Vacant by Alex Hughes blog tour: Review + giveaway!

Sorry for the absence, folks! Teaching, job hunting and family stuff have taken over my life and I've barely had time to read, which is why you haven't seen much of me (and may not for a little while). But I committed to this tour for VACANT because I'm a huge Alex Hughes fan, as you probably know if you're a long-time reader of the blog, and I wanted to spread the love!

The fourth book in Hughes' Mindspace Investigations series, VACANT is a serious game changer and I was glued to my e-reader from start to finish. It has all of the great qualities I associate with the series: strong writing, an intriguing case, and nice character development. It's hard to discuss VACANT without referencing previous events so be forewarned!

VACANT is a book about choices -- choices Adam has to make in this novel and choices that he's made in the past that come back to haunt him. It's a rewarding novel to people who have been with the series since the start since we get to see how much Adam has grown and also how much he continues to struggle.

In a brief, happy moment, VACANT opens with Adam and Cherabino on a date. They're at a concert, which Adam finds overwhelming at first, until he realises what an incredible high he can get from everyone's positive energy. (Is this foreshadowing a new addiction for him?) Things rapidly take a turn for the worst, though, as Cherabino is set up for a murder she didn't commit and Adam is called out of town to help the FBI with a case. It's a nicely set up conflict for Adam: does he protect Tommy (whom he's seen die in his process visions) or does he abandon his charge to help Cherabino when it's obvious she's being railroaded? It makes VACANT a meaty read since it forces Adam to make touch choices and shows us a lot about his character.

Even without the emotional turmoil, VACANT pays out on a lot of Hughes' promises from previous novels, as old enemies come out of the woodwork. The links to previous novels are nicely orchestrated and add some excellent layers to the story. Plus, Adam finds himself working with a new team, which places him sorely out of his element, not just because of new partners but because he's working as a Minder, not as an investigator. I love a good fish-out-of-water story and Hughes delivers it in spades with this story.

VACANT ends in a way that has me eagerly anticipating what Hughes gives us next. The world's become a lot bigger now for Adam and I'm so curious to see where Hughes will take him (and us).



In addition to fun blog posts, interviews, and exclusive excerpts, fans will have a chance to solve a mystery during the month-long VACANT blog tour! A “Clue-like” checklist is available to download from the author’s blog, to be marked off as readers visit stops along the tour schedule. Somewhere on participating blog posts will be clues (clearly marked) that will eliminate specific “Location”, “Weapon”, or “Suspect” options. At the end of the tour, a rafflecopter entry form will help Alex choose a grand prize winner amongst all who correctly guess “who dunnit?” based on the remaining options. There will also be individual blog giveaways for print, digital, and audio copies of Mindspace Investigations novels.

Here's our clue:

You can find other clues by visiting other blogs on the tour:

Blog Tour Schedule
Nov 25^th - SF Signal
Nov 26^th - I Smell Sheep
Nov 27^th – Thanksgiving (US)
Nov 28^th - Ashley’s Random Blog
Dec 1^st - What The Cat Read & BookHounds
Dec 2^nd - NicholasKaufmann.com & Books Make Me Happy
Dec 3^rd - Vampire Book Club
Dec 4^th - Little Read Riding Hood
Dec 5^th - Insane About Books
Dec 8^th - BiblioFiend & Between The Lines
Dec 9^th - Smart Girls Love Sci/Fi & Paranormal Romance
Dec 10^th - Reading Reality
Dec 11^th - Short & Sweet Reviews
Dec 12^th - That’s What I’m Talking About & Anna’s Book Blog
Dec 15^th - Tynga’s Reviews
Dec 16^th - Janice Hardy – Fiction University
Dec 17^th - Preturnatura & Amberkatze’s Book Blog
Dec 18^th - Fantasy Literature & That’s What I’m Talking About
Dec 19^th - Books That Hook & Literal Addiction
Dec 21^st - Literary Escapism
Dec 22^nd - Open Book Society
Dec 23^rd - My Bookish Ways

We're also giving away one (1) print copy of VACANT to a lucky reader!

