Dr. Gillian Ryan lost her husband to a new and deadly form of dementia, and now her young daughter appears to be succumbing to the same frightening disease. The only chance to save her is a bold research project that can only be accomplished in space, but from the moment of liftoff to the final page, this intriguing psychological thriller crosses genres to blend science fiction into the mix.

Have you ever read a book and been reminded that you haven’t been reading enough of that genre lately? That happened to me while reading Obscura. I realized just how much I’ve missed sinking my teeth into a good science fiction novel. I know I can be a bit fussy about my sci-fi, and that’s ultimately the reason I don’t read more, but man does it feel good to find one that I can throw myself into.
In case it wasn’t obvious, I absolutely threw myself into reading Obscura. Its science fiction meets psychological thriller, and it really is the best of both worlds. I found the science fiction parts plausible enough to not break my immersion, and the thriller parts had me on the edge of my seat. What more could a girl ask for?
Obscura shows a grim and darker future for humanity. There’s a new disease hitting the population; it’s starting in small numbers, but is expected to rise in the incoming years (thanks to the spread of pollution). It’s similar to Alzheimer’s at first appearance, but is very distinct and has more physical complications that come along for the ride. In short, it’s terrifying.
That’s the world Gillian Ryan lives in, and if you think that’s enough to scare the pants off of you, the story has only just begun. It actually is a pretty heartbreaking tale, in the beginning. Joe Hart did a wonderful job of introducing the world, characters, and disease all in one stroke. The end result was very emotional and human, and successfully got me to care about the main character and her quest to find a cure.
Things quickly spiral out from there, getting more and more into the realm of science fiction. At first I was nonplussed by some of the scientific introductions that were made, but when I stopped and thought about them for a moment, I think they were pretty good explanations, on the whole. I certainly prefer it to the vague “this machine works because of science!” or going with a silly explanation. There’s real effort put into the theories here, and I can’t help but respect that.
As the story progresses the psychological thriller elements really start amping up, there were times that even when I could see where things were going I found myself terrified for Gillian (perhaps even more so, since I knew what was going to happen, while Gillian was painfully oblivious).
I’ll admit that there were points where the next action was somewhat obvious; especially with certain events near the ending (I’m being intentionally vague for sake of spoilers). There were parts I didn’t like about that, but on the whole I can’t argue with the explanation for the chain of events that occur, or the cause of it all that Gillian successfully uncovers.
What I loved the most, aside from the science fiction/thriller blend (which I enjoyed more than expected) was just how human Gillian was. Sure, she’s a brilliant scientist, but that’s not all there is to her. She has emotions, she’s flawed, she’s got reasons to be taking the risks, and most importantly, she has reasons to want to survive what’s happening to her. In short, she’s the sort of character that you can easily get attached to, which is perfect.
I haven’t read anything else by Joe Hart before this, but you better believe I’m going to be keeping an eye on his work from here on out. I sincerely hope he keeps with this sci-fi/thriller genre blend, I never would have guessed that I’d love it this much, but I really do!

A good mix of sci-fi and mystery. Nothing too outrageous on the sci- fi side, and nothing too unexpected on the mystery side. A fast read that held my attention.

This was a surprisingly very enjoyable, very fun book. This is my first reading of Joe Hart, but I will undoubtedly be picking up another book soon.

I walked into this without much detail as to the story and I recommend that others do so too.
All the boxes are ticked here;
You have a cool, interesting story,
Believable characters,
Twists, action and mystery.

A classic sci-fi thriller that is hard to not enjoy.
My only criticism is that it was a little predicable at times.

