. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you would like a new sci-fi novel to get stuck into. It is not a book that will blow you away, but the amazing blend of genres really complements each other. Both Hart and Segura’s writing works great together, too.

There is a lot to like about Dark Space, and it is important to read lesser known science fiction stories like this one to keep the genre alive! I would recommend adding this book to your reading list and getting ready for a book you won’t want to put down.

Find full review at https://thecosmiccircus.com/book-review-dark-space-by-rob-hart-and-alex-segura/

The following review was published or updated in several Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia newspapers and magazines in November and December 2024:

Booking a full year of reading

Review by Tom Mayer

If only us readers could just spend our days … reading. What would a year look like? Here, the editors of Home for the Holidays present their yearlong list of books, culled from the past 12 months of reading and reviewing. A few of the titles you’ll immediately recognize, and you’ll likely have more than few in your own library. But just in case you missed a title or two, we’re showcasing the whole year’s worth of books that we’ve read and reviewed, month by month.

Except for the first title, the list is simply a list. To find the reviews of many of these titles, visit our newspaper parent, The (Athens) News Courier at enewscourier.com — with a slight caveat. Our newspaper webmasters are currently working overtime to improve our content management system, the foundation of any website, and while many of our archives are now found there, it may be a few weeks before everything is fully re-uploaded — including the most recent editions of Limestone Life and Home for the Holidays. For now, though, enjoy our literary stroll through 2024.

And about that first title: Not every college professor can make statistical analysis approachable, let along interesting to their students and the general population, but Athens State University emeritus professor of psychology Mark Durm is not every college professor. After spending nearly five decades teaching thousands of students, the “ol’ psychology professor” decided that he’d best get around to writing the one book out of his nearly 100 published pieces that’s he always wanted to write. Call it a legacy piece, but what it really is is a “best of” Durm’s peer-reviewed, book reviews, non-peer reviewed and magazine articles from his 47 years in higher education.

The result is “Professional Publications of an Ol’ Psychology Professor” (Dorrance) with full previously published articles ranging from studies on the effects of glasses on a child’s self-esteem to his ever-popular parapsychology pieces, Durm presents his internationally recognized efforts with a twist.

“It’s a different kind of book because it doesn’t talk about the research, it presents the research,” the professor says from his second-career office at Durm Properties in Athens, about a half-mile from where he first presented that research in person. “I’ve spent hours on all of these articles, especially in the peer-reviewed journal articles.”

And so, articles on divorce, sex, religion and other topics now populate the pages of Durm’s most recent book in an effort to both continue his teaching and satisfy what has been a lifelong wonderment.

“You know, most people don’t understand statistics, so it’s all in there,” Durm said. “What I’m trying to do is a more critical approach to ‘just don’t believe everything you’re told.’ … It’s things that were in my life that I wanted to see if they were so, by using a psychological analysis.”

And like any good professor, Durm didn’t do that research on his own — or take all of the credit. Among the co-authors of many of his articles in the book were students — many of who he’s lost touch with, but all of whom who he credits by name in his acknowledgements and for each of who, if they look up their ol’ mentor, he has a signed book ready to hand over. For the rest of us, you can find the book at any online bookseller — just as you can with the remainder of our list, presented by the month in which the book was published, read and reviewed.

JANUARY

Unbound (Blackstone) by Christy Healy NG/F

The Devil’s Daughter by Gordon Greisman NG/ARC

FEBRUARY

Almost Surely Dead (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Amina Akhtar NG

The Chaos Agent (Gray Man 13) (Berkley) by Mark Greaney NG

The Lady in Glass and Other Stories (Ace) by Anne Bishop ARC

A Haunting in the Arctic (Berkley paperback) by C.J. Cooke NG

Ghost Island (Berkley) by Max Seeck

MARCH

Hello, Alabama (Arcadia) by Martha Day Zschock

The Unquiet Bones (Montlake) by Loreth Anne White

I am Rome: A novel of Julius Caesar (Ballantine Books by Santiago PosteguilloMarch 5: Murder Road (Berkley) by Simone St. James

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry (Holiday House) by Anna Rose Johnson

Ferris (Candlewick) by Kate DiCamillo

After Annie (Random House, Feb. 27) by Anna Quindlen

Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood (Montag Press) by Bradley Sides The #1 Lawyer (Little, Brown and Company) by James Patterson, Nancy Allen

Lilith (Blackstone) by Eric Rickstad

Life: My Story Through History (Harper One) by Pope Francis

APRIL

Matterhorn (Thomas & Mercer) by Christopher Reich

Friends in Napa (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

City in Ruins (William Morrow) by Don Winslow

The House on Biscayne Bay (Berkley) by Chanel Cleeton

Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week (Peachtree) by Sarah L. Thomson

