Clean, A Mindspace Investigations Novel by Alex Hughes

Science Fiction/Mystery

Goodreads Summary:

“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.”

Clean has everything to make a good story.  The book has a flawed hero, a by the book cop, and a good plot.  Add the fact that it is Science Fiction and what more could you ask for.

Clean is set sometime in the future.  Tech became the enemy and had to be severely controlled.  The Telepath’s Guild helped win the Tech Wars and are now a major but not really trusted part of society.  The world building is excellent and helps make the story.

The flawed hero is Adam but the story is told in first person and we do not learn his name until the end of the book. He was involved in a drug experiment while in the Telepath’s Guild.  It turned out the drug was addictive and he did not kick the habit after the experiment was over.  Because of his drug habit he was kicked out of the Guild.  He is clean now but has to work every day to overcome his cravings.  He is working with Isabella Cherabino and they have a push pull type of relationship.  That also adds to the tension in the story.

This is Alex Hughes first novel and the first in the Mindspace series.  The series is off to a great start and I am looking forward to the next book, Sharp, due out in April of 2013.

ROC published Clean by Alex Hughes in 2012.