4/5 - delighted I picked it up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Fans of Andy Weir’s “The Martian” and Blake Crouch’s “Dark Matter” will enjoy Joe Hart’s sci-fi novel, “Obscura”. (Hart pays homage to Crouch in the “acknowledgements” portion of his novel, and it’s obvious in his writing that he is a fan).
A paralyzing illness is affecting many on Earth, causing dehabiliting memory loss, blackouts and aggressive episodes. Radiologist Gillian Ryan watched the illness take her husband’s life, and now she is watching her young daughter slowly lose herself to the disease. When Gillian is asked to travel to outer space to help uncover research that may lead to a cure, she reluctantly agrees. Billions of miles away from Earth, and from her daughter, Gillian finds herself plagued with doubt. She quickly realizes that the cure is not as unreachable as she once thought and there are those who would go to great lengths to ensure that the cure never makes it back to Earth, even if it means that Gillian herself will also never see home again.
This novel starts off with a bang. It engaged me right from the start, dragging me into the terror that the paralyzing illness is causing on Earth. Soon, Gillian is forced to accompany a group of (relatively) random strangers on a space mission, and the novel lost a little bit of its pull. As Gillian struggles to survive solo while her colleagues sleep in stasis, I was reminded of Andy Weir’s novel, “The Martian”. She struggles with addiction and paranoia all alone while trying to keep the mission on its course. I am not a huge fan of the astrophysics components of this novel (or Weir’s for that matter) and, although the spooky components kept me interested, I could not wait until the crew resurfaced and the search for the cure could continue.
Although the action in this novel was far-fetched and extreme (Gillian somehow managed to survive a brief walk on the surface of Mars unprotected), it would not surprise me if this novel was turned into a movie. The constant action and intrigue would definitely bring in box-office dollars.
I was able to guess a large component of the ending of this novel early on (I managed to determine the “who” part pretty quickly) but overall was satisfied with how it played out.
Avid science fiction readers will adore Hart’s novel, as well as anyone with a curiosity in outer space or teleportation (to avoid spoilers, I won’t go into any more detail on that one!) . It was a little too science-y for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Gillian, and the idea of a crippling neurological disease plaguing Earth.
Overall, a good read. I certainly will be eager to read more of Hart’s novels in the future.

I loved this book! Twists and thrills all the way throughout, and the writing was superb. I immersed myself in this book, I liked it so much, I actually felt the paranoia and nightmare Gillian went through.

The nitty-gritty: A fast and furious science-based space thriller with plenty of surprises.

The minute I read the synopsis for Obscura I knew I had to read it, and I’m so glad that I did. This was a fast-paced, twisty mystery in space that kept me guessing and scared the pants off me more than once! I did have a couple of issues with it, but overall I would recommend this to anyone who loves delving into the dark side of space travel. Joe Hart also touches on such themes as addiction and a mother’s love for her child, both of which were well incorporated into his story.

Gillian Ryan is a neural radiologist at the top of her field. At the moment, her focus is on trying to discover a cure for a terrible neurological disease called Losian’s, a disease that causes unexpected dementia in people of all ages. Gillian’s interest is personal. Eight years ago, her husband Kent died from the disease, after several years of losing his memories, one by one. Gillian was devastated, but  it was nothing compared to the terror she felt when her young daughter Carrie was diagnosed several years later.

When Gillian’s funding for Losian’s research suddenly ends, she’s offered an interesting opportunity. NASA is conducting top-secret testing on a device that could change the way people travel in the future, but there have been setbacks. Many of the people testing the device are coming down with symptoms of Losian’s, and now NASA wants Gillian to travel to the space station for six months to study--and hopefully solve the mystery of--why this is happening and what can be done to prevent it. A man from Gillian’s past dangles an irresistible carrot in front of her: if she agrees to the mission, NASA will give her unlimited funding for her research. Gillian doesn’t want to leave Carrie for six months, but the thought of one day saving her life is too tempting, and Gillian agrees to go.

But when she boards the shuttle that will take her to space, Gillian discovers that she hasn’t been told the entire truth about the mission. She finds herself in the middle of a war, of sorts, between those who want the project to continue and those who want to stop it. Now all she wants is to get back home to Carrie. But is that even an option anymore?

Obscura hooked me from the beginning and sucked me in, and the pace was such that I really didn’t want to stop reading because the story is pretty exciting! Hart does a great job of combining an interesting premise--a memory loss disease that doesn’t discriminate based on age, and the emotional state of a mother who will do anything to save her child. Throw in a space setting and add in a murder or two and you have an addictive mystery.

Hart tackles two emotionally wrought themes that may seem a bit heavy, but trust me, he did a fantastic job integrating them into the story. The first theme is obvious, the bond between mother and child. Gillian is being faced with yet another potential loss in her immediate family and she’s desperate to stop her daughter from dying of Losian’s. Her pain is real and it’s compounded by the death of her beloved husband eight years earlier. As a mother myself, I’m pretty sure I would never leave my young kids to go into space, but I can see why she’s motivated.

The second theme is that of addiction. Gillian is addicted to painkillers because of a leg injury years ago that still bothers her. She’s fully aware that she’s addicted, which makes it even more painful to watch, as she struggles to make up excuses as to why she needs just one more pill. Something happens on the mission which I won’t tell you about, but it involves her addiction and I thought it was very well handled. Much later in the story we are told about another type of addiction, but once again I am trying not to spoil the story, so I won’t go into particulars. Let’s just say it worked really well and added another dimension to NASA's secret project.

