Starred review from October 3, 2016
In this futuristic thriller set in the middle of the 21st century, a Nigerian psychic goes up against aliens, criminals, and bizarre phenomena while coping with an increasingly weird world. Kaaro, once a thief capable of finding anything or anyone, now works for the ultra-secret Section 45 as a telepathic interrogator and investigator. When his fellow psychics start dying off, his attempts to discover the cause lead him to the alien-created biodome in the center of the city of Rosewater. As Kaaro’s past, including his previous experiences with the biodome, unspools in this nonlinear adventure, he learns the disturbing secret of the aliens who have settled on Earth. Thompson (Making Wolf) cleverly lays out a compellingly strange yet accessible setting, with an underlying mystery to drive the fast-paced narrative. The story bounces over multiple decades, laying out Kaaro’s sordid past and assorted sins, but it never loses sight of the big picture, in which the machinations of aliens (whom the reader will find both understandable and frightening) and psychics are just the backdrop for a character-driven, morally gray tale of hope and potential redemption.