We Hear Voices

Book arrived damaged

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

WOW. This book was really hard to put down. I love the format – short chapters, scenes that are constantly building to an ending that was a teensy bit predictable but also oh so twisty. The book had lots of good reveals, and it really built and built.

It wasn’t really horror, though it had quite a bit of horror-element to it. It was more like a sci-fi techno thriller with some horror thrown in. There were so many possibilities as to what could be going on that it left you wondering, and the reveals over time were fantastic.

I also cared for most of the characters, which is a big feat for an author to do. So many times I love the story and feel the characters fall flat.

Definitely recommend this one as a fun read, especially if you’re looking to escape the pandemic into, well, a different pandemic. 😉

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 is a cool crossover between Sci-Fi and Mystery. And boy, does it work. The book takes place in London amid a pandemic similar to what we are experiencing in the U.S. In the offing is a planet where humans can start fresh, climate change, and pandemic free. On Earth, a wealthy developer is building a utopia-like community that offers strict regiments and a degree of certainty in a vastly uncertain world. Throw in a doctor trying to rehabilitate children who have been exposed and recovered from the virus, and strange side effects manifesting in children hearing and communicating with imaginary friends. Affairs go from bad to worse and the reader is left stunned and taken aback by this all to the relevant and prescient novel.

The synopsis sounded fantastic, and the first few chapters were intriguing. After that, this story takes a quick downward spiral into pointless off-topic narrative focused on boring one-dimensional characters. The author beats you over the head with every detail. The main character is poor; you’re reminded every other sentence. The little boy, Billy, is acting weird. You’re told over and over, but he really doesn’t DO much. And when he finally does, it feels like the author is trying desperately to make it shocking, but all that effort falls flat. Some authors have a knack for creating tension. This one does not. Frankly, the only shocking thing about this book is how many five star reviews it’s gotten.

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