For Worse (Blackstone) by L.K. Bowen

A Killing on the Hill (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoini

The Clock Struck Murder (Poisoned Pen Press) by Betty Webb

The Book That Broke the World (Ace) by Mark Lawrence

The Forgetters (Heyday Books) by Greg Sarris

Lost to Dune Road (Thomas & Mercer) by Kara Thomas

Warrior on the Mound (Holiday House/Peachtree) by Sandra Headed

Pictures of Time (Silver Street Media) by David AlexanderBare Knuckle (Blackstone Publishing) by Stayton Bonner

Murder on Demand (Blackstone Publishing) by Al Roker

Home is Where the Bodies Are (Blackstone) by Jeneva Rose

MAY

Matterhorn by Christopher Reich

The Hunter's Daughter (Berkley) by Nicola Solvinic

The House That Horror Built (Berkley) by Christina Henry

In our stars (Berkley) by Jack Campbell

Freeset (book 2) (Blackstone) by Sarina Dahlan

Southern Man (William Morrow) by Greg Iles

Camino Ghosts (Doubleday) by John Grisham

JUNE

Specter of Betrayal by Rick DeStefanis

Lake County (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

Serendipity (Dutton) by Becky Chalsen

Shelterwood (Ballantine) by Lisa Wingate

The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra’s Needle (Holiday House) by Dan Gutman

Jackpot (Penguin) by Elysa Friedland

The Helper (Blackstone) by M.M. Dewil

Winter Lost (Ace) by Patricia Briggs

Shadow Heart (Blackstone) by Meg Gardiner

Lake Country (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

The Out-of-Town Lawyer (Blackstone) by Robert Rotten

Love Letter to a Serial Killer (Berkley) by Tasha Coryell

Sentinel Berkley) by Mark Greaney

JULY

Three Kings: Race, Class, and the Barrier-Breaking Rivals Who Redefined Sports and Launched the Modern Olympic Age (Blackstone) by Todd Balf

The Night Ends with Fire (Berkley) by K.X. Song

Echo Road (Montlake) by Melinda Leigh

It’s Elementary (Berkley) by Elise Bryant

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman

Back In Black (Blackstone) edited by Don Bruns

The Recruiter (Blackstone) by Gregg Podolski

AUGUST

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman ARC

Not What She Seems (Thomas & Mercer) by Yasmin Angoe NG

Fatal Intrusion by Jeff Deaver/Isabella Maldonado

Death at Morning House (HARPERTeen) by Maureen Johnson

Fire and Bones (Scribner) by Kathy Reichs

Some Nightmares Are Real (University of Alabama Press) by Kelly Kazoo

The Brothers Kenny (Blackstone) by Adam Mitzner

Blind to Midnight (Blackstone) by Reed Farrel Coleman

The Wayside (Blackstone) by Carolina Wolff

Enemy of the State (Blackstone) by Robert Smartwood

You Will Never Be Me (Berkley) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (W.W. Norton) by Adam Kirsch

We Love the Nightlife (Berkley) by Rachel Koller Croft

Talking To Strangers (Berkley) by Fiona Barton

An Honorable Assassin (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton possible interview see email

Dungeon Crawler Carl (1 of 6 but see next two months) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

SEPTEMBER

Fatal Intrusion (Thomas & Mercer) by Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When They Last Saw Her (Penguin) by Marcie Rendon

American Ghoul (Blackstone) by Michelle McGill-Vargas

First Do No Harm (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton

A Quiet Life: A Novel (Arcade) by William Cooper and Michael McKinley

One More From the Top (Mariner) by Emily Layden

No Address (Forefront Books) by Ken Abraham.

Tiger’s Tale (Blackstone) by Colleen Houck

An Academy for Liars (Ace) by Alexis Henderson

Rewitched (Berkley) by Lucy Jane Wood

Gaslight (Blackstone) by Sara Shepard and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Counting Miracles (Random House) by Nicholas Sparks

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society (Ace) by C.M. Waggoner

The Hitchcock Hotel (Berkley) by Stephanie Wrobel

In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (2 of 6 see next month also) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

OCTOBER

The Hushed (Blackstone) by K.R. Blair NG

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (Berkley) by Maxie Dara

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (Norton) by WSJ Weekend review editor Adam Kirsch

Framed (Doubleday) by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

This Cursed House (Penguin) by Del Sandeen

The Puzzle Box (Random House) by Danielle Trussoni

Two Good Men (Blackstone) by S.E. Redfearn

Dark Space (Blackstone) by Rob Hart and Alex Segura

This Cursed House (Berkley’s open submission)by Del Sandeen

Vindicating Trump (Regnery) by Dinesh D’Souza

The Book of Witching (Berkley) by C.J. Cooke

The World Walk (Skyhorse) by Tom Turcich

The Waiting Game by Michael Connelly  ARC, possible interview see email

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoni

Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (3 of 6, with bonus material) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

