Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo

Synopsis:

This horrifying retelling of the Pied Piper fairytale set in present-day Chicago is an edge of your seat, chills up the spine, thrill ride. ‪ When Detective Lauren Medina sees the calling card at a murder scene in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, she knows the Pied Piper has returned. When another teenager is brutally murdered at the same lagoon where her sister’s body was found floating years before, she is certain that the Pied Piper is not just back, he’s looking for payment he’s owed from her. Lauren’s torn between protecting the city she has sworn to keep safe, and keeping a promise she made long ago with her sister’s murderer. She may have to ruin her life by exposing her secrets and lies to stop the Pied Piper before he collects.

Edition:

E-ARC

Disclaimer:

I received a copy of Children of Chicago via Net Galley in exchange for review. This did not impact the contents of my review.

My Thoughts:

After I had already finished up my advanced reader copy, Cina announced on Twitter that she was holding a contest for a Chicago goodie box alongside a signed copy of The Children of Chicago. I loved what I read, and I knew I wanted to add the physical book to my shelves anyway, so I figured why not enter? And then I won. So I got that gorgeous pack of snacks and souvenirs you see above.

You can tell that Cina is a Chicago resident. She really manages to bring the city alive in this story. And she doesn’t try to gloss over the troubles the city has (as all cities have). Instead, she chose to embrace the good while still exploring the bad. And you can really feel the city in there. You can see the people just trying to make it day to day. You can feel the tiredness in some of them, the hope in others.

“Chicago fire. Mafia crime bosses. Serial killers. Street gangs. Chicago has it. We have such a bloody past and present that it just makes you wonder.”

The Chicago we are presented with isn’t 100% accurate – I mean clearly, right? You don’t think the Pied Piper of Hamelin moonlights as the Pied Piper of Chicago, right? Right? Spoiler alert:

The main character in Children of Chicago is what keeps me returning to think about what I read. Detective Medina is fascinating. She’s not a cookie cutter cop. Not even close. She’s a very complex person dealing with a lot of personal traumas in ways that aren’t always what you might hope she’d choose.

I know there was some shade thrown around about Det. Medina being unlikable, but…ummm…not everybody is likeable. I personally enjoy stories with unlikable protagonists. It keeps things fresh. It can be a fun practice, reading about people you don’t like. Or don’t understand. You’re not always going to like everyone in reality, either. But it can’t hurt you to try to understand them a little bit in a safe, non-threatening environment, you dig? That’s a huge part of the joy of reading, in my opinion – reading about challenging topics or problematic thoughts in a totally safe space where you are in full control.

But I digress.

I always like a good re-imagining of a fairy tale, and this one qualifies in my book. It was like a mashup of fairy tale, police procedural, true crime, and horror. It might sound overly complicated, but I think that Cina managed to wind those feelings altogether really cohesively. It’s certainly not a happy story, but the story of the Pied Piper isn’t a happy one. It’s a cautionary tale – as is Children of Chicago.

Keep your promises, or you’ll have to pay the piper. And don’t be surprised if he expects more in return than you realized you agreed to give.

About the Author:

Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo is two-time Bram Stoker Awards® nominated poet and author. She is the author of LOTERIA, SANTA MUERTE, THE MISSING, and POEMS OF MY NIGHT, all of which have been nominated for International Latino Book Awards. POEMS OF MY NIGHT was also nominated for an Elgin Award. Her recent collection of poetry, INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH explores true crime, that of the epidemic of missing and murdered women in the United States. Her modern day horror retelling of the Pied Piper fairy tale, CHILDREN OF CHICAGO will be released by Agora Books on 2/9/21. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, a Master of Science in Marketing, a Master of Fine Arts in Writing, and is a Doctoral Candidate in Business Psychology. Cina was raised in inner city Chicago, where she lives with her husband and children.

Rating:

Children of Chicago
By Cynthia Pelayo
Agora Books
Published: February 9, 2021
ISBN: 9781951709204
Format: Hardcover, e-book
303 Pages
Author's Website