This really felt like a literary version of the horror movie - I could hear the music looming in the background leading up to the end of a chapter and could barely put the book down to find out what was causing the horrific acts to continue. I was less impressed with the romantic thread and felt that it could have been omitted, but it certainly allows for character growth from the beginning to the end of the novel for our perspective character.

An enjoyable and spooky time.

I am partial to suspense thrillers that take place in a Forrest or deep in a cave, not typically in space. Even still, this book was great. It still involved a cave with frightening things abound. I was able to pick up on it quickly, there weren’t any twists or surprises. I would have like the book to be a bit less cut and dry, but the book was able to hold my attention regardless.

Hi! Surprised to see me reviewing anything with the slightest twinge of “horror”? But, like Kate with her reading of science fiction stories, I do make exceptions for horror stories that cross over into my preferred genres. I’ve read a few good horror fantasies last year, but this is the first horror sci-fi book I’ve read in quite some time. And man, emphasis on the “horror” part!

Like Kate references, there have been plenty of science fiction horror stories in the past, both on the screen and on the page. So with that in mind, going in I always feel like there are two rather predictable routes the book can take. And this book does employ one of those and some other commonly seen tropes. That said, the actual horror, dread, and jump scares of the book still came in hot and fast. The first half of the book had me on the edge of my seat. And, I won’t lie, several of of these scenes have stuck with me and popped into my mind at inopportune times when trying to get to sleep, even days later. It also helped that Claire herself was an unreliable narrator, so it was hard to know exactly what horror was coming from her and what was coming from the strange happenings on the Aurora.

But I’ll also agree with Kate that the book lags a bit towards the second half. It almost feels like the author got up to speed on the horror of the situation and then slams on the brakes, cutting all tension and suspense off at its knees. From there, it shifts gears, and while the story does build to a different sort of tension, we never regain the jittery creepiness of the first half. And that’s such a shame! As we learn, there was plenty of scary stuff to come and for some reason the author just jets us away from it all unexpectedly. It’s a bizarre choice, frankly.

That said, I definitely enjoyed this read and gobbled it up over only a few reading sessions. For me, a little horror goes a long way (can’t have too much nightmare fuel all at once), but this was definitely a good choice for one my rare ventures into the genre.

Serena’s Rating 7: Very creepy when it stuck to its horror themes, but a bit baffling with some of the choices the author made later in the story.

3.5 stars
I found the beginning to be a bit slow but once it started picking up that something was going on at the station and more crew started dying through the end of the book I really enjoyed it.

I saw this described as Titanic in space and that comparison was apt. A mix of horror and psychological thriller, I found the pacing of this one a bit off. I was invested and tore through the beginning, but for me it lost steam towards the end.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I really enjoyed this book, and it had a lot of elements that are immediate ins for me: Titanic style disaster, space horror, female protagonist. I found the main character to be complicated and compelling, if a bit frustrating. And the framing of the book, an official interview recalling the events of the story, really interesting. But, the romance intertwined in the narrative felt weak and generally unnecessary, and it many ways slowed down the reading for me personally. I also felt the final chapter was a bit of a weak ending for the story. But overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who read and enjoyed Dead Space by Kali Wallace in particular.

This book was extremely well done!
I love horror and science fiction and everything gory! So this book was such an awesome mix of it all!

Main character Claire Kovalik is on her last mission in space before she’s put out of work. That is until her and her team reach a distress signal. This signal leads them to the Aurora, a ship in the shape of a luxury cruise that has been missing for the past two decade along with its over 500 passengers.
But what’s worse is that upon closer inspection from their own ship, Claire and her team can spot some peculiar things. What will they find out about the Aurora? When did it all go wrong and who or what is behind this? Can their trust what they’re seeing or will they succumb to the same madness?

This book was of course a five star read it was super intriguing and a huge page turner! There’s always some shady shitttt! Lol highly recommend to anyone and everyone who loves horror and/or science fiction!