US/Canada/UK only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Alex Hughes, the author of the award-winning Mindspace Investigations series from Roc, has lived in the Atlanta area since the age of eight. She is a graduate of the prestigious Odyssey Writing Workshop, and a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers. Her short fiction has been published in several markets including EveryDay Fiction, Thunder on the Battlefield and White Cat Magazine. She is an avid cook and foodie, a trivia buff, and a science geek, and loves to talk about neuroscience, the Food Network, and writing craft—but not necessarily all at the same time!

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Alex Hughes, giveaway, Mindspace Investigations, Netgalley, New adult, Penguin, Review, Science Fiction  4 People left their mark

Marked blog tour: My journey to publication by Alex Hughes + giveaway

 Today we have a guest post from Alex Hughes, author of MARKED. I'm a huge fan and so it's wonderful to have Alex visit the blog again. Today, she's telling us all about her journey to publication, which I think you'll all enjoy. And Alex is giving away a copy of RABBIT TRICK, an e-novella in the Mindspace Investigations world.

Welcome, Alex!

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As Marked comes out this week and Vacant (Book #4) goes to beta readers, I find myself reflecting on my journey to publication. It was a long one! But, now that I am on the other side it seems worth it.

I was the nerdy kid in school, with her nose in a book nearly all the time. They called me Encyclopedia, which in retrospect seems funny, but at the time was quite the insult. Books were friends, and I had a lot of book-friends. One day at home in my preteens I got this idea to write a book, which seemed to me at the time like reading only better. My mom, being my mom, said, “of course. Write a book.” She set me up with a document on the computer, and said go. I think she was surprised when she came back a couple of hours later and I had a chapter.

The beautiful part about writing a novel so young is that your “young and stupid” is still intact. I literally didn’t know any reason why I couldn’t do it. I wanted to know how it ended, so three years later, I finished. To this day, I’m constantly trying to get back to this younger state in which I knew I couldn’t fail. Of course, I can write this book. Of course it will be great. Because why not?

Then, a few years later a second thing happened which spoiled me terribly. I wrote a short story for a class project in high school, and I sent it into Fantasy & Science Fiction. Gordan Van Gelder, the editor at the time, wrote me back and told me that Ray Bradbury had just submitted a story of the same topic and so they could not publish this particular story. Please send more. And so I did. I wrote more and submitted more, a lot more, over the next ten years. It took more than 250 more submissions (how many, I don’t know, because I stopped counting at that point) and just as many rejections before anything that exciting happened again. And I grew up. And I won more rejections by the dozens. My parents, being the fools they were, kept encouraging me.

In college I did an independent study with a guy named Dan Marshall, a great teacher of fiction who actually encouraged me to write fantasy & scifi, if I so wanted. We read books together and talked about what made them work, and I wrote another novel. Then, he invited me to his writer’s group, and the folks there helped me grow by leaps and bounds. I found professional writing classes online, and I worked. And I worked. And I went to my marketing job and came home at night and worked some more. And real life set in. I began to despair that anything would come of the writing, and this made me very sad.

I lost my job a few years later when I was newly married, and Sam told me I should try writing for awhile. So, because I loved it so dearly, I did. I took the novel I’d been working on for the last several years, something tentatively entitled Clean based on a project in college, and rewrote it. This was Draft Five. I submitted to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, and was told I was mediocre. This made me angry, and realistic. I found another job for another year, and ultimately quit that job (it was a poor fit in personality—I should never have worked for an accounting group with my very-creative temperament). I was very unhappy. Once again, Sam told me to take a year and work on the writing, since I loved it so much. So, heart breaking, I did, telling myself that this was the last time. I wrote, and revised, and found Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel course. I used it and a new online writer’s group to rewrite the book again, for Draft Six. I knew what it could be. I knew what I wanted. But I was all too afraid this was going nowhere.

Then two things happened: I was feeling under time pressure, since my year was almost up, and I feared this was the last shot. I decided to submit to both the Odyssey Writing Workshop and the new year of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. I got into Odyssey. I made the Semi-Finals of the ABNA, both to my shock, both with Clean in its phoenix-like rebirth. And then, on my first week of Odyssey, I got a call out of the blue from Penguin, Penguin the publisher. Apparently they had read all the Semi-Finalists that year and they wanted to offer me a two-book deal. I was over the moon. So was the rest of Odyssey, these amazing strangers, who came around me and supported me throughout the process. I had gone from utter despair to complete joy in less than a year.