Frozen Lives (Blackstone) by Jennifer Graeser Fronbush NG

Vincent, Starry Starry Night (Meteor 17 Books) intro by Don McLean

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (PowerHouse Books) by David Coggins

NOVEMBER

The Waiting (Little, Brown) by Michael Connelly

The Teller of Small Fortunes (Penguin) by Julie Long

Shadow Lab (Blackstone) by Brendan Deneen

Trial by Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

Devil Take It (Heresy Press) by Daniel Debs Nossiter

SerVant of Earth (Ace) by Sarah Hawley

All the other me (Blackstone) by Jody Holford

The Perfect Marriage (Blackstone reissue re-edit) by Jenny Rose

DECEMBER

Trial By Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

The Close-Up (Gallery Books) by Pip Drysdale

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Methos

Leviathan (Lividian Trade HC) by Robert McCammon

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Method

Assume Nothing (Thomas & Mercer) by Joshua Corin

One example link:
https://enewscourier.com/2024/11/29/in-review-booking-a-full-year-of-reading/

This story is told in third person and follows former friends Jose Carriles and Corin Timony. Jose is a pilot on the spaceship Mosaic on a mission with joint nations to establish a colony on a purported partially habitable planet outside our solar system, while Timony is back on the lunar colony of New Destiny stewing in a demotion to administrative duties that she partially blames on Jose.

When Jose encounters a multi-system failure on their journey and comes up with a quick work around, he’s disconcerted by the nonchalance of his superiors to investigate the matter, which also piques his curiosity. Meanwhile, back at the lunar colony, Timony is suspicious that the mayday from the Mosaic was cancelled with no explanation.

I thought that this was a fun space adventure if you’re not looking for anything deep. I enjoyed both perspectives. It was a straightforward adventure with likable characters. The writing got the job done, was easy to follow with plenty of adventure and little to no frills. I think more serious Sci-Fi readers would prefer a more complex storyline and in-depth characterizations.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a copy provided for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you Hailey Dezort @paratextpr and @blackstonepublishing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This sci-fi thriller involves political machinations and a murder mystery which was a nice, if unexpected surprise. I went into this blind. My love of imperfect characters is widely known and this story definitely has them. The characters are nicely damaged and fully fleshed. The writing here was solid but the pacing starts slow. Stick with it. Jump on this book if you're a mystery fan. This is the book for you.

The main characters are the stars of this fast-moving and fun story of political intrigue set in space. The two are separated by a vast distance, but also by anger and self-loathing, and are instrumental in stopping a plot that could have terrible consequences for humanity.

The US, China and Russia banded together to create the Interstellar Union and established the colony New Destiny further out in the solar system. But thanks to the same behaviour that has damaged Earth, New Destiny is slowly collapsing, though this isn't made common knowledge.

Jose Carriles is the son of a senator, and able to easily pick up skills. He is a gifted pilot, and was selected for the Mosaic, a huge ship taking the Interstellar Union's first mission out of the solar system.

He and Corin Timony had become best friends as children, and Adan joined the circle later, in school, with Adan, and Corin getting engaged to be married. Their friendship fell apart when both Jose and Corin got into trouble, with Adan distancing himself from the other two, and Jose unwilling to support Timony. Corin spiraled downwards, getting regularly drunk and messing up her career.

Timony had been an agent with the Bazaar, which was an espionage organization created and staffed by the US, China and Russia. While an agent, Corin learned many, useful, deadly skills, and mentored other agents.

At the novel's open, far from Earth, the Mosaic suffers multiple failures, and it's only Jose's very quick thinking and a daring plan that saves the ship, and they manage to get to their destination, an Earth-like planet.

Prior to implementing his plan, Jose had sent an urgent message back home through the wire, a highly advanced piece of tech using quantum computing, alerting officials of multiple system failures on the Mosaic. Just as Timony deciphers this message, she's strongly urged to ignore it, twice. Being contrary, and alert to the strangeness of the situation, Timony begins digging into things, just as Jose is noticing a number of alarming things going on where he is, from behaviours of some on board, to the planet they're interested in settling.

Pretty soon, everything Jose and Timony believe is upended, and things begin happening very quickly, and violently. The two authors, Rob Hart and Alex Segura, keep the tension and action amped up, jumping back and forth between Jose's and Timony's perspectives, as each learns of the precarious situation on New Destiny and the new colonization effort, and what is at stake with the mission. Both leads are targeted, and have to get past their guilt and anger, and the politically-motivated obstructionist actions of others to find ways to deal with the messes occurring around them.