I had a couple of issues with the story, but they’re pretty minor and certainly didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. I really wanted more of a connection with Gillian’s daughter Carrie, who is the emotional catalyst for the entire story. Carrie isn’t in the story much and she comes across as more of a cardboard-like character than a real flesh and blood little girl who may be dying. I guess I wanted more of a reason for Gillian to leave Earth, and I just didn’t quite buy it. Also, there are a few plot points that really stretched my ability to suspend disbelief. I get that Gillian is a talented neural biologist, but the story makes you think she’s the only person on Earth who can find a cure for Losian’s, and again, it was hard to believe. There is also a big plot hole that really bugged me, but unfortunately it wanders into spoiler territory so I can’t really talk about it. However, if you’ve read the book we might need to talk!

The last twenty percent or so of the story was shocking, but in a good way. Let’s just say don’t get too attached to the characters because yep, bad stuff is going to happen to a lot of them. And I did get attached, just so you know!

I’ve done my best not to give away the best parts of the story, so if you haven’t yet read Obscura, you’re in for plenty of surprises. I know that Joe Hart has written quite a few books, and now I’m very keen on reading some of his backlist. If you love science fiction stories with plenty of action, mystery and relatable characters, you won’t want to miss this one.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

What a POWERHOUSE of a novel!!! Obscura has it all: a medical thriller; a murder mystery; an adventure featuring space travel; addiction; and psychological suspense. This is an absolutely captivating book.

Gillian Ryan is a medical researcher studying Losians, a new, aggressive form of dementia which affects all ages; its cause is unknown and there is no cure in sight. Gillian has already watched her husband contract and die from Losians. Now, their young daughter, Carrie, also has the disease. When she is approached by ex-flame Carson LeCroix, who now works for NASA, asking for her help in researching and studying the crew of the space station, many of whom have Losians, she feels she has no choice but to agree. Studying human subjects who have the disease rather than lab animals could move her research ahead by leaps and bounds, and if Gillian can find the cause, she might be able to save her daughter.

Once in space, Gillian learns that many of the things she was told before she agreed to help were misrepresented. And one little lie, leads to others. Soon Gillian finds herself questioning not only those around her, but herself as well. Definitely in danger, she has to fight for her life and isn't sure she'll ever return to earth.

Joe Hart knows how to make the reader feel and experience what Gillian does. When she is creeping down a hallway, we all creep with her, and when she gets the heck scared out of her, she's not the only one! Captivating, creepy, suspenseful, and just plain fun, this is one of my favorite books so far this year. Five stars from me!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

Combining elements from science fiction and thriller-suspense, Joe Hart brings us a gripping tale set in the not-too-distant future where a new form of dementia known as Losian’s Disease is sweeping across the globe, affecting both the old and the young. No one knows the cause, but as the widow and the mother of Losian sufferers, Dr. Gillian Ryan is determined to find a cure. She has already lost her husband, and she’s not about to lose her little girl too. But even as a leading researcher of the disease, Gillian has to show results to continue receiving funding, and unfortunately she has not been making much headway in her work. Desperate to keep her research going, she lets her old friend Carson talk her into taking part in a top-secret NASA mission to examine a space station crew that has been affected by symptoms similar to Losian’s, even if being in space will take her away from her daughter for six months. But if it will save her research and get her closer to finding a cure, Gillian convinces herself that it will be worth it.

However, her journey to space is plagued by problems from the start. Not only has Carson not been completely forthright with her on the details of the mission, there appears to be a saboteur on board, and it appears he or she will go to great lengths to damage NASA’s work—including resorting to murder. As the violence mounts, Gillian finds herself the main suspect as the evidence against her becomes more and more damning. She tries telling the others that she is being framed, that she is innocent—but after a while, even she is beginning to doubt herself. With all the lies and deception surrounding her, as well as the effects of withdrawal, isolation, and being far from home, it is difficult to be certain of anything anymore.

Mysteries set in space—especially those involving murder—always have a certain appeal to me. Usually these stories are set in a small confined area, emphasizing the loneliness and claustrophobic atmosphere. The number of suspects is often limited as well, but because of everyone’s close proximity, it always makes the tension feel much more present and urgent. Joe Hart uses these elements to great effect in Obscura, deftly evoking the feelings of terror and paranoia in his main protagonist. There’s nothing more disturbing than doubting your own sanity, and in this way, Gillian is pushed to the extremes at every turn.