Publication was not easy. I had to learn to write a novel on a deadline. And market. And be charming at conferences. And write another book, and another. The learning curve was intense. But. I get to write books. And people read those books, and write to me. After years and years of hard work and struggle, with more rejections than I could count, my thirteen-year-old self is finally vindicated.

I’m still a little over the moon.

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For more Alex, check out the following links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Here's the scoop on MARKED:

FORESEE NO EVIL.

Freelancing for the Atlanta PD isn’t exactly a secure career; my job’s been on the line almost as much as my life. But it’s a paycheck, and it keeps me from falling back into the drug habit. Plus, things are looking up with my sometimes-partner, Cherabino, even if she is still simmering over the telepathic Link I created by accident.

When my ex, Kara, shows up begging for my help, I find myself heading to the last place I ever expected to set foot in again—Guild headquarters—to investigate the death of her uncle. Joining that group was a bad idea the first time. Going back when I’m unwanted is downright dangerous.

Luckily, the Guild needs me more than they’re willing to admit. Kara’s uncle was acting strange before he died—crazy strange. In fact, his madness seems to be slowly spreading through the Guild. And when an army of powerful telepaths loses their marbles, suddenly it’s a game of life or death.…

Jenn's thoughts

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Alex is giving away one (1) e-copy of RABBIT TRICK, a Mindspace Investigation e-novella, to a lucky reader.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted by Tynga at 03:02

 Alex Hughes, giveaway, Guest Post, Penguin  6 People left their mark

Marked by Alex Hughes

Alex Hughes' Mindspace Investigations is one of the most interesting series out there. (What is it about series set in Atlanta? They're always so good!) I've been hooked ever since she wrote the whole first book (CLEAN) without sharing her main character's name. In each subsequent story, things have gotten more complicated for Adam, which is something I love. He's such a layered character and he lives in a world that is far from black and white.

The third full-length novel in the series, MARKED takes us to a different part of this world: Adam is called back to the Guild, not as a respected member but in a desperate plea from his ex-fiancee Kara after her uncle died (under suspicious circumstances, natch).  This was great because we're finally immersed in the Guild's world, which has been fairly mysterious up to this point. It's very different from the human world that Adam lives in now -- much harsher in a lot of ways, and also more clinical. There are some similarities since telepaths are people too but a lot of things are heightened. There are definitely things that he misses, which is only natural, but there's a darkness in the Guild now as factions have emerged that weren't there when Adam was exiled. As an added bonus, we get to see people from Adam's previous life as he is forced to face up to the Guild's general disdain for him.

There's also some momentum in the relationship between Adam and Cherabino, both professionally and personally. The human police's cases are less central in terms of page time but we still get some nice scenes in which Cherabino and Adam fight crime, now with Michael (who you may remember from SHARP). These moments highlight how capable and smart Cherabino is and I love that Hughes writes her as a strong, intelligent, and feminine character. She has so much depth and adds a lot to the series. I don't think I'd like the Mindspace Investigations stories nearly as much if Cherabino wasn't such an amazing character.

I couldn't be more pleased with how things develop on the personal from between these two characters. Hughes doesn't run to a HEA; instead she's progressing their (potential) relationship in a realistic and grounded manner. Adam's a man with problems -- potential unemployment, addiction, etc. -- and Cherabino has baggage of her own. They're drawn to each other and actively discuss the idea of romance but they don't just fall right into it.

As always, Hughes has delivered an engaging story that builds upon the strong foundation of CLEAN and SHARP. MARKED has an unpredictable mystery and lots of worldbuilding and I devoured the novel in a single sitting. And the final pages of MARKED end in a way that has me salivating for the next stage in Adam's story! If you haven't tried this series, I'd urge you to opt in as soon as possible. Get yourself to the (e)bookstore!

Read an excerpt

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Posted by Tynga at 03:00

 Ace, Adult, Alex Hughes, Dystopian, Mindspace Investigations, Penguin, Publisher, Review, Science Fiction  2 People left their mark

Sharp blog tour: Interview with Alex Hughes + giveaway!

