In Space, Your Screams Can Last Forever

It's been some time since a science fiction novel's left me feeling this jumpy and jittery. My mind's blown to the point where I've found my reading experience difficult to describe. Rare, vivid, and full of shocking, mindbending suspense, Dead Silence is scary as hell.

Claire Kovalik is introverted and prickly, not fitting easily into any kind of social situation. She's the kind of flawed, vulnerable underdog who makes a reader root for her even though she may have done terrible things. And 'may have' is the operative term since, in her medicated state, ghostly visions entangle with broken memories and make it difficult for the reader to trust in her version of events.

Her narrative allows strobing glimpses of present, past, and maybe never, like slides shifting crazily in a projector. Her last spacewalk; an involuntary stay in the corporate Tower psychiatric facility; orphaned on the Ferris Outpost, the tragedy of her childhood; her last day on the Lina, the day they encountered the Aurora.

In the hands of lesser writer, it could have been hard to follow, but it absolutely isn't. Despite the disjointed presentation--in fact because of it--the tension builds to an incendiary level that I suspect will be hazardous for readers with heart problems. Or night terrors.

The author has masterfully married an action-packed survival story of an encounter with a ghost ship to a woman's struggle with a predatory, plutocratic dystopia. Be warned, this is not a young adult novel, despite the genre's prevalence in that category.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC courtesy of SA Barnes and Tor Nightfire via NetGalley. I'm enthusiastically offering my review and recommendation, uninfluenced by anything except my reading experience: Dead Silence is an excellent book! If you love science fiction, horror, and psychological thrillers, it's among the best of all of them. I hope it will be made into a film!

When I saw the synopsis of this book, my first thought was: "Horror and science fiction? COMBINED??? SIGN ME UP!!!". I am so glad I received an ARC (thank you, TOR Nightfire and NetGalley). This was surreal. The best way to describe this psychological horror novel would be: The Shining meets the Titanic meets Alien.
As a rule, I love murder mysteries set in space (Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series is my favourite series of all time) and this did not disappoint in the least. Reading "Dead Silence" was a breathtaking experience; one that made me question my own sanity and understanding just as the characters were questioning their own. I read it (nay, devoured it) compulsively. I genuinely could not put this book down. It was incredibly creepy, and the ambiance of the setting was immaculately terrifying. I just know this will be a hit with fans of both genres.

This was an exciting, couldn’t-put-it-down read. It was definitely a horror novel with sci-fi touches; meaning that it will most likely appeal to horror readers and open-minded science fiction readers. There is a fairly low level of gore and violence, with much of it in the past with descriptions of the outcome. This means that a reader who might be turned off by extreme violence or gore (like me) will be able to read this. [Note, there IS some gore/violence that happens on the page, so consider yourself warned. But it’s not as visceral as most horror movies I’ve seen.] A steady level of dread and suspense (much like the first Alien movie) helped move this along and made me quite unsettled at times. The last third of the novel might disappoint some readers (I’m almost always disappointed by the reveal in thrillers), but I still recommend this to anyone looking for a solid thrill.

Oh man. So much good material to work with here. Great ideas. Unfortunately, this was too many good ideas all forced into one book. There is ghosts, insanity, space, pandemic, conspiracy, hallucinations and a touch of romance. Too many paths were taken in this story. Which means none of them ever fully developed. Like a taste test for ice cream. You end up liking every flavor and can't pick just one.

*Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

He points a trembling finger to the far side of the room, and all of us look.
The space is empty.

So, sci-fi isn’t really my thing…Unless it’s horror, which is why I was really intrigued when I received a copy of this book from Nightfire for an honest review.

Dead Silence follows our main character Claire and her four crew mates who are aboard the ship LINA. It’s Claire’s last rodeo, that is until one of the crew mates picks up an emergency signal from AURORA, a long lost ship. What starts off as a small mission to make themselves rich, soon fogs into things appearing at the corner of their eyes, loud noises echoing across the ship and events they can’t begin to explain.

This book was a mixed bag for me, I really loved the first half of the book because it was creepy, there was moments that were making me nope the hell out, it felt like i was watching a top notch horror film, but the second half really fell flat for me. I started to lose interest as things became more known. There were some points throughout the novel that took me out of how stressful and scary the situation was, and I sometimes found it hard to root for Claire in certain circumstances.

However, I do think Dead Silence is a solid sci-fi horror novel, it’s full of frightening passages, it’s well written and the visuals Barnes gave were haunting, especially during the first half of the book.

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes is an enthralling and engrossing read with a great plot and characters! Well worth the read

Dead Silence is the perfect blend of sci-fi and horror, and I read it in one sitting. The Aurora was a luxury space-liner that has been missing for 20 years. Passengers included celebrities, influencers, government officials, and tech giants. Everyone disappeared without a trace. While finishing up a job, Claire’s ship picks up a mysterious distress signal. Upon finding the vessel, Claire’s crew decide to salvage what they can.

