Liar City by Allie Therin

Note: I Received A Free Reviewer Copy Through NetGalley

I recently finished Liar City by Allie Therin. It’s due out on February 28, 2023.

The premise of Liar City is that there is a group of people who can psychically read others’ emotions through touch, called Empaths. The main characters are an Empath named Reece Davies and his sister Briony “Jamey” St. James, a detective with the Seattle Police Department.

The story begins with Reece being called out to the scene of a murder investigation by a mysterious unknown phone number. The murder victim turns out to have been a senator who was pushing the biggest anti-empathy bill to date, and Reece finds himself pulled into an investigation that will challenge what the world knows about empaths and what he knows about himself.

Reece finds himself accompanied during the investigation by Agent Evan Grayson, known as “The Dead Man,” an expert on empaths who is called in to handle crimes involving empaths. Tension ensues as Reece tries to figure out whether and how much to trust Grayson, who appears to have a softer spot for empaths than “The Dead Man” would be expected to.

I really liked the way that Therin handled the world-building info dumps around Empathy, what it does, and what people think about it. That’s a challenge in a lot of fantasy, and rather than clunky “As you know, Bob” moments in the story, she handles the matter deftly by showing you what the world thinks of empaths through succinct paragraph-long epigraphs made of in-universe documents at the start of chapters. I thought it was a really good use of the epigraphs.

I liked the characterization of Reece and Jamey and Grayson. The banter between the main trio brings life to them while also tending to push things forward in the book.

There were a couple moments that felt a little deus ex machina, one toward the end with some safety nets being built onto a building faster than I think a corporation could approve them, but those moments are small ones. I noticed them for a minute, but they just allowed small story beats to be had.

Overall, I really liked this one. When I first opened the book, I noticed it billed itself as “Paranormal Romance” which isn’t a genre I usually go for. But the premise I’d read hit enough of my urban fantasy fan buttons that I wanted to give it a shot. And if that describes you, please don’t let the word “romance” discourage you. This was a really fun mystery plot with a cool fantasy twist. I’m glad I read it.

I personally think I’ll be checking out more of Therin’s books.