A genre-blending tour de force, Esperance is a police procedural with a sci-fi twist.

The story begins with a murder, as all good detective stories do, and a very fascinating mystery. I will warn you that the story begins with the death of an infant. It’s not described in detail, as the baby has already passed when the story begins, but it does happen. If you’re sensitive to that, you might want to steer clear. As someone who does tend to avoid that sort of thing, I will say that it wasn’t too bad - it was sad, but it didn’t keep me up at night.

Anyway, it sounds very odd to say this right after that aside, but this book is excellent at straddling the line between serious and fun. The book has its serious moments, but it also allows itself space to breathe, to take a step back and drop some levity into the story, particularly regarding the character of Abi and her strange way of speaking and ‘fish-out-of-water’ elements. I loved those aspects, so I’m glad the book took the time to flesh them out a bit.

The characters are great, albeit not too deep. Ethan actually isn’t very likeable as he's the archetypal hard-boiled cop with a bad attitude, though how he’s a dick serves to make him realistic. Abi and Hollie, by contrast, are a delight. Abi is tough as nails but also naive in an entertaining way, and Hollie is just incredibly sweet. Their odd pair-up works; Hollie, as a counter-culture focused person, finds Abi, this enigmatic, charming woman who also is clearly not telling the truth about much, entirely fascinating, and Abi sees in Hollie someone she misses from back home (I won’t expand). It’s not a character-driven story, though; we don’t learn anything about Hollie’s backstory or much of Abi’s until the reveal, but this book is more about the mystery than a psychological profile of the characters. Likewise, the murderer, while 100% unforgivable in his actions, has motives that make sense if you’re just a little bit nuts.

The action scenes are top-notch, with great descriptions, excellent detail, and strong tension. Because of the, well, dead baby at the start of the book, you realize that no one is safe, so there’s always this thought of “no, that can’t happen! But then again…”

The sci-fi elements were well-described as well, with just enough to make sense but not enough for you to start to poke holes in it.

For a rather long book, I flew through it, as I was super engaged and really enjoyed it. When it comes to the story itself, I’m not sure if we were supposed to guess the main “twist” right off the bat, though I did, but there was a sort of sub-twist regarding a character’s motives that did catch me off-guard. As such, while one part wasn’t a surprise to me, the novel did have me doubting myself and threw in some red herrings along the way.

Without getting too deep into why, this is a book about a near-personification of generational and historical trauma, a theme I think the book pulled off very well and gave it a strong thematic weight.

Overall, a great police procedural for those who like them with emotional heft and a sci-fi bent.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I started reading Adam Oyebanji’s newest book, Esperance, but it grabbed my attention right from the start. And it starts with a most unusual crime scene. Three dead bodies on the floor of Chicago apartment on the 20th floor. A man, a baby, and a barracuda.The man and the baby seemingly drown in salt water. A seeming impossibility as there appears to be no source for the salt water, no fish tank or even bathtub in the apartment. So where and how where they drown and where is did the two foot fish come from? And what are the strange scratches on the ceiling? There was one other person in the apartment, the baby’s mother, but she can’t answer any questions. She was found unconscious in the bedroom and rushed to the hospital. And that is just the start of things. I had no idea where this sci-fi thriller would go, but it’s one heck of a tale. A wild blending of genres: part sci-fi, part detective tale, and with more than a touch of historical reference, it’s a story I won’t soon forget. Thanks so much to DAW and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far! If you liked Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS BOOK! Grab a copy on pub day (May 20) and read it right away.

Adam Oyebanji crafted an amazing sci-fi / speculative fiction story which does an amazing job addressing generational trauma, racism and justice. There are a fair amount of characters in the novel, which is not often smoothly pulled off - but Oyenbanji nailed it. Most key characters were well developed and easy to track.

My favorite character, Abidemi Eniola (Abi,) becomes a suspect in a string of heinous crimes. These acts are nothing like anyone has seen before, especially the lead detective of the case, Ethan. It’s also quickly revealed that Abi is like no one else ever encountered. She can do advanced things with technologies, her body gives clues of augmentation and her use of language is all wrong. Abi claims to be Nigerian, but most can tell it just doesn’t seem to line up. Obebanji does just a great job with Abi’s dialogue, its juxtaposition with her strength and power truly entertaining. Early on, Abi teams up with an unassuming brit-goth named Hollie and they swiftly embark on a wild international escapade. Despite Abi holding info close to her vest, Hollie sticks around because the adventure beats her mundane regular life.

