"[D]extrously blends genres in this suspenseful sci-fi mystery.... Rob Hart and Blake Crouch fans should check this out." — Publishers Weekly
"Lovers of sharp, fast sci-fi from the likes of Neal Stephenson will be right at home with Esperance." —BookPage (starred)
A whip-smart thriller in the vein of Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, and Neal Stephenson, Esperance plumbs the depths of a seemingly impossible crime rooted in racism, intergenerational trauma, and an inhuman concept of justice
Detective Ethan Krol is on the twentieth floor of a Chicago apartment building. A father and son have been found dead, their lungs full of sea water—hundreds of miles away from the ocean.
Abidemi Eniola has arrived in Bristol, England. She claims to be Nigerian, but her accent is wrong and she can do remarkable things with technology, things that her new friend, Hollie Rogers, has never seen before. Abi is in possession of a number of heirlooms that need to be returned to their rightful owners, and Hollie is more than happy to go along for the ride.
But neither Abidemi Eniola nor her heirlooms are quite what they seem. Abi is a target of Ethan Krol’s investigations, and Hollie’s life is about to become far stranger than she bargained for. In a clash of cultures, histories, and different ideas about justice, the consequences will be deadly…
Genre: Science Fiction
"Lovers of sharp, fast sci-fi from the likes of Neal Stephenson will be right at home with Esperance." —BookPage (starred)
A whip-smart thriller in the vein of Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, and Neal Stephenson, Esperance plumbs the depths of a seemingly impossible crime rooted in racism, intergenerational trauma, and an inhuman concept of justice
Detective Ethan Krol is on the twentieth floor of a Chicago apartment building. A father and son have been found dead, their lungs full of sea water—hundreds of miles away from the ocean.
Abidemi Eniola has arrived in Bristol, England. She claims to be Nigerian, but her accent is wrong and she can do remarkable things with technology, things that her new friend, Hollie Rogers, has never seen before. Abi is in possession of a number of heirlooms that need to be returned to their rightful owners, and Hollie is more than happy to go along for the ride.
But neither Abidemi Eniola nor her heirlooms are quite what they seem. Abi is a target of Ethan Krol’s investigations, and Hollie’s life is about to become far stranger than she bargained for. In a clash of cultures, histories, and different ideas about justice, the consequences will be deadly…
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"The mystery begins with three bodies in an apartment and a heartsore detective but wait--Esperance is nothing so ordinary. One of the bodies belongs to a barracuda and our detective isn't the only one after the killer. A hunter arrives from another world even as more people drown on dry land. The race is on to stop the murderer, awesome alien tech versus clever police procedural but wait again. In this brilliant story, Oyebanji makes the reader question perceptions of guilt and innocence, of vengeance and justice, of time itself--all the while asking what makes us truly human. A tour de force and most highly recommended." - Julie E Czerneda
"A tightly wound plot told from two divergent points of view that will keep you guessing in the best ways. If you're a fan of SF mystery, ESPERANCE merges the best from both genres." - Michael Mammay
"A gripping mystery about an impossible murder combines with a marvellous story of a strange, possibly alien, odyssey around our present-day world, with all its problems and heritage. Guess the murder solution and you're a better reader than I, though the solution is both satisfying and resonant. Thrilling and sparky writing, extremely readable: a gem of a thriller." - Adam Roberts
"A gripping, intricately plotted mystery which unravels its themes of justice, choices and consequence with huge assurance and flair." - E J Swift
"A police procedural genetically modified to include the best of science fiction, mystery, action, and suspense. With plot lines rooted in Africa, Britain, and North America-all three legs of the brutal Triangular Trade- this page-burner earns its moral heft by engaging with one of the ugliest mass human abuses in the history of our planet and considering what enslavement might have looked like through another planet's eyes." - Donna Glee Williams
"A tightly wound plot told from two divergent points of view that will keep you guessing in the best ways. If you're a fan of SF mystery, ESPERANCE merges the best from both genres." - Michael Mammay
"A gripping mystery about an impossible murder combines with a marvellous story of a strange, possibly alien, odyssey around our present-day world, with all its problems and heritage. Guess the murder solution and you're a better reader than I, though the solution is both satisfying and resonant. Thrilling and sparky writing, extremely readable: a gem of a thriller." - Adam Roberts
"A gripping, intricately plotted mystery which unravels its themes of justice, choices and consequence with huge assurance and flair." - E J Swift
"A police procedural genetically modified to include the best of science fiction, mystery, action, and suspense. With plot lines rooted in Africa, Britain, and North America-all three legs of the brutal Triangular Trade- this page-burner earns its moral heft by engaging with one of the ugliest mass human abuses in the history of our planet and considering what enslavement might have looked like through another planet's eyes." - Donna Glee Williams
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Used availability for Adam Oyebanji's Esperance