I'm really jazzed about today's guest: the one and only Alex Hughes. She's the creator of the fabulous Mindspace Investigations, a new series that I really enjoy. I recently re-read CLEAN, Hughes' debut novel, and was struck anew by how much I loved it. Hughes has put together a really interesting techno-phobic near-future society that I love to read about but would probably hate to live in. I've also had a chance to sink my teeth into SHARP and I've put this author on my auto-buy list as a result!

I hope you'll enjoy the interview I got to do with Alex Hughes, and make sure to check out her books the next time you're at your local bookstore or library!

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Welcome back to Tynga's Reviews, Alex! To start, can you tell our readers a bit about your Mindspace Investigations series?
Thank you! I’m excited to be back on the blog.

The Mindspace Investigations series is about a telepathic detective (and recovering addict) who helps the police in future Atlanta solve a series of crimes.

Can you tell us a bit about Mindspace and the different levels and types of telepathy?
Sure. Mindspace is the space in which human minds act and interact. It’s constrained by a lot of the same physics that controls the rest of our universe, including the Inverse Square Law and the occasional quantum effect, and it interacts with electromagnetic fields. Human minds and emotions leave traces in Mindspace even after they’ve gone, so reading the space correctly can tell you a lot about, say, a crime committed there a few days ago.

In this world, there are many forms of Abilities including telekinesis, teleportation, pyrokinesis, and telepathy. Telepathy is by far the most common Ability, and the strongest of the telepaths can both read Mindspace (and human minds in it) and interact with it, though some people can do only one or the other. Telepaths are also subdivided into strength (how strong the waves they can make in Mindspace are) and control (how fine a structure they can read without disturbing). All telepaths have at least a few people whom they cannot read well; the waves of their minds don’t mesh, something called “having poor valence.”

Why did you choose Atlanta as your main setting for the series?
Atlanta is home to me; I’ve lived in one section or another of the metro area since I was eight, and Decatur (where the story was set) was where I was living when I came up with the original concept. There was something really cool about the mix of old and new in the area when I lived there, and I loved picturing that mix in the future.

One of the things I found most interesting about your debut novel CLEAN was that you don't tell the reader the main character's first name until the very last paragraph of the book. Can you talk a bit about that decision?
For me, I was using a literary device deliberately to try to make a point. In a very real way, Adam’s identity is up in the air until he makes the decision at the end of the book. When he decides who he wants to be, he gets a name. Before that, the lack of name reflects his emotional state. To make that device work, however, was a great deal more work than I expected! It needs to be “transparent,” something the reader doesn’t notice until the very end when the key turns and he gets an identity. Making that happen without being too circuitous was very challenging.

A lot of authors who use first person narrators tend to write characters of the same gender. As a woman, did writing a first person story from a male character's point of view result in any challenges or discoveries?
In the beginning, it did, and I had to lean on other people, particularly male writers and beta readers, to keep me within the boundaries of a male protagonist. But after awhile, I got more comfortable with Adam and his way of seeing the world. It helps that he’s not a super macho man; Adam is an intelligent human being who happens to be male, not one to whom male is their primary identity. As long as I’m careful around the edges and add in the occasional male thought pattern or observation, I have a lot of freedom.

What has been interesting to me as a writer is the comments people have made about gender once they know I’m a female writing the piece. When someone read the first scene of Clean under the author name Alexandra, they pinged me on Adam noticing Esperanza’s clothes. People claimed that men didn’t notice clothes. But when they read the same scene under the author name Alex Hughes, no one noticed or cared. My writer’s group has also claimed some pretty crazy things for men as I’ve gone through writing subsequent projects--they claim loudly that real men don’t care about Christmas if they’re single, and that all men act a certain way while dating, or think a certain thing about a woman who’s large breasted. I’ve met very manly men who love Christmas even single, and men who have a variety of responses to women in various contexts. Gender is a continuum more than a binary system, I think, and there are as many different kinds of men as there are women.

There's a bit of sexual tension between Adam and Cherabino but they haven't gone beyond being work partners. Can you give us a teaser about what's to come for their relationship?
Would you really want me to? :)

You mentioned yummy food a few times in your "When I'm not writing" post. =) What are some of your favourite dishes?
This answer changes depending on when you ask me. Today I’ll say Thai food, particularly a coconut chicken basil soup that I get at a tiny little family-owned Thai restaurant near me. That soup is amazing! I love curry as well, pretty much in any form you bring it to me, but I’ve been experimenting with a Thai green curry at home and it’s turned out very well. With the coconut milk base, I can take a lot of hot peppers, and I do. A LOT.

