Look. I basically became a fan of Rob Hart after reading Assassins Anonymous, so it was a complete no brainer in picking this book up that he co-wrote with Alex Segura.  Not surprisingly, this was a win as well.  

Told in split POV’s running coincidently, this story follows estranged friends Jose Carriles and Corin Timony.  Jose is an ace spaceship pilot who has skated through life on a road of privilege despite a recent personal scandal. Somehow, he has landed a coveted position on a history-making mission to explore the first viable planet that could be the answer to a beleaguered humanity currently struggling to survive on the moon.  Timony, who hasn’t had it easy in life, who also was tied up in the same aforementioned scandal, finds herself demoted to riding a desk monitoring messages from space instead of doing what she does best - being a secret agent serving national interests and preventing general destruction.

As this book goes back and forth between Jose and Timony trying to find answers when unexplainable events stall, and eventually threaten, the success of  the mission, they slowly unravel secrets that don’t want to be found, where the lives of the crew, and ultimately the last of the human race, is threatened with annihilation.  

This has great science to it, and as all stories with this sort of setup, it touches on our base desire and drive to survive and the lengths we go through to merely exist. It is also a very smart, brutally honest, and often unsavory,  commentary on what makes us human, HUGE warts and all, encompassing our greed, desperation, and callousness. However, despite our many inherent failings, this asks the question: are we redeemable as a whole?  Are we worth saving?  I certainly hope so. 

For me, I absolutely loved the Star Trek vibes of this.  Be reassured this isn’t all existential angst.  Hart and Segura don’t fail on the action, suspense, the urgent espionage vibe, shady complex politics, and omniscient powerful aliens who are judge, jury, and executioners of the galaxy where humanity is not exempt.  This held my attention with the fast pace and reveals as both Jose and Timony are like dogs with a bone.  They may be terribly flawed, but there’s honor and personal growth for these two.  They know something is off, that something sinister is going on, and they just can’t let it be.  Good thing they don’t.

I obviously enjoyed this, and I’m simply further reassured that Rob Hart (and Alex Segura) are authors to remain on my radar.  

Thank you to the authors and Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.