Speaking of which, the characterization of Gillian is fantastic. Hart sets up her background perfectly, painting a picture of a grieving widow and loving mother who has already lost so much to Losian’s Disease. Finding a cure to save her daughter is the goal that drives her, and it’s also the only thing she would sacrifice everything for. She is also under a lot of stress, and has been secretly relying on heavy prescription drugs to get her through, ultimately becoming addicted. Being away from her little girl is bad enough, but when she finds out that she has been deceived—not once, but multiple times—to get her to agree to the mission, that is the last straw. I really felt for her character then, sympathizing with her anger, regret, and frustration. And then came the murder. Gillian might not always make the best decisions, but she feels genuinely like someone who is trying all she can to get out of a bad situation, especially when everyone seems to be against her. She’s terrified and uncertain of herself, but still she refuses to give up.

The plot also makes this novel a page-turner. Just when you think you have everything figured out, Hart throws a curve ball and the story takes a different turn. There are a lot of surprises not mentioned in the publisher description, and I had a great time discovering all of them. Let’s just say I was under the impression that Obscura was more of a straight-up thriller, and I was delighted when it turned out there are actually way more science fiction elements in this book than I thought.

My only criticism is that there might be too many ideas in this book, so that sometimes the plot felt a little fractured and disjointed. I can’t go into much detail without revealing spoilers, but there are a few concepts that aren’t explained very well, and plot points that aren’t as well developed. However, Obscura is still first and foremost a thriller and not a hard sci-fi novel, so in a way, this was to be expected. As long as these shortcomings didn’t affect the overall excitement and flow of the story, I didn’t really mind too much, and the good news is, no one can fault the book’s thriller and mystery aspects. The author did an excellent job of building up the suspense, and then capped it all off with a completely engrossing climax and conclusion.

All in all, Obscura is a fine example of an effective sci-fi thriller, hooking the reader with an intriguing premise. The wonderful characterization and swiftly-paced plot successfully pulled me in the rest of the way, the suspenseful atmosphere capturing my full attention and keeping me riveted, wondering what will happen next.

Thanks to Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This book takes us into the near future, a very fast paced sci fi mystery thriller.
Dr Gillian Ryan has lost her husband to a new form of dementia and her young daughter also has it. She needs a cure urgently and finds herself agreeing to go to space for six months, in exchange for unlimited funding for her research, but those in charge of the mission have not been honest with her.
I was rooting for Dr Ryan throughout the book, she has an addiction to opiate painkillers and is struggling from withdrawal symptoms.
There is a lot of high tension and nothing goes according to plan, she certainly needs to be one step ahead if she hopes to make it safely back to earth and her daughter.
I’m not a sci-fi fan but I still enjoyed this book a lot.

iews > Obscura
Obscura by Joe Hart
Obscura
by Joe Hart (Goodreads Author)

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Lou Jacobs's review
May 13, 2018 · edit

it was amazing

"Beam me up, Scotty!" .... enter a world where a "transporter" is science and not fiction. Everyone remembers transporters from the Star Trek shows ... it was even present in the pilot of the first episode, "The Cage" and if not that, from the earlier movie: "The Fly" ... in which a common housefly enters unseen into the molecular transporter and an unexpected scientist is transformed into a grotesque creature.
In this same world, a new form of dementia, termed "Losian's Disease", is evolving into a growing menace ... unfortunately affecting the young as well as old. A NASA project in space is utilizing the new technology of transportation ... but, not without consequence. Some of the users are develping symptoms reminscent of Losian's disease. World reknown scientist, Gillian Ryan has been making breakthroughs in her reasearch of this disease. She is promted by the loss of her husband and infliction of her young daughter with this horrendous progressive process. She is virtually kidnapped by NASA and whisked off to space in hope that her research can shed light on
and hopefully repair the effects of transporting.
The last quarter of the book ramps up to a breakneck speed intergalactic murder mystery with
a multilayered plot of conflicting motives and characters. Several unsolved murders arise as well as several attemps on the life of Dr Ryan. Through a deftly plotted tale with precise prose an escalating sense of intrigue, the tension builds to an unexpected but satisfying conclusion. Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer Publisher for affording me my first taste into to the fiction of Joe Hart with an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review.

