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Introducing Temper, the first Mindspace Investigations novella from ex-Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino's point of view...
Some Clients Test You More Than Others
Getting fired from the DeKalb County P.D. was hard, and starting up a private investigation firm has turned out to be even harder. The bills aren't getting paid, and it doesn't help that my partner the telepath keeps getting called away to work for the police department that dropped me like a bad habit. It makes me sad. And angry. A whole lot angry. But when a big-time steel mill mogul comes to Mindspace Investigations PI for help finding his blackmailer, I jump at the chance to get justice for someone again.
Unfortunately, there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye. Shady union dealings. Ties to the mob. Questionable motives. Lies and half-truths. But we need the money, and I can't afford to be picky about jobs right now. No matter how much I dislike the client.
My sensei used to tell me that picking a fight was a bad idea for anyone, but a particularly bad idea for me. But sometimes you don't get to pick your battles. I just hope this is a fight I can win without crossing too many lines.
Some Clients Test You More Than Others
Getting fired from the DeKalb County P.D. was hard, and starting up a private investigation firm has turned out to be even harder. The bills aren't getting paid, and it doesn't help that my partner the telepath keeps getting called away to work for the police department that dropped me like a bad habit. It makes me sad. And angry. A whole lot angry. But when a big-time steel mill mogul comes to Mindspace Investigations PI for help finding his blackmailer, I jump at the chance to get justice for someone again.
Unfortunately, there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye. Shady union dealings. Ties to the mob. Questionable motives. Lies and half-truths. But we need the money, and I can't afford to be picky about jobs right now. No matter how much I dislike the client.
My sensei used to tell me that picking a fight was a bad idea for anyone, but a particularly bad idea for me. But sometimes you don't get to pick your battles. I just hope this is a fight I can win without crossing too many lines.
86 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 16, 2015
7 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Alex Hughes
13 books417 followersAlex Hughes was born in Savannah, GA and moved to the south Atlanta area when she was eight years old. Shortly thereafter, her grandfather handed her a copy of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonrider series, and a lifelong obsession with scifi was born.
Alex is a graduate of the prestigious Odyssey Writing Workshop and a Semi-Finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Her short pieces are published in several markets including EveryDay Fiction, Thunder on the Battlefield and White Cat Magazine.
Alex’s work is smart, dark, adventurous, and a little funny, with a emphasis on great characters and interesting worlds. She gets her inspiration from history (she majored with a European history focus in college), family members, and headlines, as well as whatever book she has in her hand. Lately she’s been reading neuroscience books; the brain’s a cool, cool place and the mind even more so.
An avid cook and foodie, Alex loves great food of any stripe – even better if she can figure out how to put it together. Great food is like a great book; it has lots of layers that work together beautifully, and the result is delicious and harmonious. She’s working on figuring out Indian food right now – suggestions welcome!
Alex loves swing dancing, tetris, music of all kinds, and has been known to get into long conversations with total strangers at restaurants about the Food Network, much to the embarrassment of her sister. She can also balance a spoon on her nose while crossing her eyes, and talk for hours about absolutely nothing.
Alex is a graduate of the prestigious Odyssey Writing Workshop and a Semi-Finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Her short pieces are published in several markets including EveryDay Fiction, Thunder on the Battlefield and White Cat Magazine.
Alex’s work is smart, dark, adventurous, and a little funny, with a emphasis on great characters and interesting worlds. She gets her inspiration from history (she majored with a European history focus in college), family members, and headlines, as well as whatever book she has in her hand. Lately she’s been reading neuroscience books; the brain’s a cool, cool place and the mind even more so.
An avid cook and foodie, Alex loves great food of any stripe – even better if she can figure out how to put it together. Great food is like a great book; it has lots of layers that work together beautifully, and the result is delicious and harmonious. She’s working on figuring out Indian food right now – suggestions welcome!
Alex loves swing dancing, tetris, music of all kinds, and has been known to get into long conversations with total strangers at restaurants about the Food Network, much to the embarrassment of her sister. She can also balance a spoon on her nose while crossing her eyes, and talk for hours about absolutely nothing.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 6, 2019
This novella runs alongside 'Fluid' - a more 'traditional' mindspace story centred around the normal protagonist Adam. Here we follow the point of view of Cherabino, Adam's partner and possibly unrequieted, or requieted, love interest.
