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Grey Enigmas
Alex is a detective in a world that considers them unnecessary.
When everyone is a telepath, with their own inner policeman, crimes cannot escape notice. So a murder with no obvious culprit leaves the authorities at a loss.
Woken from a virtual sentence, still unrepentantly anti-social, Alex is given the opportunity to finally investigate a mystery. One which puts him in danger, and leads to mysteries of a more personal nature. Exactly how long has he been asleep? And is this really the first mystery he's been awakened to investigate?
A 39000 word novella.
When everyone is a telepath, with their own inner policeman, crimes cannot escape notice. So a murder with no obvious culprit leaves the authorities at a loss.
Woken from a virtual sentence, still unrepentantly anti-social, Alex is given the opportunity to finally investigate a mystery. One which puts him in danger, and leads to mysteries of a more personal nature. Exactly how long has he been asleep? And is this really the first mystery he's been awakened to investigate?
A 39000 word novella.
- GenresScience Fiction
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2014
About the author
Gareth Lewis
82 books18 followersGareth Lewis has written a number of novels and shorter pieces in a few genres, fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers, a number of which are available as eBooks.
A programmer, he has a degree in computer studies, and lives in South Wales.
A programmer, he has a degree in computer studies, and lives in South Wales.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2024
Despite the low-key cover, the description for Grey Enigmas by Gareth Lewis sounded really intriguing so I knew from the start that this was a book I wanted to try. I really liked that the book stuck to what it promised but added enough mystery to the story that I didn’t always know what was coming.
The idea that everyone is telepathically linked was really interesting and makes for an entirely different societal setup that I enjoyed learning about. It made for an interesting backdrop to a story that felt compelling to the very end. Despite the strong plot though, the characters lacked the depth that would’ve made this a truly outstanding book for me. While I do think that some of this was somewhat intentional due to the main character’s history, I didn’t feel that the development came together quite as strongly as I would’ve liked. There also were some details that seemed unlikely within the boundaries of the world-building provided and the ending felt a little rushed. This story was on the short end of our assignments and I think it would’ve really benefitted from a higher word count to allow for more characterization and to flesh out the conclusion.
Despite the critique above, I had a pretty good time while reading this book and I am looking forward to more adventures in this world. There are two more installments in this series and I’m excited to get back to them hopefully soon.
The idea that everyone is telepathically linked was really interesting and makes for an entirely different societal setup that I enjoyed learning about. It made for an interesting backdrop to a story that felt compelling to the very end. Despite the strong plot though, the characters lacked the depth that would’ve made this a truly outstanding book for me. While I do think that some of this was somewhat intentional due to the main character’s history, I didn’t feel that the development came together quite as strongly as I would’ve liked. There also were some details that seemed unlikely within the boundaries of the world-building provided and the ending felt a little rushed. This story was on the short end of our assignments and I think it would’ve really benefitted from a higher word count to allow for more characterization and to flesh out the conclusion.
Despite the critique above, I had a pretty good time while reading this book and I am looking forward to more adventures in this world. There are two more installments in this series and I’m excited to get back to them hopefully soon.
May 15, 2026
This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: Grey Enigmas
Grey Enigmas introduces readers to a dystopian world where people can send their minds to dwell in virtual realities, allowing their bodies to complete monotonous tasks for the betterment of society. But it also explores what can happen if those bodies are illicitly controlled.
While the story is predominantly a murder mystery, it brings a degree of tension and explores ethical dilemmas. There were some parts where the science of it all did not quite line up for me, but overall, this kept me interested from start to finish.
The introduction of an AI Actor governing a person's thoughts and body was disturbing, as was the ability for companies to use bodies as a zombie workforce. This set up hit all the proper notes to make this a darker tale, let alone the addition of how it could all go wrong.
Grey Enigmas is a great introduction to the world Gareth Lewis has created.
Grey Enigmas introduces readers to a dystopian world where people can send their minds to dwell in virtual realities, allowing their bodies to complete monotonous tasks for the betterment of society. But it also explores what can happen if those bodies are illicitly controlled.
While the story is predominantly a murder mystery, it brings a degree of tension and explores ethical dilemmas. There were some parts where the science of it all did not quite line up for me, but overall, this kept me interested from start to finish.