Lately I’m also obsessed with spinach. It’s terrifically good for you, plus it adds a warm earthy flavor to a lot of amazing food. Spinach pesto, for example, is very good. And I love to make a red-wine and tomato sauce with turkey hot sausage and sundried tomatoes that gets incredible when you add a little carrots and a lot of spinach. Plus salad with baby spinach leaves, walnuts, goat cheese, squash, and raspberry vinegrette is incredible.

What are you currently reading?
I’m working my way through the Liaden universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - amazing classic scifi that’s finally available in electronic form. I’ve also got Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and a one-act play book sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read. I’ve been so inspired by the dialogue and characterization of great classic plays over the years, and it’s been awhile since I’ve read them, so I’m excited to dive back in.

What would our readers be surprised to find out about you?
I’m big into knitting these days--I’m about to finish up my first sweater project! Plus I knit socks a lot; it’s a fun project, and you can wear them later for warm toes.

Finally, can you give tell us what to expect in SHARP, the latest Mindspace Investigations?
Sharp picks up about six weeks after Clean. Cherabino is avoiding Adam due to what happened in the last book, and he is struggling to recover from an injury which is affecting everything--and which he has not told the police about. He shows up at a crime scene, and the victim is one of his old students from the Guild. Plus parts for illegal Tech are being hijacked all over the city. Plus Paulsen says with recent budget cuts unless he pulls out a miracle, he’s likely to lose his job. It’s a rough week.

Thanks very much for visiting Tynga's Reviews again, Alex, and best of luck with the rest of your blog tour!
Thank you for having me!

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For more Alex, check out her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

You can also see the rest of Alex's blog tour by clicking on the tour button below.

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And here's the scoop on SHARP, available now!

HISTORY HAS A WAY OF REPEATING ITSELF, EVEN FOR TELEPATHS.…

As a Level Eight telepath, I am the best police interrogator in the department. But I’m not a cop—I never will be—and my only friend on the force, Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino, is avoiding me because of a telepathic link I created by accident.

And I might not even be an interrogator for much longer. Our boss says unless I pull out a miracle, I’ll be gone before Christmas. I need this job, damn it. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.

Parts for illegal Tech—the same parts used to bring the world to its knees in the Tech Wars sixty years ago—are being hijacked all over the city. Plus Cherbino’s longtime nemesis, a cop killer, has resurfaced with a vengeance. If I can stay alive long enough, I just might be able to prove my worth, once and for all…

Jenn's thoughts (with excerpt)

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

To see what I thought of what came before, click on the cover:

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One (1) lucky reader will win a copy of CLEAN

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted by jenn at 07:20

 Alex Hughes, giveaway, Interview, Penguin  7 People left their mark

Sharp by Alex Hughes

Book stats:
Reading level: Adult
eARC: 352 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Publisher: Roc
Release date: April 2, 2013

Series: Mindspace Investigations #2

Source: Review copy from publisher

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

HISTORY HAS A WAY OF REPEATING ITSELF, EVEN FOR TELEPATHS.…

As a Level Eight telepath, I am the best police interrogator in the department. But I’m not a cop—I never will be—and my only friend on the force, Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino, is avoiding me because of a telepathic link I created by accident.

And I might not even be an interrogator for much longer. Our boss says unless I pull out a miracle, I’ll be gone before Christmas. I need this job, damn it. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.

Parts for illegal Tech—the same parts used to bring the world to its knees in the Tech Wars sixty years ago—are being hijacked all over the city. Plus Cherbino’s longtime nemesis, a cop killer, has resurfaced with a vengeance. If I can stay alive long enough, I just might be able to prove my worth, once and for all…

If you follow my other blog, you'll know that I've really enjoyed the first couple stories in Alex Hughes' Mindspace Investigations. Her debut novel, CLEAN, was great and the follow-up e-novella, which bridges the gap between CLEAN and her newest novel, SHARP, is probably one of the best novellas I've read lately. Needless to say, I was excited to get my hands on SHARP!

