Esperance, by Adam Oyebanji
6 Jun 2025The Book
Synopsis:
A whip-smart thriller in the vein of Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, and Neal Stephenson, Esperance plumbs the depths of a seemingly impossible crime rooted in racism, intergenerational trauma, and an inhuman concept of justice
Detective Ethan Krol is on the twentieth floor of a Chicago apartment building. A father and son have been found dead, their lungs full of sea water—hundreds of miles away from the ocean.
Abidemi Eniola has arrived in Bristol, England. She claims to be Nigerian, but her accent is wrong and she can do remarkable things with technology, things that her new friend, Hollie Rogers, has never seen before. Abi is in possession of a number of heirlooms that need to be returned to their rightful owners, and Hollie is more than happy to go along for the ride.
But neither Abidemi Eniola nor her heirlooms are quite what they seem. Abi is a target of Ethan Krol’s investigations, and Hollie’s life is about to become far stranger than she bargained for. In a clash of cultures, histories, and different ideas about justice, the consequences will be deadly…
My Review
Esperance is a speculative fiction novel which blends together police procedural, sci-fi and alt-history, written by Adam Oyebanji, and published by DAW Books. An impossible murder kickstarts a propulsive novel that doesn't explain much, letting the reader tie the knots between the two POVs, trusting them with a complex plot which hooks you until the end.
Detective Ethan Krol is investigating an impossible murder: a father and his son have been found drowned in seawater in a luxury condo in Chicago; at the same time, we are introduced to Abi, a mysterious woman who speaks like in the 1930s and claims to come from Nigeria, is also in the trail of this assassin, blindly followed by Hollie. Both characters will eventually cross their paths, starting a breakneck, globe spawning tale of impossible crimes, twists and turns, while they try to understand how and the motivations behind the murders.
Talking about the characters, on one hand, we have Ethan Krol, the prototypical detective that introduces us to the police procedural part of this story; struggling to understand how seawater might be in the middle of Chicago without any kind of tank, and discovering a chain of murders that he aims to stop.
On the other, we have Abi and Hollie; Hollie deeply admires Abidemi, and tries to help her as much as possible. The relationship between both is complicated, because while I think it might be a bit too fast in how it develops, it's also great to see how Abi can also get a bond with somebody that was a complete stranger when she arrived; Hollie might not understand what Abi is doing, but soon will prove her value.
We have a fast-paced thriller style of narration, softly introducing the sci-fi elements, without losing time in explaining them; the police procedural parts might be a bit too dense if you don't like the genre, but it is satisfying how Oyebanji doesn't hold readers' hand, letting them to form their own theories until the story collapses for the ending. While the reason behind the antagonist's acts might be a bit too thin (at least in terms of reasoning), it plays a good role in articulating the rest of the plot.
Esperance is a great speculative fiction novel, perfect if you prefer a softer approach to sci-fi with police procedural elements thrown in, in the style of Blake Crouch's novels; a nice standalone that I pretty much enjoyed reading!
The Author/s
Adam Oyebanji
Adam Oyebanji was born in Coatbridge, Scotland. He recently took the big step of moving east to Edinburgh, by way of Birmingham, London, Lagos, Nigeria, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New York: a necessary detour, because the traffic otherwise is really, really bad. A graduate of Birmingham University and Harvard Law School, helping banks choke off the money supply to rogue states, narcotics empires, and human trafficking networks. His acclaimed SF debut novel, BRAKING DAY, was published in April 2022. A QUIET TEACHER, his first mystery novel, was published in November of the same year.