Obscura was, in the end, unexpectedly marvelous.

At first, the book reminded me of Lock In by John Scalzi. There’s a disease that seems to have come out of nowhere, but is rising in incidence throughout the population, and so far, there’s no cure. Losian’s Syndrome in its way is even scarier than Hadens – because Hadens preserves the person while leaving the body behind (sorta/kinda) while Losian’s resembles Alzheimer’s in that it preserves the body while stealing away the person by separating them from the memories that make them who they are.

Unlike the scenario in Lock In, however, Losian’s is not yet widespread enough to force governments to inject massive amounts of research funding. Dr. Gillian Ryan is all alone, with only her lab assistant for company, as she studies the disease that took her husband and is now taking her daughter. As the story begins, she feels as if she is on the threshold of a breakthrough, but her funding has been eliminated.

She feels like she has nowhere to turn, except to the opioids that she is addicted to, when an old frenemy contacts her seemingly out of the blue. NASA needs her help, and they are willing to give her unlimited funding to study Losian’s – in exchange for six months of her life aboard the space station.

This is not, of course, out of the goodness of their hearts. If they have any. NASA has a problem, and Gillian is the only researcher who is working on anything that might possibly offer a solution.

Of course, all is not as it seems. The disease may be, but nothing that surrounds NASA’s offer to Gillian bears a whole lot of resemblance to the truth – or even has a nodding acquaintance with it.

In the end, this is a story about secrets. NASA lies to Gillian, Gillian lies to NASA, and everyone is lying to everyone else. And while Gillian’s research into the cure for Losian’s bears fruit, it is not remotely related to the problem that NASA hired her to solve.

Not because she’s not a good scientist, but because NASA doesn’t know what the problem really is. Once Gillian finally sees the truth for herself, she realizes that she is, after all, NASA’s best hope of solving it – not because of her scientific strengths, but because of her human weaknesses.

Escape Rating A-: The beginning of the story moves a bit slowly. There is a lot of set-up involved before the story gets off the ground, both literally and figuratively.

This is one of the other points where the story reminds me of Lock In, as in Obscura the author needs to take some time and a fair number of pages to introduce the world as it is in this near-future, as well as the issue of Losian’s and Gillian’s reasons for attempting to cure it as well as her setbacks in working on that cure.

Lock In solved this problem by introducing Hadens in the prequel, Unlocked. It meant that Lock In could start rolling immediately, but that readers who had not picked up Unlocked first could be, and often were, lost.

Part of what kept me going at the beginning of Obscura was just how many stories it reminded me of. When we finally hear a truth about what has gone wrong at the space station, it sounded a lot like two interlinked Star Trek episodes, the Original Series episode The Naked Time, and the Next Generation episode The Naked Now. In those stories a virus runs rampant through the crew, causing people to lose all their inhibitions, expose their innermost selves, and, if left unchecked, eventually results in death by extreme stupidity.

That resemblance turns out to be a red herring, but it kept me going for quite a while. And it may be a pink herring. The results are very similar to the virus in Trek, but the cause turns out to be something different all together.

There are also elements of both The Martian and The Retrieval Artist series. Just as in The Martian, Gillian spends an incredible amount of time completely isolated. The circumstances are not dissimilar in a number of ways. She is, in the end, equally as productive as the hero of Andy Weir’s book – but her reaction also feels more human in that she keeps focus in some directions but loses it in others – going more than a bit crazy and hitting absolute bottom – while still continuing to work.

The Retrieval Artist series is a detective series set on in a lunar colony, and in the end, Gillian is accused of a crime she did not commit and is forced to become a detective in order to set herself free.

But in spite of, or in some cases, because of the resemblances, the second half of this book kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to see what happened next, and whether Gillian managed to get herself out of the huge mess she found herself in. The actual ending contained both a surprise and a delight as well as a dose of reality.

One final thought – as a Star Trek fan, I couldn’t help but be struck by one revelation of the story – Bones was right.

I enjoyed the sci-fi/thriller aspect of this story, which is what caught my attention to read this book. The storyline was tense and had some good twists and turns. There were some slow parts and the flashback/flash-forward in the beginning was a bit tedious. But overall, it was a solid read with an interesting premise.

“It’s rare and it comes out of nowhere and destroys who you are.”

