The Lattice Scheme

The Lattice Scheme (The Unseen Operative Book 1) by A. L.  Lieske

Book Description:

What would you discover if you could search another person's mind?

What if they confessed to a crime

When Azure Prescott gains the ability to enter the subconscious mind of others, it seems like the perfect tool for uncovering hidden crimes and buried secrets. Instead, it opens a world where memories can be manipulated, identities concealed, and certainty itself begins to unravel.

Assigned to recover a missing Italian intelligence operative who vanished after assuming a new identity, Azure expects to uncover answers buried within his mind. What she finds instead challenges everything believed to be true and raises unsettling questions about who can be trusted.

At the same time, an unauthorized investigation alongside an enigmatic detective exposes a conspiracy built upon altered memory and carefully constructed deception, concealing a history whose consequences are beginning to surface once again. As the two investigations converge, Azure finds herself pursuing more than hidden criminals. She is chasing a conspiracy that threatens to reshape everything she thought she understood.

Some truths do not simply change an investigation

They change the person who uncovers them

The Lattice Scheme is a speculative mystery thriller grounded in classical investigation, where every answer comes at a cost, and the search for truth is never without consequence. 

Lee’s Preview: A dense, intellectual, and imaginative thriller that stands in a class all by itself. 

Review:

A. L.  Lieske’s speculative thriller is different from the other thrillers I’ve read.  This book is dense, and I mean that in a good way.  +What this book does well, more so than any other novel I’ve read, is take its time in every scene.  None of the scenes are rushed, but given time to breathe, and everything is discussed in depth.  

Azure Prescott is recruited from her cubicle job to be a full agent within the Internal Division Reviews Department, while at the same time, she is approached by Detective Phineas Granger to collaborate.  Azure and Granger have a witty back-and-forth because Azure is put off by Granger’s slightly smug sense of humor, which contrasts nicely with Azure having no time for his style of interacting with her.   

The first part of the book focuses on Azure’s training without much action, but I thought it particularly well done, because the training is supposed to be normal, and when anything slightly wrong is introduced, the reader picks up on the discrepancy.  Once Azure receives her first assignment, she and Granger pose as a married couple in a large estate in order to investigate the owners, Signor Scigliano and his wife Isabel.  Azure poses as a teacher for Isabel to learn English while also entering the dreams of the owners to assist in the investigation. 

The dream descriptions are incredibly imaginative, but always based in the reality of the dreamer, with details and scenes pertaining to that dreamer, while also bending logic, time, and space.  By contrast, the real-world scenes are grounded in reality, the discussion “police procedural” in nature, and discussed in detail.  I find it fascinating that a speculative thriller grounds its investigation with so much realism. But this also makes the dream investigation sequences so much more compelling when “reality” is disrupted. And when the big reveals do happen, they feel well-earned because there has been so much set-up.  

If there is one aspect I wish was covered more, it is Azure’s backstory.  While we do get details dropped here and there (for example, Azure grew up in the foster system and has a foster sister, Nikki), I would have loved to see more of how Azure’s past informs her present actions in every aspect, especially emotionally.  But as the second book, The Fallacy Web, has just been released, I hope that maybe the second book will dive deeper into Azure’s past and how it affects her emotionally in the present.  

Overall, though, The Lattice Scheme is a wonderful, sprawling speculative thriller.  I compare The Lattice Scheme to fine dining meant to be savored over the more “fast-food” paced fare like most thrillers.  Not that there’s anything wrong with either, but for those who venture into the Unseen Operative series, if taken with the right attitude, there is such a fascinating world to be discovered, such a compelling story to unfold. I dove into the world of The Lattice Scheme, and I’m so glad I did.  I hope you will too!

Content Warning: While not the target audience, I think it would definitely be appropriate for teenagers to enjoy The Lattice Scheme.  Some dream sequences and some real-life sequences do feature some violence, but nothing too graphic.  There is no profanity or adult sexual content, which I found quite refreshing.