The Explorer

By James Smythe

ISBN# 9780062229410

Author’s Website:  http://james-smythe.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Sammy

*Beware of Spoilers*

Synopsis:

A tense, claustrophobic and gripping science fiction thriller from the author of The Testimony.

When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity’s great explorers.

But in space, nothing goes according to plan.

The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, and Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue.

But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone and spiraling towards his own inevitable death … unless he can do something to stop it. (Goodreads)

Review:

” One of the first things I did when I realized that I was never going to make it home – when I was the only crew member left…..”

I intensely dislike when I know the ending of a book first, had I not committed to doing a review of this book it would have gone to the did not finish pile. The blurb on the back of the book makes it sound like a different book, with a story line of possible different endings. That’s why I chose this book because of the back blurb sounded interesting.

It took me a couple of days to write this review because, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling about this story. It’s written well, the author does a great job of describing things and the people. Because of my issue with knowing the ending I had to push past my bias and continue reading. The story seems to start out slow, but then it did capture my interest. Perhaps because knowing they all die, I didn’t connect to any of the characters, why bother if you know they are all dying.The story is set in a contemporary setting, so it was hard to believe that the Doctor would have an affair with Cormac right before going into space. That part felt somewhat gratuitous, especially since the author describes Cormac and his relationship with his wife as great. Then to have the doctor immediately start another affair with another crew mate was very unprofessional.

There is one twist I didn’t see coming at all, it was fantastic!!! I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil it, it’s really good. The looping of time not unexpected, and somewhat interesting. For whatever reason even though I was annoyed at the beginning the book it stayed with me and had me thinking about it;  it was a tense read.

I recommend this book for anyone who likes space mysteries, with time loops. The writing is well done. For anyone 17 and older

Favorite quote!!!! Loved it. Perfect.

“I always said that the thing I was saddest about, when they had pretty much stopped printing paper books, was that I couldn’t tell how long was left until the end. I could find out, but that feel, that sensation of always knowing was gone.”