Zodiac

by Sam Wilson

[Leah]

Zodiac started slowly for me – it took a few pages to get itself together, to know what it wanted to be, but once the characters has been established, the novel really took off and I found myself entranced. I love the idea that people are divided by their star signs, it was an interesting concept and, as a fellow Taurus, I liked Detective Burton. Seeing the personality differences in all the different signs was intriguing and I am so interested to know exactly what a Capricorn’s accent sounds like?!

Zodiac is very much your thriller with a difference, the death scenes are pretty gory (when you’re just starting a book and the narrator is talking about guts within the first few pages, you know you’re in for quite a read) but it’s interesting to see it unfold. You have two stories being told: the first, to find out who killed the Chief of Police, with added twists when other people are killed, all of whom are different signs, and then you have the story of a man named Daniel. We know he had a daughter, we know he wants to find her, but we don’t know what it has to do with the main story, until much, much later. I actually really liked Daniel’s story, for a long time. He seemed like a relatively decent guy (oh, boy do I take that back now) and I just assumed we would see him find his daughter… Right? Well, you’ll have to read to find out that particular answer.

This is very much a plot driven novel. We don’t learn too much about the characters, and I would be intrigued to know if Sam Wilson plans to write more novels set in this world, and if he’ll bring back Detective Burton, because it seems like it’s a rich world, with plenty of stories to tell, especially after that ending, which left it open for sequels. I would certainly read more books set in this world, in San Celeste.

Sam Wilson has written a compulsive, enthralling debut novel. It’s very easy to see why so many territories snapped it up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it being made into a movie at some point and I would certainly go and watch it. I loved the plot, it was engaging, despite my lack of belief in astrology as a whole – I do believe I am a typical Taurus, in that I am stubborn, efficient, etc but I don’t really believe in reading my star sign every day. I read it in the magazines, but only to roll my eyes at how wrong they usually are. But I loved it in the concept of the book, and it’s definitely piqued by interest for sure. This is an assured debut novel, filled with a fascinating plot and characters who get under your skin and have you wishing they’ll come back for more in the future.