A review by violetturtledove
Indie by Paul MacLeod

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's great to be able to start the new year on a good book and a good review! I was totally drawn in by this book. It's hard to pin it down to a genre, it's got a futuristic-noir feel, some fantasy/cosmic horror elements and some thriller plot points. There's suspicious characters, plots and double dealing, a talking blue dog and a creepy painting... Confused? Good.

What I really enjoyed about this story was the mood and feel of the world, gritty but surreal. Some of the descriptions and dialogue are just slightly off-kilter which makes you feel you are in a world just a bit different to our own. The mood was something like 'a scanner darkly', 'naked lunch' (but much less confusing) and David Bowie's 'Outside' album. But I'm purely going from mood for these comparisons, not plot.

It's probably not for everyone. Some of the descriptions and plot points are a little confusing, but then sometimes the characters thoughts and dialogue seem to state the obvious a little. I thought this balanced out quite well (and the confusing bits were probably deliberate) but I can see how some could find it irritating or inconsistent. There's a still a bit of mystery in the ending, so not for those who like everything to be neatly tied up.

But these are just minor warnings/quibbles, on the whole I thought this book was fantastic and I am very glad I picked up a copy.