The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo

January 5, 2023

The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo

The United States and the rest of the superpowers lost the Falklands conflict after Argentine developed a psychopigment weapon of mass destruction called Deepest Blue. Psychopigments alter human emotions positively or negatively. Kay Curtida is a Latinx detective with the Psychopigment Enforcement Agency, tasked with tracking down black market distributors of psychopigments in the sleepy town of Daly City just outside the ruins of San Francisco. When an old friend visits Daly City and drops hints about a ring selling fake Sunshine Yellow. Sunshine Yellow is an antidepressant pigment that most people take just to get through their day. The fake yellow pigment, called Shamshine Yellow, mixes the real pigment with Slate Gray, a major depressive.

This was a really creative and clever take on a dystopian society. The characters are well-written and engaging but the plot was very complicated and at times I had a hard time figuring out what was going on and keeping all the characters and their affiliations straight. The names of some of the pigments are clever: Ginger Curiosity, Cool Teal, Lavender Hope. 

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.