Filled with crime, impossible tech and mysterious characters, this book was a page turner that will hook you in FAST. I truly feel most people I “hang out” with on social media are going to love this one, too!

I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Written by Adam Oyebanji and published by DAW Books in 2025, this is a Science Fiction Novel. It is set on Earth in the present day in places like Chicago, IL, Providence, RI, Bristol, U.K. and Edenborough, Scotland. It ends near the country of Jamaica. The story opens as one of the protagonists, Detective Lieutenant Ethan Krol of the Chicago Police Department, investigates two apparent murders in a high-rise apartment in that city. The victims are found in an apartment on the twentieth floor of the building. They are a father and son surnamed “Okoro,” Amadi and Benedict. Benedict is only about a year old, and Amadi is a twenty-five-year-old medical student at Northwestern University. Jennifer Freeman Okoro, wife and mother, has survived and is in the hospital.

The bodies of the two males are soaking wet with what turns out to be seawater. The cause of death is drowning. Also, there is a dead barracuda on the floor near the bodies. How did the fish, and the seawater, get to the twentieth floor of an apartment building in the heart of the Midwest, many miles from any ocean? It is a mystery. According to the doorman, the only visitor to the apartment was an African American appliance repairman who was installing a new washer and dryer for the family. His name was “A. Bello” from Super Eagles Plumbing. Upon inspection, though, the washer and dryer had not been replaced, and there were scratch marks on the ceiling and numerous holes drilled in the walls. The scratch marks turn out to be from the father who had scratched the ceiling as he was drowning. What?! The ceiling??

Krol’s ex-wife calls him to ask if he is going to attend his daughter’s wedding. She is engaged to an African American man, and Krol seems to be a racist. Besides, he has been told that he has an inoperable brain tumor that will cause his death before the wedding. During his investigation, Lieutenant Krol learns that “A. Bello” was the name of the first Prime Minister of Nigeria, and that The Super Eagles was the name of that country’s soccer team. Race plays a major part in this story.

The story now shifts to Bristol, U.K., where Abidemi Eniola, a tall black woman has arrived seeking to find a specific woman named Kirsty Forbes. Along the way, she runs into another woman (literally) named Hollie Rogers and knocks her sandwich from her hand. Hollie demands a replacement for her food, and Abi tells her she has no money, but only a diamond, which she shows her. Hollie takes Abi to a man named Dean Slim, who immediately tries to cheat Abi in an exchange of diamonds for cash. Eventually, Hollie and Abi are able to locate Kirsty Forbes, and Abi treats her with a device that implants nano-robots in her body to help protect her from the killer who is on his way to continue the evil work he began in Chicago.

The scene then shifts back to the United States where Lieutenant Ethan Krol receives a telephone call from a Providence, Rhode Island cop named Detective Lieutenant Nicole Gutierrez. Lieutenant Gueterriez has responded to a publication that Ethan had sent out telling of the strange circumstances of the murders. It seems that the same thing has happened in Providence. Ethan drives to Rhode Island and soon the two detectives team up and travel back to Chicago where more strange murders have taken place. It takes them a while to figure out that the killer is a black male, while Abi is a black female, and that while the black male is a killer, Abi is trying to prevent more deaths. By its ending, the story moves back to Bristol, and then to Scotland, before terminating near Jamaica.

This book is well written and fast paced. I found no major logical inconsistencies, and only one major loose end: Ethan leaves a home that has served as a headquarters for the killer while his entire SWAT team is lying unconscious on the floor of the garage, even though the whole house is probably going to be consumed by flames from the decaying machinery in its basement. Why doesn’t Ethan call for help for his team of officers? Would he really let them all burn to death?

I found this novel to be quite entertaining, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy good science fiction. I award all five of the five available stars.

When Nigerian medical student Amadi Okoro and his infant son, Ben, are found drowned outside their apartment, the scene raises more questions than answers. Alongside them is a dead barracuda, and Amadi’s wife, Jennifer, is unconscious nearby. When she wakes, she describes a strange man who told her that Ben needed to be punished before biting her neck, causing her to lose consciousness. Despite traces of a powerful neurotoxin in her system, the lack of a bite mark troubles detective Krol. The mystery deepens when Krol discovers that, just six months earlier, three other members of Amadi’s family died under eerily similar circumstances in Lagos. The investigation intertwines with the story of Abidemi Eniola, a mysterious Nigerian woman who arrives in Bristol, England, intent on uncovering the secrets of the Esperance, a ship that set sail in 1791. As the two storylines collide, they lead to a chilling, yet satisfying, conclusion. It’ll definitely leave you thinking long after you’ve finished the book

Eerie, tense little thriller that blends the past with the future as we start with an impossible murder scene in Chicago (a saltwater drowning death twenty stories up), shit to a woman and her weird new companion who's on a mission, and how it all comes together. The chapters are short and doable in small doses, which I appreciate. Would make a neat miniseries or movie, honestly, and a good popcorn read.

