Inside Out – Reading the PsyCop series from the beginning

I can’t think of a better way to prepare for an upcoming book release than to reread the books that lead up to it in a series. Jordan Castillo Price announced in her newsletter in late 2018 that she was moving the date of Psycop #10 to early 2019. This update was posted on the coming soon page on her website. So to prepare, I am rereading the PSYCOP series from the beginning.

Last year was so hectic for me, and I devoured Psycop #9 (Agent Bayne) so fast after I received my pre-order that I desperately need to refresh my memory. But why reread just Psycop #9?

Why not start from the beginning? Read every novel and short story in order, all the way through PSYCOP-9, right before PSYCOP 10 is released!

It will be my 2019 New Year’s Reading Challenge. I will promise not to read Psycop #10 until I have made it all the way through the entire series as planned. 

JCP writes extra bits, either short stories or flash fiction, that she includes in the newsletter. So the characters have this visceral life outside the main books. To start the series off, I am beginning with the prequel short story: Inside Out #0.1.

I don’t care that it’s not considered the official start of the series according to her official reading order list. I do what I want, and I have to start from the beginning of the story, which means starting with the prequel that just happens to be part of Psycop Briefs Vol 1. This volume has all the “briefs” in the Psycop series in one book, which is hella convenient.

Inside Out is a short but fun read. Because it is a prequel, we get a view of the main characters before there was even a relationship between them. It’s funny, and I can’t get over how oblique their first encounter is. Inside Out takes place when Jacob first sorta meets Victor at a PSYCOP meeting. We get to see Jacob’s first impression of Victor.

The main books are told from Victor’s point of view. The short stories often diverge from that, and we sometimes get Jacob’s point of view, as is the case for Inside Out. This is an opportunity to learn about Jacob’s coping methods for dealing with his PSYCOP partner, Carolyn.

Since she is a telepath, he can’t lie to her, and I enjoyed reading his mental gymnastics when he has to answer her questions. And we get some info about Jacob and Crash when they were a thing. It helps explain so much later on.

Timing is everything when it comes to this series. Even this prequel (later released in the series) does a good job of hinting a bit at the foundation for what lies ahead.

Next: Among the Living – PSYCOP Book 1 (the one that started it all for me)…