I Hate Writing Titles

This review is for the audiobook version of The Drafter, by Kim Harrison. It’s the first in a new sci-fi series.

Peri Reed is a drafter for the government, a person with the ability to turn back time to fix mistakes. For every second she goes back, part of her past is erased. To offset this all drafters are paired with anchors, people who can experience multiple timelines and sort between them, able to fill in the gaps after a draft. But what happens when the person you love and trust to tell you the truth lies, creating false timelines? That’s what Peri finds out.

It’s the ultimate gaslighting, replacing true memories with lies, and setting her up to take the fall. A story of corruption and betrayal, with a really interesting premise, but it falls short. There is an awful lot of ridiculous detail, not Victor Hugo levels, but it seemed excessive for. It’s also hard to know who to root for, since leadership on both sides is pretty messed up. There’s also a lot of time in Peri’s head, with her trying to figure out what to do, which made it hard to like her. She was deciding between joining a team she knew she couldn’t trust and one she wasn’t sure about, one she knew was doing evil and one she thought wasn’t. How is that a hard decision? Too much dithering.

The reader did a great job, making the characters seem real and distinct. There weren’t any noticeable vocal quirks to detract from the story.

It was entertaining and has an interesting hook. I’m hoping she Harrison can build on her world and close a few holes in her systems. I also hope that Peri can make up her mind and do what’s right.