One of the older and more respected (i.e., least dodgy) book contests for independent publishers is hosted by Indie Reader, an independent publisher promotion and advisory site. I entered my second novel, Toys in Babylon, in Indie Reader’s 2025 Indie Discovery contest back in August and promptly forgot. My book is such a short, light piece of work that entering a literary contest was an incredibly long shot -- admittedly farcical.
It turns out, someone at IR liked my book and posted a short, blurb-style review on the Indie Reader website -- six weeks ago… with my name misspelt. I only stumbled across the review because I was researching something else, whether an old haunt of mine in South Chicago (Powell’s Bookstore) had shelved the book following a written entreaty (It had). Here is what Indie Reader had to say:
"Patrick Finnegan’s [sic] second novel TOYS IN BABYLON is both satire and mystery and a sendup of AI. Coki, the mascot of a popular language app, is missing, and feared murdered. The app’s AI, who has evolved lives and ideas of their own, plans to take over the way language is taught, making human teachers irrelevant. Further plot dissection would reveal spoilers, and there’s too much fun to be had in discovering the twists and turns as they unfurl. Love, language, friendship, deception, and AI are all entwined for a roller coaster of a ride. The author has a sharp eye for the absurd and ironic, and weaves all the elements together in ways that are delightful surprises. TOYS IN BABYLON is a fast, funny page turner."
—IR Staff, Indie Reader – 7 September 2024