Title: They Called Me Wyatt
Author: Natasha Tynes
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Format: Ebook
Date of Publication: June 11th 2019
Publishers: California Coldblood Books
ISBN13: 9781947856752
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When Jordanian student Siwar Salaiha is murdered on her birthday in College Park, Maryland, her consciousness survives, finding refuge in the body of a Seattle baby boy. Stuck in this speech delayed three-year old body, Siwar tries but fails to communicate with Wyatt’s parents, instead she focuses on solving the mystery behind her murder. Eventually, her consciousness goes into a dormant state after Wyatt undergoes a major medical procedure.
Fast-forward twenty-two years. Wyatt is a well-adjusted young man with an affinity towards the Middle East and a fear of heights. While working on his graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies, Wyatt learns about Siwar’s death, which occurred twenty-five years ago. For reasons he can’t explain, he grows obsessed with Siwar and spends months investigating her death, which police at the time erroneously ruled as suicide. His investigation forces him to open a door he has kept shut all his life, a spiritual connection to an unknown entity that he frequently refused to acknowledge. His leads take him to Amman, Jordan where after talking to her friends and family members and through his special connection with the deceased, he discovers a clue that unravels the mystery of her death.
Will Siwar get justice after all?
They Called Me Wyatt follows a Jordanian student Siwar Salaiha who is murdered on her 25th birthday and ends up finding her consciousness stuck in the body of a three year old Wyatt Shepard. This book is about finding who pushed Siwar off the roof that led to her death.This book is an intriguing and fresh take on solving a murder mystery.
Divided on two parts, the first part Siwar’s death and her struggle inside Wyatt’s mind. In this part, Siwar shows the life in Jordan and US from her point of view and the constant battle she faces between trying to fit in and trying to belong. Though I enjoyed the trip down the Jordan lanes, I found myself feeling dragged and bored. But in the back of my head I knew that the clue to solving Siwar’s murder was present in the part.
The actual fun begins in part two of the book. Now through Wyatt’s point of view, we try to make sense of the case. Here, I loved the alternation between Wyatt and Siwar. The chase to find the murderer kept me hooked onto the story and made sure I saw it through till end. Though I was able to guess the final reveal, it didn’t make the end less entertaining. They Called Me Wyatt is definitely worth the read!
Final Verdict:
They Called Me Wyatt by Natasha Tynes gets 4 out 5 stars from me.
Thank you to the author for sending me an ebook ARC!
About The Author:
Natasha Tynes is the author of upcoming speculative novel “They Called Me Wyatt” to be published in April, 2019 by California Coldblood, an imprint of Rare Birds. Tynes is a Jordanian-American writer based in the Washington, DC. An expert on the Middle East, she has appeared on a number of national and international TV programs, including Larry King Live, PBS’s Foreign Exchange with Daljit Dhaliwal, Paula Zahn show, CBS’s This Morning, Scarborough Country, and BBC’s Up all Night. Her byline has appeared in the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, and the Jordan Times, among many other outlets.
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