This story is fascinating, starting with a seemingly impossible murder and morphing into a science fiction resolution.
I gave it the following SCORE:
Setting: Present day, Chicago, Bristol, England, Providence, R.I. and Edinburgh, Scotland
Characters: Chicago Detective Ethan Krol, Hollie, a wayward girl in Bristol, England, more-than-human female Abidemi with extraordinary technical skills and heart, and a more-than-human male antagonist
Overview: Any book that opens with a murder involving salt water in a Chicago high-rise with a dead barracuda nearby must hold your attention. While Krol attempts to solve that mystery, Hollie forms an unlikely partnership with Abidemi in her quest to determine what happened centuries before.
Recommendation: I rate this book 4 stars
Extras: The cover is excellent, and the meaning of the book title is hinted but not revealed until near the end, keeping the reader wondering. There is just enough blend of mystery and high tech without going overboard in sci-fi details and allowing imaginations to soar. The satisfying resolution is thankfully not as moralizing as it could be.
Thanx to NetGalley and DAW for the opportunity to provide this candid review.

This suspenseful sci-fi mystery opens with a seemingly impossible crime: two victims have been found drowned in seawater in a Chicago high-rise, hundreds of miles from the ocean. Detective Ethan Krol is assigned the case, which only gets stranger the more he looks into the details. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Abidemi Eniola arrives in Bristol, England, determined to return a family heirloom. As their paths verge together, the consequences could be deadly.

This was an extremely excellent sci fi concept, perfect for fans of Blake Crouch (or anyone who enjoyed Rivers Solomon's The Deep). The chapters were fairly short and jumped back and forth between the two perspectives, keeping the reader invested in both storylines. Information/background about what was really going on was eked out at a slow but steady pace, allowing the reader to start to piece together what was going on. Very well paced and well written. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A weird book that just kept getting weirder, and was ultimately super satisfying! It starts off with a drowning on dry land, and alternates between the detective trying to solve that case and a very interesting foreign woman who seems to know something about this case. How they intersect and interact is surprising and exciting. A really good read.

This book left me exhausted by the pace of the action. It's a sort of locked room sci-fi police procedural novel. From the first page it had me intrigued , but the tenth page it had me completely hooked. Deals with some big topics and is all the better for it.

From the very first page, this book draws you into its world with engaging prose, well-developed characters, and a compelling narrative. The author's storytelling is confident and immersive, weaving together themes that resonate long after the final chapter.

Been trying to get back into Sci-Fi and this was the perfect book. Hooked me from the beginning, with the right amount of intrigue and the pacing was great. I loved the fusion of Yoruba-Nigerian culture into the Sci-fi elements.

The story kept me engaged all the way through, and the character development was good too. I do wish the themes of race and injustice had been explored more deeply, but I also appreciate that the book leaves space for readers to reflect and form their own interpretations. I can see a lot of interesting discussions coming out of it once more people read it.

Even though the book answered most of my questions, I still found myself wanting to understand the backstory of Abidemi and more of where she came from. Would read it as some kind of series, there's so much there that I would love to know.

generally pretty good, with the weakest point being the character of Ethan. the other characters were fine, but Ethan was mediocrely written. 4 stars. tysm for thea rc.

A must read for all my peeps ! Chapter 1 starts off with a bang, a family is murdered but the evidence isn't making sense. The whole apartment is coated with sea water and the stench of fish. We have two bodies that are located in the apartment but their death confuses everyone as well. The father and son both drowned in sea water but there is no ocean located within driving distance in this Chicago apartment.

As you continue through the novel things get weirder but slowly start to click together. Our main protagonist, Abi is from Nigeria and can build and use technology that isn't from our world. We follow her and several other characters as they try to figure out the connections between these multiple murders and why.

THE FINAL ACT <3 Literal chef's kiss to the ending of this novel. I was unable to put it down as I was at the edge of my seat. A true thriller / sci - fi novel that hits the mark for my taste.

This is a really odd book that I had trouble getting into as I usually don't enjoy fantasy. But once I got the gist of it, I was hooked and couldn't read fast enough! Ethan is investigating three dead bodies that have drowned in salt water in their apartment. There's no fish tank in sight and there are "claw-like" marks on the ceiling so he's totally flummoxed and not sure where to start. Then we meet Abi who is attempting to sell diamonds to a pawnbroker, It's a wild ride that kept me on my toes so prepare to let your imagination run wild!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Sci-fi thrillers are right up my alley, but this was just okay.

