Synopsis:

Adam Rubenstein and Sunil Rao have been reluctant partners since their Uzbekistan days. Adam is a seemingly unflappable American Intelligence officer and Rao is an ex-MI6 agent, an addict and rudderless pleasure hound, with the uncanny ability to discern the truth of things―about everyone and everything other than Adam. When an American diner turns up in a foggy field in the UK after a mysterious death, Adam and Rao are called in to investigate, setting into motion the most dangerous and otherworldly mission of their lives.

In a surreal, action-packed quest that takes Adam and Rao from secret laboratories in Colorado, to a luxury lodge in Aspen, to the remote Nevada desert, the pair begins to uncover how and why people’s fondest memories are being weaponized against them by a spooky, ever-shifting substance called Prophet. As the unlikely twosome battles this strange new reality, Prophet’s victims’ memories are materializing in increasingly bizarre favorite games, beloved pets, fairground rides, each more malevolent than the next. Prophet is like no enemy Adam and Rao – or the world – have ever come up against. A tension-shot odd-couple romance, an unflinching send-up of corporate corruption, and a genre-bending tour de force, Prophet is a triumph of storytelling by a new writing duo with a thrilling future.

Review:

Prophet by Sin Blanché and Helen Macdonald is a sci-fi thriller that will unsettle you from page one.

An American diner suddenly appears in a field in England. Other objects too – soft toys, children’s bikes, a radio… but why? And how? Sunil Rao and Adam Rubenstein are tasked to figure out the answers to those questions. Rao is an ex-MI6 agent who has the ability to find truths and Rubenstein is his American former investigative partner. Their previous working relationship did not end well, but when people start dying thanks to these strange objects the pair need to get over their past in order to try and prevent more deaths.

The mystery of Prophet immediately hooked me, the whole concept like nothing I have read before. Memories becoming tangible? So cool. The deeper we dug into Prophet, uncovering what it was, where it came from and most importantly what it actually does, the faster I turned those pages. There were a few questions unanswered for me regarding the mystery, but I won’t write them here as they are spoilers!

Where this book was strongest, was in its characters. Rao and Rubenstein are both very compelling, and the more we dig into their personalities and past the more connected you feel to them. Neither of them are perfect people, far far from in fact, but honestly, as you go through the pages you will find you don’t mind that at all.

All in all, this was a tense but fun read! Check it out if a queer, techno-thriller sounds like something you might enjoy!

Thank you so much to @pridebooktours for having me on the tour and sending over a copy of the book!