Since this is the first time I'm discussing the Mindspace Investigations series here on Tynga's Reviews, though, I feel like I should give you a primer on the series, so I'm cannibalizing part of my review of CLEAN to give you a bit of context:

Alex Hughes' Mindspace Investigations are set in a dark, not-terribly-distant future in Atlanta. In the aftermath of the Tech Wars (which happened about 60 years before the series picks up), people don’t trust technology anymore so almost everything is back to the trusted pen-and-paper methodology. The only reason the world survived the Tech Wars? The Telepaths’ Guild stepped up and saved everyone, by being super scary. (So far, we don't have a lot of details but you can probably imagine how ruthless they had to be since the Tech Wars were ravaging parts of the world.) As a result, the Guild has the right to self-government but no one trusts them that much.

Adam, the main character of the series, was a shining star in the Guild until he got hooked on Satin, a fancy drug, and lost his job and got kicked out of the Guild. Now, he works for the local police department with his partner Detective Isabella Cherebino, solving crimes and working the interrogation room, trying to resist the urge to fall back into his addiction. He doesn’t have any friends from his previous life but he’s working hard to make the most of the opportunity he has, even when that means going up against the Guild. He does, however, have a mentor named Swartz, who I love, and a couple cops on his side, including Cherebino, who he's pretty much in love with, and Bellury, the officer in charge of his day-to-day activities. He's also got a champion higher up in the police force named Paulsen, who finds him extremely useful and keeps him around even though there are a lot of cops who'd be happy to see him go, and more than happy to help Adam find his way out.

In CLEAN, Adam stopped a crazy man from stealing tech from the Guild (who's not supposed to have tech), at the cost of damaging his telepathy. In PAYOFF, we saw part of his recovery but his brain still isn't 100% by the time we hit the first pages of SHARP.

There's also an e-novella that bridges CLEAN and SHARP but it's not essential reading. PAYOFF is great fun (my review here) but definitely not 100% necessary to understand what's going on in SHARP, assuming you've read CLEAN.

With all of that out of the way, I should probably start talking about SHARP, the whole reason I'm writing this post. =)

SHARP is a really solid detective story wrapped in some amazing dystopian urban fantasy paper. The police investigation is what kick starts the narrative and really propels the story to its rather epic conclusion, so it's essential for me that the mystery is strong and that I can't predict what's going to happen. And Hughes does a fantastic job of creating a strong procedural plot line. There are hints about what's to come but I was genuinely surprised by many of the turns that the murder investigation took.

On top of a tough case, Adam is forced to defend his position in the department in the face of cutbacks, which is extra challenging since his telepathy is on the fritz. Budget cuts are a very realistic and mundane threat when compared to illegal Tech but it definite adds to the tension. I really liked the juxtaposition of an everyday problem with a potentially global danger.

Another thing I appreciate about this series is that Hughes has created a fantastic world and that everything is logical within this universe. There are a bunch of different Abilities but the most common one is telepathy. As with all Abilities, people have varying degrees of power, and Adam is a very strong telepath. We get to learn a bit more about his history with the Guild, thanks to interactions with people from his past, and there are also some really great moments in the present, as he wrestles to deal with his faltering telepathy.

And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't say anything about Adam's very complicated relationship with Cherabino. He's in love with her but her feelings are a bit more complicated, especially because she hates the Link that inadvertently grew between the two of them from Adam's repeated use of Cherabino as an anchor while surfing through Mindspace. Their relationship kind of reminds me of Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy in the early Dresden Files and I'm very curious to see what will happen. I don't think I want them to get romantic because I love the tension but I do hope to see the relationship continue to develop in some capacity.

If you're looking for a great series featuring strong procedural elements and a fantastic, well built urban fantasy world, you should definitely check out Alex Hughes' Mindspace Investigations. You won't be sorry!

Excerpt

You okay? came Cherabino’s thought again, frustrated. Tap, tap, her mind against mine, tap, tap, as if she could somehow feel my distress and reacted with impatience instead of care. Tap, tap, along the long yellow line back to the real world.

I followed that line, hand over hand, inch by painful blind inch, laboriously surfacing, one overwhelming moment at a time. She kept tapping. She kept pushing. It was the only thing that got me all the way there.

