A sci-fi-tinged thriller with blueblood-gothic overtones, A. J. Ayeni’s THE ZARAGOZA CHRONICLES: Beginnings offers readers a refreshing twist on a timeless premise. Set in a hypothetical near-future (2040) where the lines between government and the upper-echelon private sector have become blurred, Femi, a Nigerian-American student, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he’s offered a prestigious scholarship. While the mere selection is an honor, the real reward for students is the possibility of employment at their corporate benefactor should they successfully complete the program. The pool of selected students are whisked away to the Zaragoza estate in Spain for a three-month ‘orientation.’ Femi should be thrilled—after all, only two people are selected per country—but he immediately begins to suspect that all is not as it appears. With the help of his roommates, Femi sets out to investigate their mysterious benefactors and soon discovers that his suspicions are only the tip of the iceberg. Enter the ZRC (Zaragoza Resistance Coalition), a loose-knit group united by one goal: to pull back the proverbial curtain and expose the Zaragosa for what they really are.
What follows is a refreshingly satisfying introduction, one that finds Femi and his fellow students diving into the murky waters of higher education. While an examination of the twisted hypocrisy permeating academia is hardly a novel concept, Ayeni’s decision to set this story in the not-so-distant future gives the author ample room to paint outside the lines. Additionally, forgoing the obvious cinematic advantages that third-person POV provides, the Atlanta-based author opts to double-down on the suspense and tell this story through Femi’s eyes, a decision that more than pays off. Femi is a bold, resourceful protagonist that bears little resemblance to the cardboard cutouts driving so much of contemporary fiction. His suspicions are there from the start, and our hero wastes little time second-guessing himself, opting instead to trust his instincts when it matters most.
From a writing standpoint, Ayeni’s prose is a confident mix of world-building and vivid scene-setting. Sure, there’s a load of exposition here (while the story quickly settles in, the pacing is a bit lopsided in the first act), but Ayeni dishes it out slowly, allowing the characters to process just what the hell is going on through their dialogue exchanges. In addition to the superb writing and plot development, the supernatural vibe that this story takes on as it unravels is a clever, welcome addition. What begins as a straightforward, sci-fi-tinged drama quickly turns into a paranormal thriller. By this point, it may sound like there’s a handful of competing elements at play here, but Ayeni makes it all work, and in turn, THE ZARAGOZA CHRONICLES is a fascinating, well-crafted read from start to finish. As the subtitle states, THE ZARAGOZA CHRONICLES is merely the beginning of a much larger saga, but if Ayeni never writes another word, he’s already succeeded in presenting a unique, fully realized story.
Little is as it seems in A. J. Ayeni’s superbly written THE ZARAGOZA CHRONICLES: Beginnings, a thrilling suspense-laden, character-driven examination of a not-so-distant future where an influential family with a disturbing secret finally meets its match.
~James Weiskittel for IndieReader