Review by Booklist Review
Ophelia Bray has worked hard to escape the orbit of her influential family by joining a competing corporation and is attempting to salvage her career by signing on for a reclamation and exploration mission. She awakens from cold sleep en route to an abandoned habitat on the distant planet Lyria 393-C and tries to integrate into a tight-knit team dealing with a loss. From the start, the team is unsettled by materials left behind, missing equipment, and the unusual conditions in which the previous team left their habitat. As Ophelia's group tries to complete their mission and figure out the mystery of what happened on the previous assignment, they deal with their own issues, and Ophelia tries to put the secrets of her father's legacy and her family's privilege behind her. Fans of the original Alien film will enjoy this tense psychological-horror story set in a far-flung future as the crew tries to identify the forces at play while navigating the atrocities of their corporate employer, which they know all too well.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In the latest from Barnes (Dead Silence), listeners follow a crew sent on a mission to an ancient and abandoned planet. Psychologist Ophelia Bray is the newest member, assigned to assist the crew, which recently suffered the loss of a team member. Her entire career has centered on the study of ERS, a psychological condition seen in individuals with extensive space travel experience, which can lead to devastating psychosis. The crew members are not happy with her presence and prove uncooperative. As tensions rise, bizarre occurrences lead Ophelia to believe something sinister may be at play--or even worse, is it all in her head? Narrator Zura Johnson embodies Ophelia's and the crew's unraveling sense of reality. The claustrophobia is felt throughout, with Johnson's voice leading listeners from the slower-paced, eerie start through the chaotic, mind-bending conclusion. Each character has a distinct voice, making it easy to differentiate during times of increased dialogue. VERDICT Barnes crafts an oppressive space horror that's equally a psychological and bodily nightmare, with Johnson's narration providing additional layers of dread. Fans of the Alien film franchise will feel right at home with this title.--Meghan Bouffard
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