Paradise 1 by David Wellington
Lt. Alexandra Petrova is a member of Firewatch, a sort of police force, stationed on Ganymede and pursuing a serial killer. When she disobeys her superiors and her investigation blows up, she is assigned to visit Paradise 1 in what feels like scut work. Paradise 1 is a startup colony on a planet 100 light years away. It is also home to Petrova's hard-to-please mother, the former Firewatch Commander. Her companions on the trip are the ship's pilot, Sam Parker, and a misanthropic doctor, Zhang Lei. Upon arrival at Paradise 1, their ship is immediately attacked and nearly destroyed.
Now the fight is on for survival in a system that is eerily quiet if not abandoned. Survival is a minute-to-minute proposition on a ship that is coming apart at the seams. Getting ahead of the crisis allows them to consider who is trying to kill them and why, along with what happened to the colonists. They have only themselves to rely on, along with a sarcastic and slightly fatalistic robot, aptly named Rapscallion.
Wellington is fantastic in his depiction of events as well as propulsively moving the story forward. He creates a pervasive mood of unease along with action that seems to never let up. Short chapters keep the pace rapid the entire time despite the book's nearly 700 pages. Action alternates with contemplation of the vexing mystery and flashbacks that help to illuminate both the characters and the present crisis.
To give away more details would be to ruin the experience which contains truly jaw-dropping surprises. This is one of the best sci-fi books of the year that manages to get better with every page and an ending that will literally give you chills. This book is going to wind up on a lot of "best of" lists at the end of the year. I can't wait to see where this story goes next!
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.
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