The introduction of an AI Actor governing a person's thoughts and body was disturbing, as was the ability for companies to use bodies as a zombie workforce. This set up hit all the proper notes to make this a darker tale, let alone the addition of how it could all go wrong.
Grey Enigmas is a great introduction to the world Gareth Lewis has created.
May 17, 2019
Grey Enigmas by Gareth Lewis
This is a cute little novella with rather unique idea in a strange cyberpunk like novel that (like many novels I've recently read) seems to take a page from these game MMORPG's with the mind-scape and the Actors. There's one of the MMORPG's I'm thinking of that specifically calls them Actors instead of Avatars.
I think this might be an extension of a longer work called the Grey Engines. In this story we have the futuristic society that is full of zombie like workers who allow their actors to take over the daily grind while they live in some idealistic world that exist in some sort of connected mind-scape.
Of course this story revolves around the people who spend less time in the mind-scape and more time in the real world. In the real world there is less crime and more control but occasionally things happen and when they can't solve the crime they look to people like Alex whom they have sentenced to live in a special section of mind-scape to met out their time for their crime.
Everyone has two personalities their own and their Actor-the personality who keeps an eye on them and when they do something wrong the actor will turn them in and this is what happened to Alex. But Alex is an investigator, one of the best, and they need him to solve a murder before more happen. Someone had committed a murder and their actor has not turned them in which means something is seriously wrong with the system.
So Alex is brought out of storage to solve the crime while being hamstrung in so many ways that he can hardly do the job. But that's not all: because there is something else going on that's going to greatly affect Alex because the members of the sheriff brain trust that pulled his body out of cold storage are not telling him all the truth.
Alex has no regard for their laws or rules, so he's going to get to the bottom of things if it kills him.
This is a great read for fans of SFF (a bit on the soft-side) There were some few moments when the style of writing confused me enough I had to step back a page to see where we were but those were minor distractions and the over all pace of the story was handled quite well.
J.L. Dobias
This is a cute little novella with rather unique idea in a strange cyberpunk like novel that (like many novels I've recently read) seems to take a page from these game MMORPG's with the mind-scape and the Actors. There's one of the MMORPG's I'm thinking of that specifically calls them Actors instead of Avatars.
I think this might be an extension of a longer work called the Grey Engines. In this story we have the futuristic society that is full of zombie like workers who allow their actors to take over the daily grind while they live in some idealistic world that exist in some sort of connected mind-scape.
Of course this story revolves around the people who spend less time in the mind-scape and more time in the real world. In the real world there is less crime and more control but occasionally things happen and when they can't solve the crime they look to people like Alex whom they have sentenced to live in a special section of mind-scape to met out their time for their crime.
Everyone has two personalities their own and their Actor-the personality who keeps an eye on them and when they do something wrong the actor will turn them in and this is what happened to Alex. But Alex is an investigator, one of the best, and they need him to solve a murder before more happen. Someone had committed a murder and their actor has not turned them in which means something is seriously wrong with the system.
So Alex is brought out of storage to solve the crime while being hamstrung in so many ways that he can hardly do the job. But that's not all: because there is something else going on that's going to greatly affect Alex because the members of the sheriff brain trust that pulled his body out of cold storage are not telling him all the truth.
Alex has no regard for their laws or rules, so he's going to get to the bottom of things if it kills him.
This is a great read for fans of SFF (a bit on the soft-side) There were some few moments when the style of writing confused me enough I had to step back a page to see where we were but those were minor distractions and the over all pace of the story was handled quite well.
J.L. Dobias
September 13, 2018
An excellent mystery, with proper clues, a sci fi world in which a detective is resurrected (from death? incarceration? virtuality?) and tasked with solving a murder which should not have been possible. Alex takes up the task with a cheerful and endearing lack of penitence which not only disarms us but the stubbornly pro-law and order Theresa Patel, the closest the crimeless future has to a detective. The introduction of mind-bending tech is done so deftly, you don't even mind when 'ghosts' come in. The tech is far-out but the motivations for murder are everyday and human.
The pace is excellent, the suspects plausible, the backstories clear enough, and the climax and ending sufficiently unpredictable to keep our interest.
Recommended for people who liked Altered Carbon more for its concepts than the violence and sex.
The pace is excellent, the suspects plausible, the backstories clear enough, and the climax and ending sufficiently unpredictable to keep our interest.
Recommended for people who liked Altered Carbon more for its concepts than the violence and sex.
