CALICO

5 stars out of 5

No matter what the topic or genre, I'm always up for reading any book by a guy who's one of my favorite authors.That said, it pays to pay attention: had I noticed the genres in which this one is included (e.g., Science Fiction and Time Travel), I wouldn't have been quite so perplexed when it turned out to be quite different from what I expected. But once I got into the groove, I was hooked - and I marveled that anyone could come up with such an intricate plot that doesn't have holes in it large enough to drive a spaceship through (and happily, one that leaves the door open for more to come).

It's hard to cough up a review without spoiling things for other readers, but the story centers on homicide detective Beth McDade, who managed to land a job with the somewhat remote San Bernadino County Sheriff's Barstow Station after being dumped from the LAPD for doing something that comes naturally once or twice too often. These days, she spends a bunch of time at a local pub called Pour Decisions (gotta love it) but solving crime not so much. That changes when she's called to the scene after a screaming man ran right into a van driven by an elderly couple on their way to Las Vegas (an accident; they were sent on their way). But the dead guy has no identification; a bigger mystery, though, is why he's wearing clothing from the 1800s and is in poor health. But wait, there's more: not long afterward, construction workers unearth human bones that are quite old - except for the titanium implants in the elbows. Whoops!

As Beth and local coroner Amanda Selby try to figure out what's going on, readers get the full monty by way of chapters that provide timely (or maybe I should say untimely) insights into the past. By the end, of course, everything comes together, complete with a twist I sure didn't see coming. The whole thing is entertaining and kind of mind-blowing, and for sure I'll be watching for the next installment. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading a pre-release copy.

Calico by Lee Goldberg (Severn House, November 2024); 415 pp.

WE HEAR VOICES

 5 stars out of 5

Back in my younger days, I ripped through sci-fi books with a passion - I think it was largely because technology, and all the possibilities it brings, has always been a fascination (probably because my formative years were spent using a crank telephone on a party line and getting news and music from a floor-model radio, so Sony's Walkman was enough to blow my mind). But my tastes these days lean more toward mysteries and thrillers, so when I was offered a pre-release copy of this book, I was a bit hesitant.

I needn't have been. It was, literally, hard to put down. And while I won't describe it as anywhere near terrifying or horrifying, it was totally engaging - and eerily familiar because it takes place amid a pandemic, climate change devastation and people hopeful of a new beginning on a different far-away planet. Elsewhere, a mega-developer has created a highly regimented, communal living/working utopia with Big Brother overtones and a doctor is secretly trying to rehabilitate children who recovered from illness and suddenly began hearing "voices" in their heads.

The pandemic has taken the lives of thousands of earthlings, and many, many more have contracted and recovered from the J5X virus. One of those is Rachel's young son Billy, and although her life is far from perfect, she's grateful that his life was spared. She's even willing to overlook his newfound imaginary friend Delfy, who appeared in Billy's head shortly after his recovery. But her acceptance doesn't last long; soon, Delfy seems to have taken control - telling Billy to say and do ever more frightening things. Billy realizes what's going on, but he claims he's powerless to stop Delfy or ignore her commands.

Meanwhile, Rachel has two daughters - Nina, who is in school and hoping to be on one of the rockets that will take people to start a new world - and Beth, who, amid all the chaos, is almost the perfect baby. Rachel and her partner Al have been barely able to make ends meet since she stopped working to care for Beth, but both are resolute in their refusal to sign up for the communal work/housing program. But then Delfy starts commanding Billy to do decidedly unchild-like things.

As readers will suspect early on, these seemingly separate things - the space program, the work-life community and the doctor's hideaway - may be intertwined, and finding out how and why is what keeps the book a mind-grabber. The ending, while not a total surprise, wraps things up yet leaves future possibilities up to the reader's imagination. All told, very enjoyable and thought-provoking.

We Hear Voices by Evie Green (Berkley, December 2020); 384 pp.