Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Within the Mind

AUTHOR:  Alice Winters

SERIES:   In the Mind

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  272 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 28, 2019

BLURB:

Seneca is the complete package. He’s smart, sexy, and confident, much to Chevy’s annoyance. They’ve worked with each other for two years, and even though Chevy might secretly find his partner charming and attractive, playful harassment is all they have.

Chevy was born with a unique gift that allows him to go into the memories of others. As detective, he uses this ability to find peace for victims who have been hurt or attacked. He delves into their memories and can pick out minute details that will help them put the criminal behind bars.

But neither Chevy nor Seneca are prepared when they are asked to go into the mind of a serial killer in hopes of finding survivors. They are even more unprepared for the monsters they find inside the man’s mind. Drawn into a memory where it’s hard to figure out where the truth exists, they realize that there may be more to the serial killer than they originally thought. The dark world draws the two men together in a way they never dreamed.

It will take everything Chevy and Seneca can give to stop the darkness that could consume their minds. As the two are forced to face what is keeping them apart, together they realize that there’s more to the mind and heart than either of them know.

REVIEW: 

Within the Mind has a fascinating and unique plot (see the blurb) and the execution of that plot is like nothing I’ve ever read. Police detectives Chevy and Seneca live in a time when some people have unique mental gifts. Chevy is able to help solve crimes, searching for clues by rifling through a criminal’s mind as if it’s pages of memories in a filing cabinet. Seneca’s gift is that he can mimic another’s mental gift; in this case, he can join Chevy on his mind trips.  

Chevy and Seneca are tasked with entering the mind of a serial killer. It’s creepy and unpredictable, scary and suspenseful as our leading men navigate dangerous obstacles and lures in the psychopath’s mind to get through what is like a twisted carnival house of horrors. While there’s plenty of anxiety related to the “in the mind” detective work, true to form, Alice Winters gives us a relationship low on angst and high on humor. Chevy and Seneca are coworkers and friends before they’re lovers, and it takes a bit for Chevy to convince himself to move beyond friends.  

When Seneca stubbornly insists on carrying four suitcases by himself across a hotel lobby: 

“How can I be attracted to this embarrassment? And why does he look so hot when he should look like an idiot? Who could possibly look sexy doing this besides Seneca?”  

Also true to form, one of her protagonists – Seneca – is gleefully goofy, but less so than her characters Felix and Leland, for example. More maturely goofy, maybe? The sexual innuendo is tamer, too. More refined harassment, perhaps? The actual sex scenes themselves are plenty sexy and there are lots of good feels. The book is well-written, as Winters’ books always are, with an interesting array of characters. The world building in the serial killer’s mind is fantastic – intriguing and well crafted. It is so easy to visualize the dark journey Chevy and Seneca take that it felt like I was along for the ride. Not something I would want, mind you, but it made for a terrific reading experience. 

I’ll leave it at that since I don’t want to give anything away of this wild and crazy ride. Within the Mind is a winner and I encourage you to give it a try.  

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon