Vacant
Written by Alex C. Hughes
www.ink2quill.com

“Vacant” is a scifi, detective novel, and one in a series called The Mindspace Investigations Series written by Alex C. Hughes. The previous novels of the series are “Clean”, “Sharp” and “Marked” (The blogposts are below).

Alex C. Hughes website
Clean blogpost
Sharp blogpost
Marked blogpost

“Vacant” is the continuation of the Mindspace series and the life of psychic investigator, consultant Adam Ward. His girlfriend, the capable detective Isabella Cherabino, is being falsely accused of police brutality and murder and her career in the Atlanta police department and freedom is at risk. Combine this with a complicated consulting case Adam takes for a judge and you have Adam wanting, needing, to be in two places at once.

Adam is still struggling with his demons, namely addiction to a drug named Satin, and his debt to The Guild. There is also the ever present disrespect from the non-psychic community. There is an interesting psychology to Adam´s personality from the way he´s treated by society. This is something some readers probably don´t notice.

The Mindspace Investigations Series of Alex C. Hughes is turning into a breath of fresh air for the detective series genre due in part to the introduction of mindspace. A layer of reality where actions, emotions and events both present and future remain and can be picked up. I love the way mindspace is described, as this gaseous, ethereal layer of reality that only some can see and manipulate. It´s very much like the way a dog can smell things that people cannot. They can paint a picture of their surroundings the way we can´t. Another good example is with vision and the animals and insects that can see spectra of light that people cannot. They see a layer of reality that we cannot and in the case of mindsapce it makes for some great worldbuilding.

One question I do have is how will Isabella handle and seek justice for the character assassination she suffered? Will she put those responsible in the ground?

“Vacant” is a fun, fast read that I really enjoyed for its storyline and worldbuilding. I am also curious to see the trials and tribulations of Adam Ward and how he fares. I also loved that Adam and Isabella ended up where I thought they would at the very end. They should be having some very good adventures together as a bone fide team.

John

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