Bookish Thoughts: Erased by Liz Strange

The usual miscreants filled the bar--thugs for hire, men looking for redemption in the bottom of an empty glass, and those simply on the prowl. ~ Opening of Erased

Erased by Liz Strange

Dark Continents Publishing, 2014

Science Fiction; 226 pgs

From GoodReads: 

Grey Singer doesn’t know who she is or what she’s done. All she knows is that the InterStellar Collective wants her dead. Her memories are muddled, she has no money, and no one to watch her back except a much younger bartender who claims to be her boyfriend. According to him, she’s been erased. 

But how can she trust him to help her get through this when she can’t even trust her own mind? While caught in the middle of warring factions her very life, and the lives of countless others, might depend on the answers.

I admit I am not the world's largest science fiction fan.  It is not a genre I gravitate towards generally. I am a huge fan of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and absolutely loved the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness.  Both tend to be series that attract readers of all genres, regardless of their science fiction tie in.

When I first heard about Liz Strange's Erased, I hesitated. It sounded different than anything else I normally read, but a quick reminder that I tend to like science fiction movies made me decide to give this book a chance.  I am glad I did.

Erased is a nonstop action, extremely intense novel, featuring a heroine that is kick-ass in every way. Grey Singer rose to her high position in the InterStellar Collective for a reason--her dedication to the cause, her tenacity, her ambition, and her skills.  She is a force to be reckoned with in a flight and quick thinking on her feet.  Let me just say, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side.

With the loss of her memory, a more vulnerable side of Singer comes through, mostly through her fear and confusion about what she is experiencing, not knowing who to trust or exactly what happened to her and why. There's also her attraction to and feelings toward Jeremy, who seems to be a stabilizing force in her life, at times her only one. It's also her only weakness.

There is space travel, fist and fire fights galore, romance, double crosses,  and quite a bit of intrigue as Singer tries to maintain her sanity and figure out exactly what kind of trouble she is in. There is one part in the beginning which I found quite jarring in which Singer is in one place one moment and a completely different place the next. This happens several more times throughout the novel, but by the second time it is much more clear what is going on. In an effort to get her memories back, Singer had taken a drug that is now affecting the way her brain works.  She goes in and out of memory loss and suffers blackouts.

What I liked best about the novel was how well the author was able to put me in the mind of Singer. At times I was just as confused as she was, just as in the dark.  I had lots of ideas about where the story might go, but I never really knew.

I have read several books by author Liz Strange: two detective novels, a fantasy novel and now this science fiction novel. She continues to entertain me and keep me guessing.  I do not know if I would have bought a copy of Erased had it not been by an author whose work I have enjoyed in the past. It would have been a mistake though.  It pays to step outside my reading comfort zone now and then.

Rating:   (Very Good)

You can learn more about Liz Strange and her books on the author's website.

Source: I purchased an e-copy of this book for my own reading pleasure.  

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