Alex Hughes is one hell of an author. In truth it's difficult to like Adam. He's a recovering addict, paranoid (surprisingly so for a telepath) and an unreliable narrator. But, you still do like him for his determination and sense of right and wrong. Cherabino is a pain. She has massive anger issues, is horribly emotionally unavailable, and she's arrogant and clearly an awful driver! I don't like her. But... I do want to spend more time with these people.
I really wish that Alex Hughes would produce the long mooted fifth book in the series. I'll be in line to buy it on release day.
Alex Hughes is one hell of an author. In truth it's difficult to like Adam. He's a recovering addict, paranoid (surprisingly so for a telepath) and an unreliable narrator. But, you still do like him for his determination and sense of right and wrong. Cherabino is a pain. She has massive anger issues, is horribly emotionally unavailable, and she's arrogant and clearly an awful driver! I don't like her. But... I do want to spend more time with these people.
I really wish that Alex Hughes would produce the long mooted fifth book in the series. I'll be in line to buy it on release day.
April 16, 2016
This novella takes place at the same time as Fluid, which follows Adam working a case with the DeKalb police department. Temper follows Isabella Cherabino who is working a case for their new PI firm.
A steel mill owner is being blackmailed: he wants Cherabino to find out who the blackmailer is.
Like Fluid, this novella describes a case where the end isn't as neat and tidy as usual. Cherabino, who is used to being able to file the paperwork and let other people take over the consequences, now has to decide what to with the information she has.
Cherabino also has to learn to deal with not having the licence-to-be-a-jerk that she has had for the rest of the series. She's now a private individual, without the backing of the police department, and she is having to learn to adjust her style. People can now tell her to get lost if she annoys them too much - as she finds. It's a steep learning curve, and it's not entirely clear whether Cherabino will be able to cope without having a badge to wave around.
Since all the rest of the series is written from Alex's point of view, seeing Cherabino's viewpoint is a new departure. My respect for Adam - never low - has gone up. I don't think I could work with Cherabino for more than ten minutes. "Anger issues" doesn't even begin to cover it - she's also arrogant, impulsive, selfish, and without any consideration for the feelings of others, or for the effects of her actions on the people around her.
Adam has more "official" problems, but he has insight into them and is attempting to sort himself out. He backslides sometimes, but he knows his weaknesses, and works around them as much as he can. I get the impression that Cherabino doesn't even really recognise that she has problems - let alone that she needs to do something about them. This window into Cherabino's head makes me feel it was inevitable that her career as a police officer was going to crash and burn; it was only a matter of time. Her lack of self-control obviously made her a very easy target.
I am wondering whether this look into Cherabino's head means that henceforth we will see her trying to sort herself out. I hope she does, because if she carries on the way she is, the PI firm is going to be very short-lived.
These two novellas, together, provide a good view of the start of Adam's and Cherabino's partnership as private investigators, and I wonder if that was Hughes' intention - to deal more with the teething problems of starting the business in the novellas, so that things could be straightened out better by the time the pair of them have to deal with a novel-length case.
It will be interesting to see where Hughes takes them, and I am very much looking forward to it.
A steel mill owner is being blackmailed: he wants Cherabino to find out who the blackmailer is.
Like Fluid, this novella describes a case where the end isn't as neat and tidy as usual. Cherabino, who is used to being able to file the paperwork and let other people take over the consequences, now has to decide what to with the information she has.
Cherabino also has to learn to deal with not having the licence-to-be-a-jerk that she has had for the rest of the series. She's now a private individual, without the backing of the police department, and she is having to learn to adjust her style. People can now tell her to get lost if she annoys them too much - as she finds. It's a steep learning curve, and it's not entirely clear whether Cherabino will be able to cope without having a badge to wave around.
Since all the rest of the series is written from Alex's point of view, seeing Cherabino's viewpoint is a new departure. My respect for Adam - never low - has gone up. I don't think I could work with Cherabino for more than ten minutes. "Anger issues" doesn't even begin to cover it - she's also arrogant, impulsive, selfish, and without any consideration for the feelings of others, or for the effects of her actions on the people around her.
