Heartbreak Incorporated by Alex de Campi

I would like to thank Hanna from Rebellion for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Solaris

Published – Out Now

Price – £8.99 paperback £5.99 Kindle eBook

Evie Cross had big dreams of becoming an investigative journalist but at 25 and struggling to make it in New York City, she's finally starting to admit that her dream is her side hustle and her day job is actually her job. That is, until she signs on as a temp for a small consultancy whose principal, Misha Meserov, specializes in breaking up relationships. Misha is tall, infuriatingly handsome, and effortlessly charismatic he can make almost anyone, man or woman, fall into bed with him. And he often does.

But the more Evie is exposed to Misha's scandalous world, the more she becomes convinced that he's hiding something... When a wealthy San Francisco tech CEO with a dissolving marriage starts delving into the occult and turns up dead, Evie has to decide between her journalistic desire for the truth and her growing desire for Misha.

Many of us have had that moment of this is not quite the life I was expecting. That first time out of education, the family home and even after the first job when you just feel a little lost, aimless, and frustrated. What can you do next? Reading Heartbreak Incorporated by Alex de Campi made me relive that experience albeit with added monsters, steamy romantic tension, and the lives of the rich and famous being exposed for the nastiness that lurks within.

Evie has lived in New York for several years dreaming of being an investigative journalist but in the 2020s journalism is a business running on low margins, low pay, and constant offers of great work with just exposure and not pay. Now Evie is running short on cash and if not doing bar-work is temping in offices and a friend has suggested she works for a secretive agency working in a prestigious skyscraper. Upon meeting the handsome but strange owner Misha who asks uncomfortable questions in the interview about her morality Evie finds herself thinking she may have escaped a dangerous workplace but then she at a later event helps Misha when he is attacked by thugs and gets the job. Evie finds then herself working for Heartbreak Incorporated a form that specialises in break-ups – the rich child going out with the unsuitable partner, the couple needing reasons to divorce or affairs to be exposed. Misha is good at this work for many reasons and their work focuses on the wealthy who can afford such skills. But Evie spots that some of Misha’s clients die in strange circumstances and gets the scent of a juicy story that may bring her back into the magazines. But the more she finds out about Misha the more she worries what he is and also the more attractive he becomes.

This supernatural thriller really works on the emotional make ups of the two main characters. I loved how this tale gets that lost mid-twenties feeling that someone knows they’re not where they want to be. Evie is smart, keen to do the right thing but also knows to make a story you may need to lie. The story works works hard to make us understand her life and her limited options hence her decision to work and try to betray her boss. But at the same time fight her feelings that develop for Misha. Misha the handsome, rich, Georgian, funny, louche, moody and yet sharp witted and occasionally kind mystery man is also compelling as he clearly has secrets to be exposed and something is wrong yet hard not to quite like how he comes across especially with the more obnoxious members of society. The first half of the book is these two characters coming together and each keen the other does not know their secrets. In the middle is Masha Misha’s funnier and more relaxed sibling ho may be able to help Evie figure out her boss. It’s a really good will they won’t they set of scenes that accumulate in some very passionate pay-offs.

The plot of the book falls into two halves. In the first half we follow Heartbreak doing what they do with a powerful couple where two husbands are being broken up.  de Campi very much shows the shades of grey in these dealings as we find one of the couple is an abusive swine and the person Heartbreak is trying to harm is the victim. It’s a bold move to put us on the wrong side of the debate but then we see Misha does have a few extra tricks up his sleeves. Misha’s actions and true nature again make us have to think about what side we are on, and I enjoyed having to make decisions on who I wished got punished. It’s a great way to set the premise of the format. The second half especially after Evie and Misha admit their feeling is a more central Misha plot and moves much more into the realm of the supernatural with murders, secrets and even mysterious gangs of priests all coming into play. I also liked that de Campi doesn’t use one of the standard monster threats here! It did feel like two separate stories, but I read this book as almost like the first episode of a new show introducing format, main and supporting characters and then the wider world that offers much more to be explored. de Campi can switch from scenes of office politics, friends calling each other out, romance to action and supernatural horror very skilfully and it really clicks together quite well.

Although the main story is neatly closed up and the world for the characters is now quite changed there is lots of room for more adventures which should be a lot of fun to read. This is a smartly written and sleek thriller throwing thrills, spills and kills all over the place. Will be very interesting to see where it leads.