I totally enjoyed this story, from its sympathetic leads, to its political intrigue and to its action. The story literally begins with the bang, and just keeps going, delivering necessary information and backstory as needed and keeping the energy high and exciting.

The ending left me satisfied, but also eager for more stories in the compelling world the two authors have created.

I switched back and forth between the text and the audiobook, which is capably narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Nicol Zanzarella. Each wonderfully captures the emotions of the two leads, and also distinguishing these well from other characters' voices. I was captured by the narrative by the two voice actors, who made me care a lot about Jose and Timony.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Blackstone Publishing and Blackstone Publishing-Audiobooks for the ARCs in exchange for my review.

Dark Space is an espionage sci-fi thriller with a Star Trek vibe. I was engrossed in this well-written story, as the beginning drops you into the plot and suspense builds throughout.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this--the blend of mystery and sci-fi was well done and compelling. I also love a good colony ship, that's probably one of my favorite settings for a story. I enjoyed the characters, and I found the tone of the narrative to be enthralling. I just had a great time reading this, and I flew through it because I enjoyed it so much! I would love more from these authors in the future, truly awesome.

Dark Space is a superior blend of suspense, mystery, and light sci-fi. Who could ask for more? Authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura combine their prolific talents to produce a book that keeps you up all night and the next day.
From the jump, we know something is wrong aboard the colonizing spaceship, The Mosaic. Its pilot is profoundly concerned, but paradoxically, the captain and the chief engineer are weirdly apathetic. Communication with the planate is spotty and unreliable. Colonist Timony receives a message from the Mosaic but is then ordered to delete it until a politician asks her to find out what is happening, mainly because the only other to read the message is dead. The action is fast, and the plot endures throughout the book. Readers who like Space Opera and mystery will jump on this book and never let it go until the last page.

“Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise …”

Those immortal words from the opening of every “Star Trek” episode launched many films, spinoffs, and reboots in the 60 years since the original series began. They also inspired hundreds of authors to use Star Trek’s vision of the future as the launching pad for their own works. Authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura dipped into the “Star Trek” canon as one inspiration for their recent novel, “Dark Space.” However, they reversed the series’ premise. Instead of an interplanetary federation boldly going where no man has gone before, in the authors’ book, a spaceship from Earth seeks out a similar collective on its home soil. That’s just one of the fascinating premises in “Dark Space.” The book combines action, intrigue, and speculative science fiction in one entertaining package.

“Dark Space” takes place several hundred years in an almost dystopian future. Earth is almost uninhabitable because of environmental excesses, and the lucky ones now live on New Destiny. It’s a lunar colony that’s loosely ruled by the United States, Russia, and China operating in what appears to be an uneasy informal alliance. New Destiny boasts “neighborhoods” like Texas 2 and Little Havana that are intended to evoke memories of a happier time on Earth. However, there doesn’t seem to be a centralized government. Instead, law and order in New Destiny are maintained by the Bazaar, which appears to be a cross between a multinational CIA and FBI. New Destiny is already exhibiting the same structural wear and tear that has nearly decimated the Earth. Fortunately, the national powers have discovered another planet outside the solar system capable of sustaining life. As “Dark Space” begins, a ship called the Mosaic, with an American and Chinese crew (the Russians begged out), is on a several-month journey to the planet dubbed Esparar to determine if it’s suitable for colonization.

The main characters in “Dark Space” are Jose Carriles, the pilot of the Mosaic, and his old friend, Corin Timony, a former Bazaar agent on New Destiny. The book is told from their perspective, in alternating third-person narrative chapters. They have a long history of a friendship that went very sour. To make some extra money, Carriles once sold Timony some drugs. When he was busted, he then informed on her. Because Carriles came from an influential family, he got a slap on the wrist. However, Timony lost her agent status and was demoted to admin work.

As the Mosaic approaches Esparar, Carriles and Timony, working separately, realize the Mosaic’s mission isn’t what it seems. Esparar is inhabited by a highly advanced species of aliens belonging to an interplanetary confederation called the Mutual. Specific individuals on New Destiny and the Mosaic are determined to get the resources and technology Earth needs from the Mutual, one way or another.

Unlike my comments in this review, the authors do not dump their intricately thought-out futuristic universe on readers all at once. Instead, they take a page from a movie script, starting the story with a crisis on the Mosaic (including a figurative ticking clock) that threatens the entire ship. Non-spoiler: Carriles saves the ship (or this would be a ten-page short story instead of a 300-page novel). From that moment on, “Dark Space” has a lot of action, both in space and on New Destiny. Carriles and Timony frequently engage in both armed and unarmed combat. (Timony’s Bazaar training allows her to grapple with formidable opponents.) The book has enough action to satisfy almost any space opera fan.