Adam has more "official" problems, but he has insight into them and is attempting to sort himself out. He backslides sometimes, but he knows his weaknesses, and works around them as much as he can. I get the impression that Cherabino doesn't even really recognise that she has problems - let alone that she needs to do something about them. This window into Cherabino's head makes me feel it was inevitable that her career as a police officer was going to crash and burn; it was only a matter of time. Her lack of self-control obviously made her a very easy target.
I am wondering whether this look into Cherabino's head means that henceforth we will see her trying to sort herself out. I hope she does, because if she carries on the way she is, the PI firm is going to be very short-lived.
These two novellas, together, provide a good view of the start of Adam's and Cherabino's partnership as private investigators, and I wonder if that was Hughes' intention - to deal more with the teething problems of starting the business in the novellas, so that things could be straightened out better by the time the pair of them have to deal with a novel-length case.
It will be interesting to see where Hughes takes them, and I am very much looking forward to it.
December 24, 2015
If you enjoy the Mindspace series, you probably find yourself wondering what's going through Isabella Cherabino's head, why she always seems to be angry, why she treats Adam in such contradictory ways, how she really feels about him, why she hit him! She's a fascinating character who's always been a bit of a mystery. She doesn't open up to Adam much, contradicts herself often, and is more stubborn than is good for her.
With the newest novella, Temper, we find out some of these answers. The story is told from Cherabino's point of view. We get a view into her mind for the first time, and it's educational, to say the least.
What a great little taste of what might be coming in the next few months. This is a story like no other in the Mindspace series!
With the newest novella, Temper, we find out some of these answers. The story is told from Cherabino's point of view. We get a view into her mind for the first time, and it's educational, to say the least.
What a great little taste of what might be coming in the next few months. This is a story like no other in the Mindspace series!
June 5, 2018
This novella was sorta the same story as the novella right before this one. Only this one told Cherabino's side of the story instead of Ward's. It was neat to find out what was going on with her since we knew what Ward was doing from the last novella. Maybe the next book will have the two of them working back together, and solve both of their crimes for their peace of mind.
Now, I just need to know when the next book in this series is coming out???
Now, I just need to know when the next book in this series is coming out???
June 7, 2018
Really, this was the flip side of the story told in Fluid, dealing with Isabella's client. Not as interesting, really -- some twists and turns, but more of a straight-forward detective story; not much in the way of SF in it.
December 26, 2015
lex Hughes is bringing me the world of reality. In Fluid, she showed me how Adam reacts to a case that has less than a perfect “wrapped up with a bow” type ending. In Temper, she shows me more about Isabella Charabino than I have ever deduced.
Isabella is faced with a world that she has to rebuild and taking a case that is less than desirable all the while being in great psychological pain. I am ashamed to admit that I turned on her in the last review because she’s crabby and I think Adam has to be a saint to put up with her. Well, in this book, I understand a lot more about what makes Isabella who she is.
She is crabby, but she’s hurting. It’s a hurt that has been set on her like a band of hungry wild dogs. She’s still devastated over her husband’s death and the life that could have been. She laments over the white picket fence and 3.25 kids. (This is a futuristic book so the kid count increases with inflation.) Her livelihood has been taken away – with extreme prejudice. She is more than just out of sorts and I learned to be a little more forgiving when it comes to Isabella. Adam does make an appearance and I learned that Isabella does have feelings for Adam and that fact creates a guilt factor for her while she is trying to keep her husband’s memory alive.
I thought this novella was perfect. What needed to be said was written and the insight to one of the most difficult characters was given. Alex is a magnificent word artist. She creates characters that are whole and significant to the grand scheme of Mindspace Investigations. I am waiting in anticipation for the next book. I hope Isabella can find happiness somewhere down the road.
Isabella is faced with a world that she has to rebuild and taking a case that is less than desirable all the while being in great psychological pain. I am ashamed to admit that I turned on her in the last review because she’s crabby and I think Adam has to be a saint to put up with her. Well, in this book, I understand a lot more about what makes Isabella who she is.
