From Black Rooms

by Stephen Woodworth

$6.99, Bantam Books, 334pp

Natalie was a Violet, an elite crime-fighter with the power to channel victims. But these days, Natalie only channels legendary painters. It’s not necessarily lucrative since she works on her own now rather than for the North American Afterlife Communication Corps. And the job has its dangers – such as psychotic painters who don’t want to go back to being dead after she’s finished a commission. But all that is nothing next to the news that her ex-lover, Evan Markham, has escaped from prison. Evan had come to believe his mission was to kill all Violets to release them from the hell of their own lives and talents. Funny thing was – most Violets enjoyed their particular genetic talent.

Violets who work for the Corps could expect to enjoy a well-compensated career. Enough compensation that it made some men start thinking of how nice it would be to be able to find more Violets. Or even manufacture more… When one geneticist finally figures out how to do just that, he also realizes that he doesn’t want anyone to have his secret. So, he destroys all the evidence, including himself. Trouble is, once he’s dead, he can be channeled. And one man knows exactly how to motivate his spirit to giving up the secret. Now, it’s up to Natalie to stop Evan from channeling the dead geneticist and then from finishing his original mission – kill her and her daughter, who happens to also be a Violet.

It’s an interesting premise but for the most part, this book read like a standard crime drama. Not that most science fiction doesn’t lend itself easily to just about any other genre, but there was little about this story that felt like science fiction. It was much more a crime drama that happened to have a SF factor. It was a very competently written story. The characterizations were good. It was well-plotted and I did enjoy the conclusion. I just wasn’t very excited or intrigued by the story. - Catherine Book