Review by Tester013 -- The Lost Identity Casualties

[Tester013]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Lost Identity Casualties" by Kim Ekemar.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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What makes you, you? Whilst some may argue that it’s one’s consciousness or behavior that defines an individual, physical appearance plays no small part in that identity. Unfortunately, in The Lost Identity Casualties by Kim Ekemar, Matthias Callaghan III finds himself having undergone and unconsented transplant of his face and fingers, leaving him in an anguished and disabled state that some may argue is worse than facing death itself.

The first book in a 7-book series titled “The Callaghan Septology”, this book starts off with Matthias Callaghan III finding himself disoriented and strapped to a hospital bed with thick bandages on his head and hands. As a whole, this book is somewhat loosely divided into 2 sections: introducing the world and characters and Callaghan III’s revenge against those who committed the aforementioned atrocities against him. Throughout the book, Callaghan III is embattled in a struggle between returning to his former life and seeking revenge. Will Callaghan III get his revenge? Will he be able to return to his old life?

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this book is Ekemar’s character development. Whilst Callaghan III is the protagonist of the story, there were plenty of other memorable characters. The author has also helpfully included a list of characters for readers with the memory of a goldfish, such as myself. With most books, I find myself just slogging through the first few chapters without much recollection of what goes on as the characters’ names still don’t mean much at that point. However, that was not the case with this novel as I could continuously refer to Ekemar’s list and clarify any doubts I had regarding all the characters. Moreover, Ekemar’s choice of names probably also had some role in clearing the confusion, as I found that the characters all had rather distinctive names. As a result, I found myself enjoying the book much more as there was much less confusion about the various characters than in other books.

Moreover, the masterful suspense generated by the author’s writing contributes significantly to my enjoyment of the book. Right from the first chapter, Ekemar teases that something is seriously wrong with the protagonist, yet the truth is only revealed several pages later. In this interim, the author skillfully dissects the actions of those surrounding the protagonist, such as when the doctor did not exercise common courtesies extended to other patients, to slowly hint at what was to come. Eventually, the truth was revealed bit by bit in a way that left me on the edge of my seat, yet did not unnecessarily drag the story out such that it became boring. Such skillful manipulation of suspense is something that I have not seen in some time and is another important reason why I found this book so enjoyable.

Overall, unlike other reviewers, I found no major faults when reading the book. Formatting errors reported by other reviewers were not evident for me and this is likely a result of the publishers acting on feedback from previous reviewers. As it stands, I have to give this book 4 out of 4 stars, mainly due to the masterful suspense and the handy character list which made it much easier to focus on the story itself, rather than obsess over who is who at the start of the book. As for recommendations, I’d certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in thrillers and mystery novels, though perhaps younger audiences are unsuitable to read this book due to the gory details which are presented throughout the series.

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The Lost Identity Casualties
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[Erin Painter Baker]

While this is not a book for me, I am glad you enjoyed it, and that the publisher seems to have taken note of earlier feedback and made changes to the formatting of the book.