Catchpenny is an intriguing blend of fantastical elements we’ve come to enjoy from the likes of Stephen King’s books along with a gritty insight into LA’s underworld of drugs, music, and dark arts.
Sidney Catchpenny is a fascinating character. Sure he’s going through a depressive slump but what he can do is steal like none other. How’s that? Well, he can travel through mirrors. Life has a funny way of finding him when he’s down. Even without any desire to catch some new work, he’s sought out by a friend who leads him to a PI-styled adventure that ties in a video game threatening to cause havoc in the real world, a missing girl, lots of dark mojo conjured by dark magic, and a doomsday occult. It’s up to Catchpenny to navigate through the myriad of worlds coexisting with the surface world most of us never break past, until we do.
What charmed me immensely about Catchpenny is Charlie Huston’s breathtaking ability to craft an intricate story that somehow seems to flow effortlessly throughout the course of the book, everything seemingly unconnected at first but fitting perfectly with the right pieces of information that Sidney acquires through his private investigation. Huston’s depiction of a darker and yet more magical world running parallel to ours is creative, exciting and ingenious to the point that it’s much easier than you’d imagine to fall into this new world without even questioning how it would have come to be, simply adopting it as if taken for granted.
Catchpenny is a story of love, trauma, and a quest to find one’s purpose that would resonate with readers of every genre. It’s got something for everyone. Sprinkling a warm story at its core with really awesome twists and old-school noir elements that will make you want to pick up a Raymond Chandler book again, Catchpenny is a fantastic all-round thriller with so much to offer.
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