As much as I loved the focus on racism and history, it wasn't enough to carry the story. The novel would be entertaining as a movie or graphic novel, but as a novel, it wasn't really all that exciting until the last 20-25% when the climax and reveal came into play.

The MCs, both Abi and Ethan, felt like they were kept at a distance from the reader. There wasn't enough character development to get to really know them. Ethan read like a typical old school detective who's rough around the edges (and racist). Abi was more interesting, but only because she was a human with cyborg-like augments who was out of place and time.

The police procedural part was cool and I really liked the creepy sci-fi-esque murders that Ethan and Gutierrez were investigating. I especially liked the Chicago and East Coast settings.

But other than that, I wish we'd really get to know the MCs since they were carrying the story. We only know that Ethan has racist attitudes towards his daughter's fiance and doesn't want to go to their wedding. Abi was some kind of futuristic person who might or might not be the bad guy. And that was about it. They didn't feel fully fleshed out. They were just there as vessels to tell a story.

Overall, this was an okay read, but it was nothing to write home about.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for this arc.

I started this today and sadly stopped after a few chapters. I was hoping it was going to go the supernatural route but it's sci Fi and I just personally couldn't get into the book.

Thank you DAW for providing the copy of Esperance by Adam Oyebanji. I loved the puzzling mystery and the ensuing investigation. I had no idea what was going on with Abi, but she was intriguing and I loved all of the tech she used. I got bogged down in the middle because we didn’t learn anything. It was just more of the same MOs and high-tech. I loved it when things began to get clearer, but it might have been too late for me to be completely engaged with the book. I loved Oyebanji’s Greg Abimbola books, but I don’t think Sci-Fi/Fantasy was for me. If you love the Sci-Fi genre and appreciate a great writing style you will love this book! 3 stars

First of all, thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this arc.

I didn't finish the book, I stopped after the first or second chapter.
There was a description of a woman with nice legs sitting down, and the narrator was hoping that the vase stood on the table between them wasn't there. Then I was like yeah no I don't feel like reading this anymore. Before this moment there were also some :// bits but this was like the final drop for me.
I see the other reviews are generally positive so maybe I judged too soon!

What a ride!
If you’re looking for a unique, partly-sci-fi take on the detective genre, you’re in for a treat.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read Esperance. This isn’t a genre I normally read, but I’m glad that I took the opportunity to check it out.

5+1
Novels take so much work, so I try to give five positives when reviewing, but nothing is perfect, so I’ll also give one criticism.

Five positives:

1. Like any good murder mystery, the story kicks off with a murder. I was enthralled from the beginning, and trying to figure out the motive behind the murder(s) was one of the highlights for me. And I liked how as the characters honed in on the murderer, everyone had to change their tactics.

2. At the beginning, there was just a bit of supernatural horror, but that quickly revealed itself as sci-fi tech. The technology that Oyebanji displayed was often unique, sometimes gross, and very exciting. This was a big surprise for me.

3. The story kicks off in Chicago, USA, but it then shifts to multiple locales in the UK. There is also a huge African and Nigerian element here. I loved the international nature of the story. We got to see different locales, different dialects and culture, and watching how they intermingled and clashed was fun.

4. There aren’t many major characters in this story, but the ones that Oyebanji focused on were great. I thought Oyebanji did a good job introducing us to the story through Ethan, the middle-aged detective. Even though he was racist (among other flaws), he had endearing qualities as well. I was so invested with him that I found the POV shift to Abidemi to be a bit jarring. However, Abi quickly grew to be the highlight of the book, and she completely stole the show. I loved almost everything about Abi’s character. She was quirky, powerful, but far from omnipotent. She failed a lot throughout the story, but she always found a way to keep on fighting. I also loved how she played against Hollie, a young Brit that served as a foil. Seeing their relationship deepen was another highlight for me.

5. Another fun surprise was how many visceral action scenes there were. I felt that the stakes always felt real, and there were real consequences to both victories and losses.

One negative:
1. I’m not sure that the character work truly lived up to its full potential. There is a lot of great characterization, but I didn’t think the emotional arcs of the characters fully landed. This is partly due to the plot accelerating the story in act three, but I still think we needed a bit deeper character work in the final act.

I had some issues with this book, but it was overall a great experience. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone interested in detective stories especially with sci-fi elements.