This book was super creepy and I loved the atmosphere. It reminded me of Dead Space, a video game I love dearly. The jump between past and present was well done and the pacing kept my heart pounding.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This scratched every horror itch I had. It was right up my alley. I LOVE the whole premise of an abandoned ship, house, spaceship or whatever and this was so well done with the unreliable narrator, who unlike other horrors was believable and well thought out.

The perfect mix of horror and sci-fi, Dead Silence is unputdownable from the first chapter. I found myself compulsively reading a chapter whenever I could just to know more. Counting down the days until I can get my own copy.

Loved, loved, loved this. Fans of the films Event Horizon or Ghost Ship are sure to enjoy this one, as well as sci-fi horror fans. I was initially intrigued by the premise, and by chapter four I knew this would be a cover-to-cover read for me. I enjoyed the characters, the dread filled atmosphere, and chilling imagery. 10/10 would recommend this one.

It has been a long time since a horror book gave me the creeps, but this one delivered. Throughout the whole first half of the book I was constantly feeling a chill in the pit of my stomach, like I was being watched. The fear the characters felt was easy to relate to and feel myself.
I loved the pacing of this book and I think it really just added to the creep factor with the alteration between now and the past. I finished it in basically 24 hours total
I did not see the ending coming at all, we went from full on horror to a sci-fi battle for business feel, but I actually love how we got there. This had a great balance of horror and space opera that reminds me of The Expanse.

A story unlike any other. Dead Silence presents itself like many space horror but in its depths, you will find a tale of love, trauma, mystery, and self-discovery. One of the best books you'll read all year.

Dead Silence is a sci-fi horror mystery with an eerie atmosphere. A small space crew finds a lost luxury space-liner filled with riches and corpses. The characters are realistic and Barnes does a great job building the suspense as the story unfolds. There is a dual timeline as the main character reflects on past events and attempts to prevent disaster.

Special thanks to NetGalley, S. A. Barnes and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the advanced copy of Dead Silence. #DeadSilence #NetGalley

When Claire and her crew respond to an emergency signal, they find the Aurora - a luxury space cruise ship that's been missing for twenty years. Hoping to cash in on the discovery, the crew hops aboard and discovers unimaginable horrors. Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the early eARC. This will be available on January 25th!

I have some mixed feelings on Dead Silence. It's a bit like The Shining meets the Titanic with a far bloodier ending. Which sounds amazing and is everything I could ever ask for as a setting! But, I really did not care for the dual timeline used. I found myself not particularly caring about certain characters as I already knew their fate. Overall, though, I thought it was a pretty entertaining read with some good twists.

If you're looking for an eerie setting and some paranormal activity - then this is the book for you.

I received a digital ARC from Tor Nightfire via NetGalley. This book started off SO promising with Team Leader Claire and her space crew finding the long lost space liner, Aurora. This felt like Titanic meets Alien, which are two blockbusters. The story was very atmospheric and their travels through the luxury spacecraft of dead bodies and detritus was very alluring. The crew soon realizes something caused everyone on board to kill each other and now strange hallucinations are effecting them. However, about halfway the story transitioned off the Aurora and the characters couldn't maintain the second half of the book through to the epic shoot 'em up conclusion. This just didn't hit the spot for me, but it was interesting enough that I finished the story.

Dead Silence was a wickedly fun book. Sci-fi isn’t typically my go to genre, but the horror elements of an abandoned ghost ship pulled me in and kept me hooked. I thought the characters were great and unique in their own ways. I loved Claire’s character and really thought she was believable. The scattered timeline worked and the whole book was fast paced. If anything, I would have loved a bit more exploring on the ghost ship, but otherwise, this was a solid read. Can’t wait to see what Barnes writes next.

This is a story about the ghost in the machine.

This is a horror story on a massive scale: Ghost Ship, meets Event Horizon, meets The Sixth Sense. Ghosts, capitalism & a luxury liner in space! The creeping sense of pervasive dread & atmospheric terror are expertly created- I enjoyed every frightening minute!

Thank you so much Netgalley &
Macmillan-Tor/Forge. for this e-Arc!

I had HIGH hopes for this book. There isn't enough Sci-Fi/Horror out there. While the book didn't meet my expectations it was still a very good story. I was actually all ready to give the book 5 stars until the "horror" aspect turned into human greed/manufactured horror. I still finished the book very quickly and enjoyed it, just not for the reasons I was expecting to. I loved the "romance" and all the different crew members, even the jerky one.

Thank you so much S.A.Barnes for sending me a free ARC copy of Dead Silence. I've heard nothing but great things about this book. if you like books that are very spooky and filled with mystery then I would definitely recommend you read this book. it has everything you could want in a spooky book.

I received a copy of this novel through netgalley in exchange for an honest review…

So here goes…

Dead Silence has now become one of my top 10 reads this year. From the second I saw the cover, to reading the copy about the book I knew this would hook me from the start.

It’s a little bit Event Horizon, a little bit Pandorum and a whole lot of fun. The story ebbs and flows just like the inhale and exhale of the main characters. The imagery the authors words gives to your brain makes you feel like you are right there with the Crew of the LINA, and the twist… the twist will leave you questioning all the way until the end.

Absolutely fabulous read. Highly recommend.