Publishers Weekly
05/25/2020
Bova (the Grand Tour series) and Beason (Kill Zone) misfire with this uninspired sci-fi thriller, which reads like a mash-up of Die Hard and Apollo 13 set in the near future. Kimberly Hadid-Robinson is the senior ranking American astronaut on the International Space Station when it unexpectedly comes under attack. Kazakhstani cosmonaut Farid Hazood and Qatari space tourist Adama Bakhet arrive on the ISS determined to seize it for themselves. The pair slaughters everyone on board except Kimberly, who learns their plan to crash the ISS into New York City, killing millions. When news of their attack reaches the ground, the U.S. president considers proactively destroying the ISS, creating a frantic race against the clock for Kimberly and her ex-husband, NASA Lieut. Col. Scott Robinson. Scott and Kimberly’s relationship forms a poorly integrated romantic subplot that feels especially out-of-place given the high stakes. The reader’s suspension of disbelief will falter when Kimberly is forced to use sriracha sauce as a weapon and fall apart completely in the face of the authors’ odd choice to jump forward two days in the middle of the action. This disappoints. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Think Die Hard happening two hundred and fifty miles above the earth... will have you watching the skies overhead much more closely.” —Steve Berry
“One hell of a fine suspense novel.” —Stephen Coonts
“An awesomely realistic thriller.” —Larry Niven
“Begs for the big screen!” —Ward Larsen
"Rips through your imagination at Mach 25, a suspense-filled rocket that hurtles off the pad and never, never slows down. This hyper-realistic tale is the stuff of space nightmares.” —Tom Jones, veteran shuttle astronaut, spacewalker, and author of Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir
“A smart, gripping thriller.” —Terry Virts, NASA astronaut, International Space Station commander, Author and Speaker
“Thrilling... It surely captures the close working quarters and challenges of isolation while keeping readers on the edge of their seats wrapped around this story of intrigue, espionage and human terror.” —Sean O’Keefe, former NASA Administrator
“Wow! I found myself feeling like I was flying through the space station.... And I should know—I’ve been there!” —Nicole Stott, ISS & Space Shuttle Astronaut, spacewalker, and aquanaut
“A tense, claustrophobic, space-bound thriller.” —Library Journal
Library Journal
07/01/2020
Astronaut Kimberly Hasid-Robinson has been on the International Space Station long enough not to get too excited about new arrivals, even when one is an astronaut returning to the station for a second tour and the other a "tourist" paid to be there. Keeping one eye on the viewer showing the new crew members on board, Kimberly concentrates on running her experiment in her module. But a fairly routine process is thrown into disarray when the unsuspecting newcomers murder the astronaut greeters and everyone else on board except Kimberly. Trapped with the killers, she has no idea what they want or how to survive. To save the space station, she will have to use every ounce of ingenuity, courage, and creativity she possesses. VERDICT "Grand Tour" series author Bova and Kill Zone coauthor (with Kevin J. Anderson) Beason join forces on a tense, claustrophobic, space-bound thriller that while thin on characterization, particularly in regards to the villains, is just plausible enough to keep readers on edge and compulsively turning the pages.—Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