Reviewed on booktok @4everbooked, bookstagram @4everbooked, and goodreads @4everbooked

A good setup - finding a luxury space cruise ship where everybody has mysteriously died. However, I found the main character to be too overwrought to move the story along at a good pace. Her unceasing anxiety about everybody and everything around her became monotonous and tiring to me. If she had some brief breaks from her gloom it may have helped pace it better.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I never realized how bad I needed haunted space ships in my life until I read Dead Silence. Ghosts. In space. Yes please! More! Thank you.

This book was just so much fun, I read half the book in just one sitting! The plot is so engaging. I just could not put it down. I absolutely loved the mystery surrounding the lost space ship and all of it’s passengers. Completely on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The author does a great job with a creepy atmosphere. You really feel the build up of isolation of space and the dread from inside the lost space ship. Adding to the overall atmospheric tension is that you don’t know if you are dealing with an unreliable narrator or not. That left me feeling even more curious about what had happened.

Dead Silence is 100% entertaining. I pretty much devoured this book. Loved the plot, the atmosphere and the characters. If the horror movies Ghost Ship, Event Horizon and 6th Sense had a book baby, this would be it. I had a great time reading this and I know I will be re-reading this one many times in the future. Not just that, but I will be recommending it to everyone.

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes is a sci-fi horror novel that is described as "Titanic meets The Shining." Claire and her crew find a luxury cruise ship that has been missing in space for decades and decide to board it to see if they can salvage anything. But, while aboard, crazy things start happening to them. Is there a poisonous chemical on board the ship? Are there any survivors aboard? This book was very fun and fast-paced--almost like a movie with how well-written and descriptive it was. I highly recommend this story if you need a story that will suck you in from the beginning. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Dead Silence is a mix of Titanic and The Shining. A luxury cruise spaceship is found after decades of being missing. Those that go to investigate are found in a world of delusions and confusion.

This is a great science fiction horror read by S.A. Barnes that does have a little bit of romance, but it doesn't overshadow the action. There are moments that get a little confused about what is happening, but it seems intentional.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the opportunity.

Great great read! Loved the atmosphere and the story!! Super creepy and all together a fun time! I love the whole ghost ship concept which added an extra creep factor!

This was everything I hoped it would be and more! Dead Space but better. Found family and self-discovery. This is just... UGH it's so good! And the horror aspects are just *chef's kiss*

Do you love ghost ships? Do you wish Sam Neill would make more horror movies? Are you a sucker for space horror? Yes? Well then do I have the book for you!

Dead Silence is a tense, claustrophobic story that I absolutely could not put down. It had my skin crawling and the hair on the back of my neck standing on end, constantly convincing me that there was someone (not necessarily an *alive* someone) standing juuuust behind me.

It's been a while since a book got under my skin the way this one did. The plot is fast paced, never giving the reader a chance to let their guard down, and while I had a general idea of the direction things were headed in, the execution of the reveal was *chef's kiss* absolutely perfect. I loved the entire cast of characters, but Claire was next-level amazing. She's a fantastic protagonist, with an interesting, rich back story and character growth galore.

I would be shocked, SHOCKED! if this doesn't end up in my top 5 reads of 2022 by the end of the year. It was just THAT good!

This was a fantastic story about a Titanic type ship that goes down and well have horrors and ghosts. I loved the suspense the story had and how there was was some romance. I think it fit the story well and gave it more feels. I will say that this is perfect for the horror/romance reader! It gives the best of both worlds.

I didn't hate it, but I do feel like I was sold a false bill of goods with this one. I love sci-fi horror. I wanted something along the lines of Alien, Event Horizon, Pandorum, etc. But there were a few narrative choices made that either hampered the buildup of dread or utterly broke my immersion in the story.

Telegraphing the deaths of crew members via the scenes taking place during Claire's visit from the bureaucrats interviewing her really hindered my enjoyment of the novel. Not only does this eliminate any feeling of surprise, but it causes the tension to plateau each time it happens. (view spoiler)

2. Romance had no place in this novel. I say this as someone who is an avid romance reader - keep the romantic subplots out of my space horror, please. Especially when they're not resolved, and just end in the same weird "will-they-won't-they" status that persisted throughout the novel. Or, start with a couple of characters who are already in a romantic relationship. That can add interesting layers to the survival elements of the horror plot, put characters into situations where they have to choose their own safety or a lover's (or the safety of the whole crew), etc. Having this weird juvenile crush sub-plot just felt really out of place within the larger narrative. Maybe Claire is having such a juvenile reaction to being attracted to another crew member because she's emotionally stunted. I could believe that. I do have a hard time believing that THIS is the moment to be acting on those feelings. Or rather, not really acting on those feelings but spending a lot more energy thinking about them than, say, the ship full of dead people.

