I don’t care for spy stories, but I like Alma Katsu’s writing. Granted, I’ve only read her scary stories, and was rather disappointed to see she veered into spy thrillers lately. Although given her past life as an intelligence officer, it’s hardly surprising.
So it is on the strength of her non-spy writing that I chose this spy tale from Netgalley, thinking, well, at least it’s short.
Turns out, it’s also very good. Guess this is one of those instances when a writer is talented enough to hop genres AND attract non-typical readership, too.
Yes, this is a spy tale, but it’s got UFOs, which is pretty awesome. It’s also well written, interesting, and fun. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

4.5 Stars. I had never read books by Alma Katsu previously but was very impressed by how much intrigue, speculation, and character development was packed into this thought-provoking 81-page novella. This powerful short story combines espionage, cover-ups and a conspiracy thriller.

CIA officer Craig Norton glimpsed an unexplained aerial phenomenon (UAP) in the night skies over Mongolia in 2006. He felt it was his duty to report what he had seen to headquarters at Langley. He sent a cable with details of what he had observed but didn't try to explain the sighting as he had come to no conclusion about what he had seen. He later learned the Chinese had a secret base near the sighting, but the object's movements seemed too fast and advanced for Chinese or other countries' technology.

His report ended any chance to advance in his CIA career. It is now 15 years later. He was ostracized and sidelined by the agency and is now just putting in time until retirement, and his original report was filed away. The US Congressional Committee is investigating reported sightings of UAPs, and 60 Minutes has televised a documentary on naval personnel sightings. Multiple government agencies are rushing to set up panels investigating such phenomena.

Craig is assigned to the CIA committee investigating sightings, including his own. Rather than an opportunity to revitalize his career, this is another attempt to render him useless. He is assigned to what was a storage room in the basement. His staff are older agents without scientific knowledge or interest in the task. Craig manages to replace them with young, enthusiastic, and highly educated panellists. This could be a chance for Craig to redeem himself, but this skilled staff has discovered international cover-ups and strong speculation about what was reported. It is left to the reader to draw their own conclusions.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this great novella. The publication is set for August 8.

BLACK VAULT is at once both very up-to-date, regarding the recent U.S. Congressional Committee Investigations into UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), and timeless, as it examines the ostracism, degradation, and near-ruination, of a dedicated CIA case officer, for speaking Truth to Power. Russian House case officer Craig Norton witnesses an unexplained sighting while stationed in Mongolia. When he reports it with a detailed description, he suddenly finds himself shunted into isolation, in effect shunned, for fifteen years. In the meantime, things heat up in the Chinese Space race. When a "60 Minutes" segment focuses on Navy personnel's sightings, multiple government agencies rush to cover themselves by implementing case reviews of possible UAPs. Possibly Craig will now have a second chance: to redeem his career record and to recover his strained (estranged) relationship with his adult son.

I highly recommend BLACK VAULT, as I do all Alma Katsu's work. Not only is this short story creative, intriguing, Speculative, and entertaining; it's also quite thought-provoking.

This is a short story that still manages to be suspenseful and intriguing. I’ve read some of the author's books before and I know that her short stories are powerful. I am also a huge fan of the X-Files, so Black Vault was extremely entertaining and fun to read. Dividing the plot into the past and the present makes for an interesting comparison of how our attitudes have changed with regards to international relations and the possibility of life beyond our planet. If Craig Norton’s career at the CIA was derailed by his seeing a UFO back in 2006, he is taken more seriously in the present. It may not be little gray men, but human technology. I liked how the implications of such events are at once big and small, global and personal for Craig. The writing is good, and the plot is very solid. Mostly, it’s impressive how one can care about a character in only a few pages. Some short stories feel like they could have been longer, but this one is perfect.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Amazon Original Stories!

Alma Katsu combines espionage, paranoia, real-life headlines, and eerie extraterrestrial subjects all into one bulldozing thriller that highlights a CIA officer's long but dogged journey to search for the truth out there. Coinciding with the news lately, the effect of this narrative is hard-hitting and both scary and exciting to contemplate.