However, “Dark Space” is more complex than a mere good guys vs. bad guys story. Readers must figure out who the good and bad guys are, just as Carriles and Timony do. This book has spies, traitors, double and triple agents, hidden agendas, and a complex international and interplanetary political storyline. Many characters are not what they first seem, as Carriles and Timony learn, often to their detriment. Friends turn out to be enemies, and enemies wind up being allies. In other words, “Dark Space” also has the elements of a good espionage novel.

The science fiction elements of the novel are interesting but basic. “Dark Space” reverses the “Star Trek” theme of an interplanetary union exploring and enlightening new civilizations. Here, the people of Earth seek the Mutual with an agenda that doesn’t always hold up logically (but makes for an exciting book). The result is a plot that echoes some of the simplistic themes often occurring in “Star Trek” episodes. Those stories entertained 1960s TV viewers, but 21st-century science fiction readers expect greater insight and sophistication.

Nor is the backstory of societal decay on both Earth and New Destiny as interesting as it should be. I had a hard time picturing how lunar colonies could provide even a short-term solution to the overcrowding and diminishing resources mentioned in the book. However, the book does an excellent job of making Carriles and Timony flawed but decent three-dimensional characters. (Although I doubt that any law enforcement agency on the Earth or the moon would cashier an agent for drug abuse while conveniently allowing her access to the type of top-secret data needed to drive the plot.) I especially appreciated the depiction of Timony as a recovering drug addict. She made mistakes and poor decisions and was trying to work through them. Her recovery is hindered by her getting into a life-or-death situation, but I could appreciate the care the authors took in establishing her character.

“Dark Space” is a rollicking space opera with a complex plot filled with twists and surprise revelations. The action is riveting sometimes, and readers will enjoy figuring out who’s who in the book. The science fiction elements are often at the level of average “Star Trek” episodes, but they don’t detract from the story’s pace and entertainment value. “Dark Space” should find its space on many science fiction fans’ bookshelves.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

I love a scifi spy thriller and this was a wonderfully done entry in the genre. I was hooked from the first page until the end and thought it worked as a scifi element. The characters were everything that I was expecting and enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters. It kept the charm of the scifi element and enjoyed the overall story being told, Rob Hart & Alex Segura have a great way of showing this story and would love to read more from them.

I adore author Rob Hart's books, and this one gave me epic The Last War vibes, so that is kind of all you need to know, yeah? No? Okay fine. I'll try to do better. So the story is told on two fronts: Corin Timony's, back in our solar system, and Jose Carriles's on a ship in, well, you guessed it, deep space. These two have a past, but that is part of the story so you can figure it out for yourselves. They also are both grieving, as Timony lost her lover, who Carriles replaced (unfairly, in her opinion) on this mission, and Carriles has lost his mother, and basically everyone's respect.

But as the ship Carriles is piloting heads to the edge of the known universe, Timony is finding that things are not adding up back at home. Communications are being deleted, and she's getting straight answers from no one. Meanwhile, Carriles is facing all kinds of problems on the ship, and these seem very fishy, too. It's a race against time and power to see if they can save each other, save humanity, even. And it is definitely a ride! There were a few points, especially in the first half of the book, that felt a wee bit long, but that is a minor gripe. Overall, I adored this one, because the stakes are epically high, I love anything that gives me The 100 vibes, and I really loved that the characters were able to grow even during these harrowing times. I think the mix of action and adventure and personal relationships was great, and I am glad I got to read this one- and be introduced to a new great author via one I already loved!

Bottom Line: Loved the adventure, the power struggles, the commentary, and the characters! Definitely a win.

Dark Space is a story of espionage wrapped up in a science fiction world, a premise that pulled me. The characters share a complicated history and have little reason to trust one another despite the years of friendship they previously shared, yet it was hard not to root not only for each of them but for an eventual bridging of the bad feelings that ripped their relationship apart at the seams as well. This story has some strong points to be made and keep you interested enough to keep going. I would rate it a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 given the characters’ rendering. Readers of authors like Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson and Olson Scott Card might find the premise of the story to be of interest, and I would add that it is more a work of espionage fiction with a dash of science fiction than the other way around. My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me early access to Dark Space.

Humans: On the whole we’re pretty awful. That should be a bumper sticker.

The lunar colony of New Destiny, essentially the homebase of the human race, has a lot of the same issues they had when they still lived on Earth. It seems humans never quite learned from their ancestors when they destroyed their home planet. They’ve just achieved a huge milestone, though: The first-ever mission outside their solar system with a fully-manned crew on a massive ship (the Mosaic) is on the way to a planet with hope of a habitable atmosphere.