She is crabby, but she’s hurting. It’s a hurt that has been set on her like a band of hungry wild dogs. She’s still devastated over her husband’s death and the life that could have been. She laments over the white picket fence and 3.25 kids. (This is a futuristic book so the kid count increases with inflation.) Her livelihood has been taken away – with extreme prejudice. She is more than just out of sorts and I learned to be a little more forgiving when it comes to Isabella. Adam does make an appearance and I learned that Isabella does have feelings for Adam and that fact creates a guilt factor for her while she is trying to keep her husband’s memory alive.
I thought this novella was perfect. What needed to be said was written and the insight to one of the most difficult characters was given. Alex is a magnificent word artist. She creates characters that are whole and significant to the grand scheme of Mindspace Investigations. I am waiting in anticipation for the next book. I hope Isabella can find happiness somewhere down the road.
April 8, 2016
This is the same timeline as Fluid, but following CHerabino this time and the case she takes on. It was interesting to see her thoughts and actions from her end for once and Isabella definitely works as a lead.
Much like Fluid, Temper works through how it is now for Isabella to work on the opposite side of what she is used to. For Adam it was working police work on his own and with a cop with different values than Isabella had. In Isabella's case she is working out how she can function in an investigative job while no longer being a cop but still wanting to get justice as she had before. It makes her need to set out new lines for herself and figure out what she is now morally comfortable with in this new role. Let's just say that this is not something clearly resolved in the story and it looks like it will be a major part of the series going forward.
The biggest thing that I noticed in both of these books is that Adam and Isabella both miss each other and working with each other, but are remarkably unable to tell each other that. It is a hang up that I hope Hughes can work through without making the story fall flat. This relationship is complicated and can really make or break the series in how it gets resolved so I'm really curious where it will go in this next stage.
Much like Fluid, Temper works through how it is now for Isabella to work on the opposite side of what she is used to. For Adam it was working police work on his own and with a cop with different values than Isabella had. In Isabella's case she is working out how she can function in an investigative job while no longer being a cop but still wanting to get justice as she had before. It makes her need to set out new lines for herself and figure out what she is now morally comfortable with in this new role. Let's just say that this is not something clearly resolved in the story and it looks like it will be a major part of the series going forward.
The biggest thing that I noticed in both of these books is that Adam and Isabella both miss each other and working with each other, but are remarkably unable to tell each other that. It is a hang up that I hope Hughes can work through without making the story fall flat. This relationship is complicated and can really make or break the series in how it gets resolved so I'm really curious where it will go in this next stage.
December 17, 2015
Temper is not an appropriate place to start the amazing Mindspace Investigations series. The prequel Rabbit Trick or Clean, the first book, are better choices. The characters have seen many changes over the course of four books, and Temper is a different story without an understanding of Adam and Isabella.
Temper occurs at the same time as Fluid but is told from Isabella Cherabino's point of view. Cherabino is rightly angry, but she has an anger problem, and her normal coping mechanisms are failing in the face of her dismissal from the police department. Fluid and Temper are alike since both Adam and Isabella are faced with what becomes a no-win situation, and both must decide what principles they will sacrifice and what lines they can draw. The Mindspace world is post-apocalyptic, and Cherabino has a lot of anger, grief, and fear. This novella will not make it to my favorites shelf, but I will reread it. Cherabino makes some choices that will have ramifications in the future.
Temper occurs at the same time as Fluid but is told from Isabella Cherabino's point of view. Cherabino is rightly angry, but she has an anger problem, and her normal coping mechanisms are failing in the face of her dismissal from the police department. Fluid and Temper are alike since both Adam and Isabella are faced with what becomes a no-win situation, and both must decide what principles they will sacrifice and what lines they can draw. The Mindspace world is post-apocalyptic, and Cherabino has a lot of anger, grief, and fear. This novella will not make it to my favorites shelf, but I will reread it. Cherabino makes some choices that will have ramifications in the future.
January 9, 2016
I think you could read them in either order, but know that this and Fluid are companion pieces. Refreshing getting another point of view after being in Adams telepathic head for the series. I like the endings of both of these novellas better as couter points to each other than I did either on their own. Here's hoping Hughes keeps this series going, even without the backing of a major publisher.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews