Esperance

by Adam Oyebanji

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, *Esperance* is a whip‑smart speculative thriller that fuses science‑fiction, mystery and crime. Detective Ethan Krol investigates a baffling murder in a Chicago high‑rise where a father and son are found dead with lungs full of seawater—though the nearest ocean is a thousand miles away. As the case points toward the enigmatic Abi Eniola, a woman of Nigerian origin with high‑tech gadgets and uncanny abilities, the story expands into a quest that spans cultures, continents and centuries. The novel probes the lingering scars of the Atlantic slave‑trade, racism and intergenerational trauma while delivering fast‑paced, genre‑bending suspense reminiscent of Blake Crouch, Andy Weir and Neal Stephenson.