Former top spy Corin Timony has issues with the pilot of the Mosaic: Namely that he was her childhood best friend who seems to coast on by on his last name and that included getting off with a slap on the wrist when he was caught dealing drugs while she got demoted from top spy to a mere administrator. The other thing? Her former lover was supposed to be piloting the mission before he suddenly died. But it’s her friend she’s thinking about when she gets a sudden distress call from the Mosaic in the middle of the night while monitoring comms, all for the distress call to be canceled only moments later.

A spy’s gotta spy.

Jose Carriles didn’t expect to be tagged in to pilot the Mosaic. He’s not exactly a go-to pilot for the Interstellar Union, being a former drug dealer and all. He’s terrific at his job, but he knows his late friend was tapped first and would’ve been better. All the same, he gives the job his all, even when the whole mission seems like it’s going to fail one night and he has to pull a hail mary maneuver out of his ass to save everyone. Nothing about that night made any sense to Jose, and he can’t just let this niggling feeling go.

Dark Space toggles between two third-person POVs: that of Jose, who is in space on the Mosaic; and of Corin Timony, who is in the New Destiny lunar colony. The timelines for each POV run congruent. This story is this wonderful mix of conspiracy, spy, and sci-fi/space thriller that manages to feel like Cold War spy novel meets Star Trek and makes fraternal twins. The plot is full of twists and turns, like some of the best spy novels, but it’s never convoluted, which is the trap some spy thrillers can fall into. The more sci-fi/space aspects are handled with a little less skill, sometimes feeling a little heavy-handed but nothing so precious it’s insulting. The action scenes are very well-written, as well is the dialogue (especially Jose’s, which I loved).

Dark Space was a very satisfying read. I love Rob Hart’s other works and was excited to pick this up because of the co-write with Alex Segura. I highly recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and authors via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Conspiracy Thriller/Espionage Thriller/Sci Fi

A mission to save humanity may not be all that it seems

After an epic screw-up that should have ended his career (he was saved by his family’s reputation), pilot Jose Carriles has been given the chance to redeem himself. An exploratory mission outside of Earth’s solar system to find resources and perhaps even an inhabitable planet is set to launch on board the Mosaic under legendary Captain Wythe Delmar, and when its pilot is killed in a freak training accident Carriles is tapped to take his place. As he and the rest of the Mosaic crew are traveling through space for a planet they have named Esparar, his former best friend (and recently disgraced and demoted agent for an international spying group with the Interstellar Union known as the Bazaar) Corin Timony - who did not have a storied family name to cushion her fall - is stuck riding a desk back on the colony of New Destiny. Instead of working her network of informants and contacts to disrupt criminal plots and keep the world safe, Timony is fielding incoming messages and communiques from those out doing the work at which she had once excelled. Having lost her reputation, her career and her fiancé when the extent of her addictions became known to her superiors, she has sunk into a pattern of plodding through her boring work day, leaving to get as drunk as possible, then waking up with an extreme hangover to continue the cycle. When three distinct systems aboard the Mosaic simultaneously malfunction and the only thing saving the ship from slipping off course and into dark space forever is Carriles’ Hail-Mary idea, it is Timony who gets first the distress message and then an almost simultaneous message to disregard it. Even relatively pickled she can tell that something isn’t right about the messages, and when her boss makes it clear that she is to forget it ever happened she knows that something is seriously messed up. Carriles similarly has his doubts about it being a coincidence that the Mosaic suffered from three separate system breakdowns which nearly wiped out the crew and the mission, but his attempts to question that premise and investigate more deeply are met with disapproval and warnings. Is there more to the Mosaic’s mission than its crew has been led to believe, or is the always uneasy alliance between the US and Chinese crew (the third power player amongst the Earth=based members of the Interstellar Union aka the Russians decided to sit this mission out, another oddity) at the root of the problems? Soon it is clear that there are more players in this scenario than all but a few were aware, both inside the solar system and outside, and the fate of mankind is riding on the outcome of the Mosaic’s quest. Can two flawed people root out friend from foe and secure their world’s continued existence, or have the people of Earth created one mess too many?
Dark Space is a novel of espionage wrapped up in a science fiction world, a premise that intrigued me. The characters of Carriles and Timony share a complicated history and have little reason to trust one another despite the years of friendship they previously shared, yet it was hard not to root not only for each of them but for an eventual bridging of the bad feelings that ripped their relationship apart at the seams as well. There are two stories at play, that of the purported mission of exploration and what those behind it truly have in mind as well as the various factions which comprise the Interstellar Union and yet (much like the situation in the world today) whose alliance between the participating countries is a thin veneer coating a group of nations batting to be top dog and not always concerned about the ethics involved in their attempts to succeed. Both of those storylines are enjoyable if not groundbreaking (few if any of the periodic betrayals came as a shock, and assuming that people in power are generally concerned more with selfish concerns than with the greater good of those under their control is usually a safe bet), and my hope is that this is the first in an eventual series and as such was geared more towards setting the framework for future exploits. I would rate it a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 given the characters’ rendering. Readers of authors like Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson and Olson Scott Card might find the premise of the story to be of interest, and I would add that it is more a work of espionage fiction with a dash of science fiction than the other way around. My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me early access to Dark Space.