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February 16, 2025Disclaimer: I read this as a judge for SPSFC#3, as part of the Wayward Stars team. However, this following is my own personal review and does not reflect on the team's score.
Grey Enigmas is one of those books that should have hit my reading sweet spot. It is a cyberpunk murder mystery in a place where murder shouldn't be possible. Everyone is Telepathic and are issued their own ACTOR to police them. The majority of the population used their ACTORS to do mindless work while they spent their time in the hedonistic mindscapes. Alex is a detective from another time, imprisoned in a restricted mindscape for decades for rehabilitation. Now, he has been woken and brought back to reality, as an impossible crime has been committed. As Alex delves further into it, he realises that something is terribly wrong. With a description like that, I should have been racing through, eating it all up. But there is something about Grey Enigmas that left me a bit cold.
As said, the plot is delicious. However, this is a fairly short piece, coming in at around 170 pages. It's my opinion, that this could do with being a bit longer. I just don't think we get all of the juice out of this plot line in that short timeframe. The set up is good and most of the investigation is worthy but I felt that the ending was a bit rushed, both in the solving of the crime and the tying up of Alex's dilemmas. I didn't get that satisfied feeling at the end of the last page. Maybe by increasing the word count, it would resolve these issues and I would get the cyperpunk dream that I hoped I was going to get. But then again, maybe not.
My other issue with this is the characters. This may also be related to the length but I felt that there was a flatness to them and it made it hard to relate. I didn't feel that there was much character progression even with Alex's massive reveal and that felt a bit odd. I didn't really sympathise with any of the characters. It drove the story into being pilot-driven but it felt like it should be character-driven. It's a shame because I felt that the plot deserved so much more and there was a lot that could have been done it with.
Look, I'll hold my hands up and admit that I'm not a massive fan of the novella format. I always feel a little bit... cheated. That things have been cut short when I want much more. Now, it could be my prejudices getting in the way but I actually think that instead of being the issue here, Grey Enigmas has reinforced it. Give this a bigger word count and most of my issues could be resolved. However, that is not my call. If the author wanted it this way, then it is up to them. But, I still think that this could have been (for me) a cracking story.
Grey Enigmas would suit anyone who feels an itch for an intelligent, plot driven Sci-fi novella with some big intentions.
Grey Enigmas is one of those books that should have hit my reading sweet spot. It is a cyberpunk murder mystery in a place where murder shouldn't be possible. Everyone is Telepathic and are issued their own ACTOR to police them. The majority of the population used their ACTORS to do mindless work while they spent their time in the hedonistic mindscapes. Alex is a detective from another time, imprisoned in a restricted mindscape for decades for rehabilitation. Now, he has been woken and brought back to reality, as an impossible crime has been committed. As Alex delves further into it, he realises that something is terribly wrong. With a description like that, I should have been racing through, eating it all up. But there is something about Grey Enigmas that left me a bit cold.
As said, the plot is delicious. However, this is a fairly short piece, coming in at around 170 pages. It's my opinion, that this could do with being a bit longer. I just don't think we get all of the juice out of this plot line in that short timeframe. The set up is good and most of the investigation is worthy but I felt that the ending was a bit rushed, both in the solving of the crime and the tying up of Alex's dilemmas. I didn't get that satisfied feeling at the end of the last page. Maybe by increasing the word count, it would resolve these issues and I would get the cyperpunk dream that I hoped I was going to get. But then again, maybe not.
My other issue with this is the characters. This may also be related to the length but I felt that there was a flatness to them and it made it hard to relate. I didn't feel that there was much character progression even with Alex's massive reveal and that felt a bit odd. I didn't really sympathise with any of the characters. It drove the story into being pilot-driven but it felt like it should be character-driven. It's a shame because I felt that the plot deserved so much more and there was a lot that could have been done it with.
Look, I'll hold my hands up and admit that I'm not a massive fan of the novella format. I always feel a little bit... cheated. That things have been cut short when I want much more. Now, it could be my prejudices getting in the way but I actually think that instead of being the issue here, Grey Enigmas has reinforced it. Give this a bigger word count and most of my issues could be resolved. However, that is not my call. If the author wanted it this way, then it is up to them. But, I still think that this could have been (for me) a cracking story.
Grey Enigmas would suit anyone who feels an itch for an intelligent, plot driven Sci-fi novella with some big intentions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews