Coffee2words

Chimeras is a combination of a gripping thriller/mystery whodunnit paired up with a science fiction/medical police procedural.

Track, our protagonist (perhaps anti-hero could fit a little here too), is a sensorially heightened being. He relys heavily on his heightened sense of smell in investigations, and really, who wouldn't in that situation? He's a blokey-bloke, a bit rough, and bruised. He's got a checkered past, but tries really hard to do the right thing and works his butt off every day.

Satish, his partner, was an interesting one. I did feel he was a bit of a crutch though. If the plot needed a prod, Satish was able to point Track in the right direction with one of his weird/insightful quotes or musings.

Likes:
1. Track was a little safe, but there was enough new stuff to make me like him.
2. Twisting plot.
3. Complex scientific explanations made easy to understand.
4. The police procedural information, including investigations.
5. Diane's character - her feistiness and strength.
6. Hort - I liked her fireyness and passion, and even the kind of disfunctional but functioning relationship...

Dislikes:
1. The masses of exposition that occurred.
2. Too much scene setting - I don't need to know about every traffic update in the area every time we start a scene.
3. Diane's character - her emotional game playing (in her defence it was kinda deserved, but I still didn't like it).
4. The ending.
5. Too many characters.

So let's unpack some of this...

When we got to the 'ah-hah moment' I had no recollection of who the killer was. Even with Track's re-investigation after the fact, I couldn't keep all the characters straight. We're introduced to scientists and police and investigators, social elite, families, boyfriends and girlfriends, maids and kids. I had a few moments where I was like:



and then:



This was a huge shame to me, because I really, really liked the story. I wanted to know what was happening, why people were being killed and who the hell was doing it. What I wanted though, was a feeling of:



This book needs a bit of an edit, if you cull the extra information about each scene (and the traffic reports!) and cull a couple of the characters who aren't really required in the story, this would easily be 4-5 star material.

One thing I noticed:
52% - ...distinctive as an (delete an) Elton John...

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of the book in return for an honest review**