It is 2028 and Dr. Gillian Ryan, neural radiologist, is working with Birk Lindqvist, a brilliant postgraduate, to find a cure for Losian's Disease. The disease is similar to Alzheimer's but attacks all ages. She's already lost her husband to it and now her eight year-old daughter has it.

So when her project loses its funding and she is approached by NASA with a mind boggling proposition, she reluctantly agrees to be away from her daughter for six months in return for unlimited funding in exchange for her working on their top-secret problem.

I liked the in-depth characterizations especially of flawed character Gillian, an addict. There was plenty of action and a unique storyline, which all ties together by the end of the book.

I highly recommend this to sci fi fans or people just wanting to read a well-written story.

I received this book from Thomas & Mercer through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

The brilliant thing about nefarious scheming on a space ship or station on a planet like Mars – everyone is trapped. Gillian is a brilliant, likeable woman with some profound emotional scars after the tragedy that overwhelmed her family – and unlike most of the others on the ship, she isn’t keen to be in space for a moment longer than is necessary. She takes the decision to stay awake and continue working through the voyage to Mars as she is running out of time to find a solution – when she realises that something isn’t right…

She teeters on the edge of meltdown, as the loneliness, her longing to be back with her sick daughter – and her addiction to the medicine she was taking during her recovery from a serious car crash – all take their toll. So when she begins to feel that someone else is also on the ship, she has to accept the fact that she is losing her mind.

Often, when the intense atmosphere is built up in these types of psychological thrillers, once we learn the reason why our protagonist is in such a lather, the whole episode falls rather flat. It’s why this sub-genre isn’t one my favourites – I’ve been disappointed too often. However, that’s not the case in this tightly constructed, beautifully plotted gem. I loved the whole story arc – including the climactic, action-filled denouement. Plus that final amazing twist… I haven’t read any of Hart’s work before – but I’ll be reading more of it in the future if this is an indication of his writing talent. Highly recommended for fans of futuristic murder mystery thrillers. While I obtained an arc of Obscura from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Obscura by Joe Hart was a fascinating read that combines several genres without faltering; medical thriller, sci-if, murder, suspense and space travel, and does so very well. If there is a flaw, it would be the way the book goes back and forth in sequence, but it is all necessary for the story. I have always enjoyed Hart's work, but he is t the top of his game with Obscura.

Thank you to netgalley and the author/publisher for a copy of OBSCURA in exchange for an honest review.

What a pleasantly unexpected surprise this one was for me. I am not a huge science fiction reader, but the medical and suspense aspect appealed to me. Unsure of what lay in the pages, I went in cautiously and ended up being blown away by what an entertaining page turner this ended up being. The pacing was perfect, there was plenty of thrilling suspense to keep me engaged and I really connected with Gillian, the main character. She was intelligent, flawed, driven, strong and committed.

Uniquely different from any book I have read, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good suspense with a twist. I don't think you have to be a science fiction lover to enjoy this one. For some reason that I cannot put my finger on, I think it would liken it to Ready Player One. An action packed, near future story that kept me hooked and entertained. Definitely one for my recommend list.

4.5 stars. The story was very well written, unpredictable and very entertaining and gripping. I could not put this book down and I found the story original. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends as it's a very enjoyable action read. The main character is a bad-ass woman scientist who is very likeable despite her flaws. I think this would make a great movie! Fingers crossed!

Such a great science fiction/thriller! As someone who knows very little about science I really enjoyed the scientific aspects and how they blended with the mystery and thriller elements to the story. This book was both fascinating and creepy. I found myself on the edge of my seat (especially when they were on the ship and Gillian was by herself) and could not put the book down! I would highly recommend this...especially to someone who enjoys science fiction. This would make a great movie.

This is one hell of a heart pounding thriller!

In the near future a new disease has begun to spread which causes memory loss, hallucinations, and violence among it's victims. Dr. Gillian Ryan has already lost her husband to the disease and now it wants to claim her 8 year old daughter too. Gillian has been conducting research into the disease and is just on the brink of answers when suddenly she loses her funding. Then Gillian is approached by her former college boyfriend who works for NASA to investigate a space station where the members have all begun to show symptoms.

The paranoia and claustrophobia never let up. Not for them and certainly not for the reader.

I do not know how to classify this book. Sci-fi, thriller, mystery, and even a slight nod to horror. Joe Hart has written many a cringe worthy scene that left me shivering. This book reminded me a bit of The Deep by Nick Cutter except we trade the Mariana Trench for Mars.

Would I recommend this? Damn right I would.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Joe Hart for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.