Once I got my feet under me with the switching POVs, I was completely hooked. I was invested in what was going to happen to the characters., which I strange considering they weren't very likable or realistic. Maybe I'm just interested in humans being able to explore. In would recommend the book to anyone I know who like this kind of sci-fi. If you don't, it probably isn't for you.

Rob Hart and Alex Segura’s sci-fi collaboration Dark Space opens with a bang and does not let up. The spaceship Mosaic is on its way to explore a distant, Earth-like planet using new technologies when the engines fail. Pilot Jose Carilles is faced with a dead engine and failing shields and the possibility that the ship will be destroyed or thrown into the void. This soon becomes the least of his problems. Meanwhile on the fading lunar colony of New Frontier his estranged friend and disgraced spy and alcoholic Corin Timony stumbles across what could be a conspiracy but has burned most of her favours and finds it hard to know who to trust.
Dark Space is a potent mix of space opera and spy thriller. The book starts in top gear and does not really pause for a breath, constantly upping the stakes to what becomes an existential crisis for humanity. And as it alternately shifts between Carilles and Timony with cliffhangers at the end of most chapters, the pages practically turn themselves.
Carilles and Timony are a great pair of protagonists – old friends from different sides of the tracks who have had a falling out. Carilles is the son of a senator and can’t get out of the shadow of his privilege to prove that he is actually pretty good at what he does. Timony has had to graft for her success and so fell much further but still feels she has something to prove. While these two are complex, some of the ultimate villains, when they are revealed are a little one note. But Dark Space for all its sci fi styling is at its heart a thriller and those do not tend to run on nuance.
Hart himself has said that the pair were influenced by Star Trek and Le Carre and the influences are clear. But Hart and Segura manage to put their own spin on these tropes. Without wanting to spoil any of the many twists, it uses them to pose the question – why would anyone want to let humans into a galactic federation? But it does also lead to a bit of a hand waving towards the end (or as they put it – technology so advanced it looks like magic) to bring everything together. Although, to be fair, that is also a fairly common Star Trek device.
Dark Space does fall within the definition of space opera but as such it is a short, sharp and loud one, probably full of electronic instruments. Hart and Segura take a bunch of well worn scifi tropes – faster then light travel, first contact, lunar colonies – and mix them with some equally common espionage tropes – the washed out but plucky spy, a deep conspiracy within the agency, mixing with politics – and come up with something fun, engaging and, much like Star Trek itself, at its core optimistic.

While I am always down for a thrilling novel, those set mixed with science fiction or space tend to not be up my alley. However, with co-author Alex Segura on board with Rob Hart, I had to give Dark Space a try and am ever glad I did.

If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he's the pilot of the Mosaic--a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union's first-ever mission to outside our solar system.

Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony's international intelligence arm. Instead, she's been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself--and maybe Carriles. But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren't exactly on the up and up.

At the same time, Timony's old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace. As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government--and their own personal failures--and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.

With complete honesty, Dark Space was not even on my radar until I discovered the co-author was Alex Segura. Segura is one of my favorite writers in the world of comics and novels at the moment and even though this book was not my normal selection, I had to give it a go and damn was it worth the ride. Additionally, the allure in Dark Space's blend of espionage thrills set against a backdrop of space was an intriguing concept to break up my regular reads.

After diving into Dark Space, I found the pacing—a delicate balance between heart-pounding action sequences and moments of introspective calm—to be a standout of the book. This allowed me to catch my breath while pondering the larger questions at hand. The novel ebbed and flowed smoothly to create an immersive reading experience. Each chapter propels you forward at warp speed while simultaneously inviting reflection on what it means to be human when confronted with the unknown.

Having seen science fiction television shows and films such as Star Trek, I felt myself seeing the similarities between the two. Familiar themes such as ethical dilemmas posed by interstellar diplomacy resonate strongly throughout Dark Space. Yet those less acquainted with such franchises will appreciate how seamlessly Hart and Segura integrate these motifs without succumbing entirely to genre conventions—they forge new paths while paying homage where it's due. While in a subtle way not taking itself too seriously.

