ARC Review: Absynthe by Brendan P. Bellecourt

 

Title: Absynthe

Author: Brendan P. Bellecourt

Published by: DAW Books

Released: December 7, 2021

Source: Electronic Review Copy from Netgalley / Physical Copy from Library

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Synopsis: In his sci-fi debut, Bellecourt explores an alternate roaring 20s where a shell-shocked soldier must uncover latent telepathic abilities to save himself and the people around him.

Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who's able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere--Liam's former commander and the current President of the United States.
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam's former squad, the Devil's Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace's help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
But Liam's abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere's plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam's abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President's nefarious plans before they're unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President's. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: E-arc through Netgalley and Physical Copy read from library. Thanks so much to DAW Books for giving me the chance to read it!

This was an interesting alternate 1920's history story with a little bit of steampunk thrown in. We follow a character called Liam, who was wounded in the war and can't remember much of anything. His adventure starts at a flash train ceremony where he witnesses a break in.

I liked elements of this story. The alternate history aspect was pretty cool, and I enjoyed that 1920's kind of feel. I also enjoyed the slight steampunk vibe that it had.

The story was pretty fast paced, and I was always interested in trying to figure out just what was going on.

I did find this story to be just a little bland. Liam wasn't the most exciting guy to follow. None of the characters really had a lot of excitement to them. I just never had much connection to anyone.

This book did move really fast, but it could almost be too fast. There was a lot to wrap your brain around, and sometimes I got a little confused as to what was happening. They just moved really quickly from one thing to another.

The story also goes back and forth in time, reliving some of Liam's war days, and it didn't always feel the smoothest.

I also wasn't that surprised by a couple of the reveals.

This book had cool ideas, but they weren't presented in a way that made it the most compelling story.

On a positive, the copy I read from was a floppy paperback, it was nice. 

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.3/5

The potential is there.