The fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) has advanced to the semifinals, where my team’s two semifinalists will join four others in one of the competition’s two semifinal groups, each of which will be read by multiple judging teams in order to select a top three to advance to the finals. And my first new read of the semifinal round was the fast-paced thriller On Impulse by Heather Texle, a book already highly praised by Space Girls.
On Impulse stars an insurance investigator whose previous career in law enforcement had ended when she killed her partner who had inexplicably turned on her. Now an old friend who had been digging into the details has turned up dead, and the lead isn’t about to trust the police with this case, instead kicking off a one-woman investigation into a deadly web of corruption, all with an annoyingly persistent agent hot on her tail.
On Impulse follows a classic thriller formula, with a lead doggedly working to uncover a conspiracy, working mostly…well, on impulse to unravel the whole thing by herself, even when presented with ample opportunity to alert the authorities—authorities who admittedly may or may not be in on the whole thing. It’s a formula that I don’t tend to like, though if I’m going to read a thriller, a story about uncovering secrets is a hundred times more entertaining than the quest for a powerful object. But this one is well-paced and written in a way that makes it easy to slip into the story, and between that and the promise of dark secrets, it was enough for me to get pretty easily into the flow of On Impulse.
That’s not to say that there aren’t flaws. The lead is full of bad decisions, and while most of them feel pretty believable in-story—after impulsively taking the investigation into her own hands at the start, she feels sufficiently backed into a corner that she’s forced to take bigger and bigger risks in hopes of completing her task before her inevitable arrest—there are moments that feel a touch too audacious. And while the villains are fairly plausible in broad brushstrokes, they tend to get cartoonishly over-the-top in the details. Also, the lead’s ship AI is a cat that chews on cords. Why? Vibes?
But if there are a few rough patches, it largely doesn’t hurt the flow of a thoroughly entertaining story. As befits the subgenre, the lead is never out of danger long enough to let things get boring, and the mysterious conspiracy is intriguing enough to drive the action in the first half. In the second half, it’s mostly wading through the chaos, with enemies to stop—or sometimes just to survive—and with a fun dynamic between the lead and the officer sent to bring her in. The latter has all the hallmarks of a series-long romantic subplot, but in the first book, it’s mostly a bit of banter and a slow feeling out of what drives them and whether they can trust each other. And while there is indeed the suggestion of further adventures, the book one storyline is resolved in a sufficiently satisfying manner to make this one eminently readable as a standalone.
Overall, On Impulse is a fun and well-paced sci-fi thriller. The villains can be a hair over-the-top, but that makes it all the easier to cheer their demise. This isn’t a book that brings a ton of character depth, and there are moments that strain credulity, but it’s noteworthy for the bingeable writing style and engaging plot that keeps the reader invested for the duration.
Recommended if you like: fast-paced space thrillers.
Can I use it for Bingo? It’s hard mode for Self-Published and fits Hidden Gem. It’s hard mode for Down with the System if you view industries as systems–I’m not sure exactly the boundaries of that square, but it’s at least arguable.
Overall rating: 14 of Tar Vol’s 20. Four stars on Goodreads.
SPSFC score: 7/10 for my personal score. The official team score will be determined in concert with my teammates.