Bitten by Books
Life has been going pretty well for telepath and consultant to the police, Adam Ward. He and Isabella Cherabino, his work partner he has long been in love with, have been dating for four months. Vacant, book four in the superb Mindspace series, opens with the couple attending a rock concert (a very different experience for Adam, given the cacophony of minds all around him), and they leave the venue satisfied and happy. The good feelings quickly evaporate when the two come upon a very aggressive t-shirt vendor and his friend a few streets down from the arena, and a brief scuffle ensues, during which Isabella identifies herself as a police officer, and shortly thereafter she and Adam leave.
While the two drive away, Adam picks up on a death nearby, so he and Isabella head towards the spot. Unfortunately, the dead body belongs to one of the men Isabella and Adam just fought with, and the two face a lot of questioning. From there, the situation quickly goes downhill, as witnesses declare they saw Isabella severely beat the man (which she did not in fact do), and she now faces an inquiry involving a hearing. Despite his insistence of her innocence, their current boss tells Adam he does not want him around, and especially not at the hearing.
Already upset over the chain of events occurring over the last several hours, Adam feels insult added to injury when he receives a call from the Guild (the governing/policing organization for everyone with psychic abilities), telling him that the debt he incurred saving his Narcotics Anonymous sponsor requires more immediate and substantial payment. Luckily, a phone call from the FBI, seeking to use Adam’s consultant services for which he will be highly paid, comes at just the right time. When he learns the job requires “Minding” a ten-year-old boy in Savannah, Adam realizes the connection to a vision that has been plaguing him for months.
As always, Hughes provides a not-too-distant and all-too-possible vision of a future Atlanta and, in this case, Savannah, that feels simultaneously familiar and uncomfortably real. The suspense never flags in the intense Vacant, with Adam placed in various types of peril throughout the narrative, whether due to his foes or his efforts to face down his addiction.
The author wisely separates Adam and Isabella for the duration of the novel, and does so without falling into the romantic trope trap of the two just not talking to each other. Outside forces create the separation, which provides both characters the chance to see how they handle being “together” alone, with mixed results.
This reviewer recommends the excellent Vacant, along with the whole terrific Mindspace series, to urban fantasy, science fiction, and mystery/suspense readers, but warns that the wait for book five may be longer than they would like.
Book Stats:
- Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Roc (December 2, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451466942
- ISBN-13: 978-0451466945
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Books in the Mindspace Investigations series in the order they should be read:
Clean
Sharp
Marked
Vacant
Review Overview
Overall Rating
Total
Summary : As always, Hughes provides a not-too-distant and all-too-possible vision of a future Atlanta and, in this case, Savannah, that feels simultaneously familiar and uncomfortably real. The suspense never flags in the intense vacant, along with the whole terrific Mindspace series, to urban fantasy, science fiction, and mystery/suspense readers, but warns that the wait for book five may be longer than they would like.
