Some 14 years ago, Sid was a rising star with a golden voice and a glorious head of hair. Partnered with his manager, Munroe, a legend in the music industry, he was set to become the next big thing, but then tragedy struck and his whole world changed. Now he lives his life in a depressive funk, and he can't even be relied upon as a sly, when he used to be one of the best. But then Francois, a dear friend once upon a time, is on his doorstep asking for his help in a case. A simple thing. Just check out the situation. Easy, right? It's never that easy.
There's a missing teenaged girl named Circe whom Francois has been tasked with finding and he wants Sid's help, except there's a lot more to it and Francois is definitely not telling him everything. Like, really not telling him everything. Iva, Circe's mom, doesn't seem to want his help or Francois's, for that matter, and she's got some weird suicide cult past that no one is letting Sid in on, which is not cool. Add to that the enormous amount of mojo (magic) that is swirling in the missing girl's room and there's definitely more to it.
You see, Sid is a sly, a thief who slips in and out of mirrors to steal curiosities, items brimming with mojo because of the emotional connection they once held to someone. After Sid's wife, Abigail, was murdered 14 years earlier, by Sid's likeness no less, he's been on a revenge journey, desperate to kill his manikin at any cost, including selling his heart (yes, his actual beating heart - it's on hock and stashed in a safe) to one Hillary Minerva. He hasn't had much work lately, so Minerva is looking for his money and things don't look good for Sid. But lucky for Sid, he's pretty slick and can multitask, or at least pretend to help both Minerva and Francois.
While running all over Los Angeles looking for Circe, Sid discovers that someone has created a videogame called Gyre that revolves around a suicide cult and it ends with the rise of Demon, which is all well and good for a game, but serious mojo is wrapped up in Gyre that could affect the real world. Meanwhile, a throng of thousands is in downtown L.A. protesting... stuff, and in doing so, is generating a metric ton of mojo. What could go wrong?
As Sid searches for the girl, while trying to stay one step ahead of those looking for him, he discovers that everything he's thought for the last 14 years was wrong. And he seriously suspects that everything that is being flung his way is connected. No such thing as coincidences, right?
The universe built for Catchpenny is a lot. Honestly, it was a bit confusing. There were manikins, likenesses limned from reflections in mirrors; and vehemancers, animancers, and auspicers, people who wield mojo/magic in different ways. People are able to trade important things like their beating hearts, their voices, and other body parts in exchange for magic or the resources they seek or both. There's a videogame and people are being sucked into it, but not really, it is just consuming their lives. Plus there are so many side characters that are connected to semi-main characters, so it's a lot to keep straight. People like Perilous Sue, who is the person that taught Sid how to sly and she's also the one who cut out his heart. There's Lloyd Fonvielle, Minerva's all-too-angry errand boy, and Wendell Which and Horace Hoo, auspicers who grave-rob mojo-laden objects for their quaint shop. There are numerous manikins running around, whether for entertainment (dead movie stars who appear at Munroe's parties) or to serve as mirrored henchmen and they aren't always obviously manikins. Basically, there's a lot of color going on in this world, but it can be a bit much to keep track of. Also, Sinead O'Connor plays big into both Sid and Circe's life, so there's that throwback.
Overall, the story is interesting, albeit quite twisty-turny and the end is okay, but it didn't really have the knockout punch I was hoping for. It just kind of ended. Overall, I felt like the magic system was just somewhat offhandedly mentioned throughout the book and never adequately explained, at least to me. I had to keep notes on it, which doesn't make for an easy-going read. At any rate, if you like a really deep and odd magic system that skirts the line between Los Angeles noir and high fantasy, you might just fall in love with Catchpenny.
