Across the Pond : Review of Hexcommunicated

I’ve been reading and reviewing outside of my “comfort-zone” lately and, with “Hexcommunicated”, I find myself yet again jealous of the wealth of different ideas out there that deserve recognition.

Agent Tepes is a Hex agent, a Forced Amplified Entity in service to his country. Yet when he discovers a dangerous threat he finds himself on the wrong side of the law fighting to survive and save his country. Sounds a familiar plot, yet the characters and ideas make this something different.

Hexcommunicated, the debut novel by Rafael Chandler, has vampires and werewolves, but not in the way you’d imagine. Government-funded secret medical experiments have led to genetically modified humans, FAEs, created for the purposes of … well whatever nefarious purposes governments have.

The plot is convoluted but not confusing and I enjoyed seeing the characters worm their ways out of various situations. Rafael certainly put a lot of thought into how the story was going to play out and manages to keep you guessing – right to the end and beyond.

Even though fundamentally he is a killer with various personality problems Tepes still managed to make me worry about the outcome of his day – he’s supposed to die according to a psychic vision. I don’t give spoilers though so don’t ask what happens. You can buy the book (e-version & dead-tree) from various sources, all of which are listed on the author’s website.

As Blackadder might say, this book twists & turns like a twisty-turny thing, but it’s fun & exciting and you should totally go buy it.

Look out for my short Q & A with Rafael next week.