It was impressive to me how Hart and Segura managed to not only tell a science fiction tale that gripped me from the first page, but also intertwine the spy espionage side of things, adding excitement but also inspiration through adventure. These two authors paired up is a wonder match and will have my attention, no matter what genre, in the future.

Dark Space from Rob Hart & Alex Segura is a thrilling spy romp in space. The authors expertly navigate complexities inherent within blending spy thrillers alongside science fiction tropes seamlessly together creating something truly special. I felt myself transported into the wide and crazy place called space while getting my dose of spy thriller. A novel well worth your time.

TL;DR Review: A classic spy thriller…in space! Fast-paced, gripping, and intriguing.

Full Review:
Dark Space is the perfect book for fans of John Le Carre, a slow-burn yet quick-moving thriller that had me blazing through page after page to find out what the heck is going on.
From the beginning, it’s clear that things are NOT all right:
- Aboard the Mosaic, a colonizing ship hurtling through space toward a planet that is to be humanity’s hope of the future, pilot Jose Carriles suspects something is very much wrong when not one, not two, but three separate ship systems fail all at the same time. Worse, no one—not the captain nor the head engineer—seems interested in finding out.
- Back on New Destiny, humanity’s moon colony, Corin Timony receives a cryptic message from the Mosaic, only to have it immediately canceled. To top it off, she’d ordered to go home and forget about what she saw, only for a mysterious senator to push her to look into matters and for the only other person to see the Mosaic’s message to wind up dead.
Though light years and galaxies separate the two stories, it’s clear from the beginning that they are very much linked. Figuring out how is where the fun comes in.
The stakes are set from the very beginning, and the tension just gets ratcheted up with every new obstacle, enemy, discovery, and mystery. The pacing of each chapter is zippy enough to keep you wanting to read on—I said “just one more chapter” about a dozen times—and the hooks are baited so well that you’re drawn deeper and deeper.
I legitimately had knots in my shoulder as the story drew closer to revealing what the heck was going on, and even then, that’s just the beginning of MORE mystery, more suspense, more danger, and more challenges for the characters to overcome.
The action scenes were fun but short—this isn’t a Ludlum or Clancy thriller, but the sort that involves investigation over ass-kicking, problem-solving and people-handling over spaceship chases and gunfights.
But make no mistake: the book gives you all the excitement, intrigue, suspense, and exhilaration you could ask for. Atop that, the character work done into both Timony and Carriles was excellent, exploring their past screw-ups, present quagmires, and bleak futures in enough detail to make them easily relatable and grounded characters.
There’s even a bit of Star Trek-esque commentary on humanity woven nicely into the story. Through this adventure, we come face to face with both our flaws and fortes as a society. But by the ending, we’re shown a brighter way forward and left with a sense of hope that offers wonderful closure.
I enjoyed the hell out of this book—I read it in one day—and absolutely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a classic spy thriller…but set in space!

Who knew there was a subgenre of science fiction that is basically espionage in space? Turns out, it’s a real category and it’s great! The novel Deep Space by Rob Hart and Alex Segura drew me in with the synopsis-and it delivered. The story is told with two different perspectives, one pilot in space and one government agent on the moon. Scary situations are occurring in both narratives but neither person can figure out what is going on and why they are being steered in different directions. From the beginning this space mystery goes at a pretty adventurous speed, but at about 35% in- it really gets going. With a sprinkling of spy tech and tactics, hidden enemies and even first contact, this novel has all the science fiction ingredients I love. I hope these authors keep combining their skills because they worked together to create one of my favorite novels this year. If you like Mission Impossible movies and stories that are like puzzles, you may love this book! Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for a chance to read this earc in return for my honest opinion.

Dark Space combines multiple genres/sub-genres into one very bingeable, action packed space thriller!

While piloting the Mosaic, multiple system failures place Jose Carriles and everyone else aboard the ship in peril. Carriles thinks fast and saves the ship, for the moment, and fires of a message off to New Destiny, the lunar colony they all came from.

Corin Timony, who's been relegated to desk work after an incident with Jose, receives the message, and feels the need to investigate what's happening on the Mosaic after another message shortly after says to disregard the first message.

As Carriles tries to preserve the Mosaic as it hurtles through space, Timony tries to sort out the politics involved in New Destiny related to the ship. Both of them soon realize they are in over their heads, but continue their journeys for the sake of humanity itself.

I was glued to the pages from the beginning of this story, and loved the intricate politics that Carriles and Timony work to unravel. Timony's storyline felt reminiscent of my favorite parts of spy thrillers, and Carriles' chapters had a claustrophobic, almost locked-room feeling to them. The central struggle of saving the few vs the many was a great thought experiment to chew on throughout all the action taking place, and I loved how the external plot helped resolve the main characters' internal roadblocks.

Fans of action/spy thrillers with a side of space will love this one!