I woke to the clear view of the floor and my knees, twelve inches from the bloodstain, my nose overcome with bad smells. I hadn’t thrown up. I could say that much. And—mind shaking, aching, shivering in reaction pain, I realized I was back to mind-deaf. My head rang with pain, pain—but no emotion. I was deaf and blind again.

“You okay?” Cherabino asked.

I shook my head—and immediately thought better of it; the movement made the world spin.

My eyes caught the victim’s foot, her bare foot on the tile, and I saw a small tattoo, a circle of wavy lines, neurons, encircling a stylized S and Q. I sat down hard, on the tile. I knew that tattoo.

I knew that tattoo, and in combination with it the female mind, or who she’d once been. Her name hadn’t been Hamilton when I’d known her, but she hadn’t been married. Emily, her name had been. Even through the overwhelming pain in my head, I couldn’t let go of the thought. Emily had been one of my best advanced students, years ago. Before it all fell apart. Before her mind twisted into a knot—into something not an Abled mind anymore. Before I’d done the unthinkable.

“Are you okay?” Cherabino repeated.

I fought the guilt and the disorientation of seeing Emily again, seeing her dead. I fought the exposure sickness, the injury. I sat on them, hard, and built a barrier between us with bleeding fingers. Cherabino couldn’t know. She knew too many of my failures as it was.

One small knee shuffle at a time, I moved back, away from Emily. It wasn’t her fault she smelled of urine, dried blood, and darker things, but it wasn’t mine either.

“Well, did the husband do it?” Freeman asked.

“Are you okay?” Cherabino repeated.

I pulled myself to my feet and fished out my sunglasses over my now-light-sensitive eyes. “Unless the husband’s an ex-SEAL or something,” I said in a rasp, “somebody else did it. And now, unless there’s some kind of emergency, I’ll be in the car.”

Uncaring of reactions, I stumbled out of the devil house, away from the seat of every failure I’d ever had, down the stupid steep stairs, and climbed into the backseat of the cop car. I needed to be horizontal. Now.

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Posted by jenn at 07:08

 Alex Hughes, Penguin, Review  1 Person left their mark

"When I'm not writing..." with Alex Hughes

Debut author Alex Hughes is visiting us today as part of her blog tour for her new book, CLEAN. CLEAN is a dystopian thriller set in a future Atlanta where a telepath tries to stop a serial killer. Sounds great, no? Even more exciting is the fact that CLEAN is also the first book in the Mindspace Investigations series, so hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of Alex in the future.

 

 

 

What I do when I’m not writing
A free-form pseudo-poem by Alex Hughes

Mope.
Kibitz with other writers about moping.
Surf Amazon. Buy book.
Play Rock Band with Sam.
Kibitz with Sam about other writers’ amazing lives.
Mope.
Get brilliant idea – head to keyboard at dead run.
Emerge from cocoon. It’s dark outside.
Get hungry.
Think about eating food.
Go to restaurant for yummy food.
Think about how to cook yummy food.
Get idea for story about chef.
Disappear into Internet.
Find out all sorts of cool murder details for new story. Chef knives!
Emerge from cocoon. It’s dark outside.
Reality television - Spike TV or Project Runway? Why not both?
Wake up. Head towards keyboard with coffee.
Emerge from cocoon. It’s light outside. Time to cook yummy food for Sam!
Sam’s still working.
Mope.
Crockpot! Recipe books for Crockpot!
Chopping and cooking and seasoning. Happiness.
Call friend. See movie.
Come home to yummy food and Sam waiting.
Head to keyboard at dead run.

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What a unique post! Has this inspired you to write some free-form pseudo-poetry of your own? =)

For more information about Alex and her books, check out her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter. You can check out the rest of the tour by visiting her tour page.

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Here's the scoop on CLEAN:

What you can’t see can kill you…

A RUTHLESS KILLER—
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

I used to work for the Telepath’s Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn’t entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars.

My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it—real scary.

Now the cops don’t trust the telepaths, the Guild doesn’t trust me, a serial killer is stalking the city—and I’m aching for a fix. But I need to solve this case. Fast. I’ve just had a vision of the future: I’m the next to die.

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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Posted by jenn at 06:25

 Alex Hughes, Dystopian, Penguin, When I'm not writing  Leave your mark