Review: Generation Loss

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first book in the Cass Neary series, this establishes Cass as a character and all the flaws and problems she faces, both due to her own actions and those of others.

In this debut volume, we learn about Cass’s past as a briefly-important photographer who hasn’t really done much since then, but she is drawn into the search for a reclusive artist that ends up overturning some stones that were better left untouched.

As someone who doesn’t generally read mystery books, I’m surprised at how easily I was hooked into this series, as Cass is a perfect example of a flawed and damaged yet compelling character with some real agency. It’s a book where I felt like almost everything mattered, which is a nice change of pace, and I didn’t feel like the traditional mystery tropes that generally turn me off from the genre were immediately present.

Overall, it becomes a good package. While not my favorite of the three currently-written books in the Cassverse (for lack of a better term), this works as an excellent introduction to the series and has been a book that I’ve recommended to a few people who have loved it.

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