It would have been nice to have spent more of the first few chapters developing side characters rather than jumping back and forth across the two weeks between the events aboard the Aurora and Claire's interview. I don't see what the time jumps actually added to the story, and telling everything in a chronological timeline might have helped the crew's deaths feel more impactful, rather than just a shallow inevitability.

It was a fine attempt, and parts of Dead Silence were truly spooky. Unfortunately, those few moments of real tension were overshadowed by all of the narrative devices employed specifically to keep events from occurring unexpectedly. Foreshadowing is one thing, telling me in the first chapter that "This is how my crew died," sort of limits the impact that any of those deaths will have. Part of watching (or reading) sci-fi horror is hoping that your favorite characters make it through alive. I didn't have any favorite characters because none of them were really developed beyond one or two traits (I might have liked Nysus, actually, if he had been more than just "dude who hangs out on conspiracy Reddit too much"), and I knew none* of them were going to make it through because Claire told me so in the first couple of chapters. It really hampered my enjoyment of what is otherwise one of my favorite sub-genres to visit. I'm hopeful for Barnes' future work. This was more of a structural issue than a bad novel - the underlying story was actually really interesting and I would have enjoyed it immensely if not for the fact that I was constantly being told what would happen next before it happened.

Would I recommend Dead Silence to sci-fi horror aficionados? Probably not. I might recommend it as an entry point for people who are either new to the genre or apprehensive about how much horror will actually be present. If you're looking for something with the same vibe as classic sci-fi horror films, Dead Silence isn't really it, but it's kind of like the shallow end of a very deep pool. Good for testing the water and determining whether you want to jump in.

When the crew of a space repair ship picks up a distant distress beacon, they discover the source of the signal is the Aurora, a luxury passenger liner that disappeared on its maiden voyage over twenty years earlier. Commander Claire Kovalik makes the decision to investigate, leading an exploratory team onto the spooky, derelict ship where things go from bad to weird. The novel tracks two timelines: one following the initial investigation of the Aurora by Claire and her crew, the second focusing on a return trip to the Aurora by sole survivor Claire backed by corporate handlers. In some ways, one can draw a comparison to Alien and its sequel Aliens, the first moody, atmospheric and intensely suspenseful; the second more of a run and gun outing. I really liked Claire as a character and loved the taut, thriller aspects of the first storyline with its genuinely chilling progression. I was less enamored of the second storyline, the extraneous romantic subplot, and the explanation for the strange shipboard occurrences that, while theoretically plausible, felt, at time, a little narratively convenient.

3.5 stars, I really liked this sci-fi horror thriller. The pitch for this book “Titanic meets The Shining in space” I found to be very accurate! I think this would make a really good movie.
I cared a lot about the characters and even enjoyed the subtle romance. The book’s horror aspects focus a lot on hallucinations and distorted realities, which at times seemed excessive and confusing, but paid off in the end with a good conclusion of the story.

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Type: Fiction
Length: 343
Copyright: 2021

Claire is on her last run with her communications repair team aboard the LINA when her team intercepts a distress call coming from a luxury cruise ship that has been missing for 20 years. Determined to claim a finders fee, the team boards the ghost ship to discover unspeakable acts of violence and horror.
The only way I can describe this is like a beautiful mix of Ghost Ship and Event Horizon. But better. I soaked up every word like a sponge and every time I opened the book, I went back pages to re-read what I’d read before to soak up all of its glory. This book is already in my top 5 new releases for 2022.
I cannot recommend this book enough. Go get a copy. Get your parents a copy. Get your neighbors a copy. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley & Tor Nightfire for the ARC of this in exchange for my unbiased review.

Haunting in space? Sign me up. This was a pretty solid read for me. Had me going what's going on a couple of times. Solid 4⭐