in part from within the characters. Each time they struggle to escape their constraints, they are bound ever tighter by their irreconcilable desires and loyalties. Here it was much more on the outside. It’s as if he took Chandler’s wry observation on writing pulp fiction, “When in doubt have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand”, for advice. It feels like the interesting relationships built up in the earlier books were squandered as each of the main characters acted largely in isolation. And I’m afraid I saw the big twist at the end coming a mile off.

Luis Chavez is an interesting character and the books offer a fresh take on the amateur detective. They are best read in order as the series characters change during the development (and the later books include rather a lot of spoilers). If you’ve enjoyed the first two you’ll probably want to read this one too, but I feel a bit sad that the author hasn’t done his characters justice.

I received a copy of Wages of Sin from the publisher via Netgalley.
This review first appeared on my blog https://katevane.com/blog/ show less

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was to listen to. I had never read anything previously by this author, so I was unsure how the book would turn out. But I quite liked the story. I would have liked to learn more about the family's past and the curse, but all in all, a really good book.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!