Sci-Fi & Scary

Rysa Walker’s The Delphi Effect is immediately engaging, and well-executed from start to finish. The story is a familiar one, but at the same time, not one that’s been done to death. Any folks with an interest in conspiracy theories will find something very familiar in the plot. The pacing is solid and the story never falters. It’s a clean read with a bit of mystery and a strong serving of action /thriller to it. Things are hinted at, or talked about in general terms (Ie: one of Anna’s ‘ghosts’ was a soccer mom hypochondriac who died of an overdose) but never explicitly stated. It would be perfectly suitable for even tweens to read if the story interests them. It could be shelved under paranormal fantasy or science fiction, purely according to the reader’s opinion. It definitely blurs genre lines.

Folks, she didn’t have a love triangle in The Delphi Effect. At this point, with the ridiculousness that is young adult right now, that should be enough to make you sit up and pay attention. There was no love triangle. The main character wasn’t some super-talented, overly hormonal girl. Anna isn’t exactly a smart character, but I understood why she was doing the things she did.Honestly, given what it sounds like her background has been, I’d probably make the same choices. Deo, who is Anna’s best friend, is a loyal friend that’s somewhere on the LGBTQ+ range. (He doesn’t know and neither do we.) I also really liked the therapist, Keylsey. The rest of the characters are fairly cardboard but that’s okay.

The Delphi Effect isn’t going to blow you away, but it is going to entertain you. Even though I had a lot going on when I started reading the book, I kept finding time to read it. It’s the first book in a trilogy, but you do get a complete story arc in The Delphi Effect. You also get a bit of a cliffhanger that will start the next book off perfectly. It really is an example of a perfect first book in a trilogy. I can’t wait to see how she develops the story in the second book.

A solid read with no scare factor to it, The Delphi Effect is well worth checking out, and will appeal to both teens and adults.