Echohead

By: T.C. Waas

Narrated by: T.C. Waas

Ivy Q. can read your mind - she can live your entire life, in fact. And normally, she would add your memories to her stash, like any addict stealing a fix. But right now, she’s distracted. A little obsessed with someone…

Set in Houston, Texas, Echohead is the story of a mind-reader obsessed with a televangelist, and her attempt, against her own better judgement, to uncover the preacher’s innermost secrets. This is a novel about life, music, and belief in the bayou city.

©2020 T.C. Waas (P)2020 T.C. Waas

Captivating

Waas has a knack for imagery, multiplied even further when read in his own voice.

Echohead blew my mind!

Echohead drew me in from the first couple of minutes and I could not stop listening until the surprising end!

Waas' debut novel racks up a few distinctly impressive accomplishments. First, it captures the feel of Houston, Texas like nothing else I have ever read. I spent many years in Houston and Echohead takes the reader all over the sprawling city. Additionally, Waas becomes a historian of the very recent past. Waas gives us a glimpse of life and the changing dynamic of the US in the latter half of the 2010's like a well-researched journalist. He also has an uncanny ability to boil down an entire life into a manic, stream-of-consciousness episode that makes the reader feel connected to the unimaginable power of his protagonist. The novel is densely packed with the varied experience of these lives.

Finally, I was entranced by Ivy's journey through the layered world of religion in megachurch country. Ivy's ability and how she uses it leads to an understandably complex view on religion well before she finds herself in the middle of the controversial world of holy celebrity. The philosophical discussions in Echohead are nuanced, contentious, and entertaining without being judgmental. This kind of thoughtful exploration of humanity and religion is something I seek out in literature and Waas tackled these heady subjects as well as anyone I have had the pleasure of reading.

I will be waiting eagerly for any future T.C. Waas novels.