4 out of 4 stars
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Pluto’s Ghost is an exciting science fiction suspense novel written by B. C. Chase.
The year is 2020. Jim, a seventy five year old truck driver, together with five trained astronauts, is on the way to Pluto to meet with, what Jim prefers to call ‘Unidentified Galactic Intelligences.’ Why a senior citizen with no background on space studies whatsoever is chosen to travel thirteen billion miles to the outskirts of the solar system is anybody’s guess.
In addition to being completely clueless about his inclusion to this four hundred billion dollar mission, Jim barely gets along with the mission commander. Little does he know that things will get much worse than holding his pee to avoid soiling his astronaut diaper in space. And when you’re billions of miles away from Earth, help is not coming anytime soon.
This is a fast-paced, exciting and suspenseful thriller novel that will keep the readers on the edge of their seats. Told in the first person perspective of Jim Perkins, the book is a real deal science fiction complete with space jargon and vivid descriptions of the view from space as well as the interior of the International Space Station.
Themes include leadership, discipline, team work, tyranny, duplicity and betrayal among others. The author successfully holds the readers in suspense until the end of the book. The tone is generally casual, thus easy to read. The best aspect of the story, however, is the unpredictability which keeps the book interesting, intriguing, suspenseful and thrilling. Putting the mystery at the very beginning of the story is perfect. It keeps the readers thinking, speculating and waiting until the big and climactic reveal. Though I prefer a different one, other readers may find the ending quite fitting.
Moreover, the author very kindly includes a glossary of abbreviation and technical terms at the back of the book for reference. Furthermore, given the long list of references it seems like the author did a lot of research to make this book as close to reality as possible.
However, it seems that the author focused more on the plot and less on character development, because though most of the characters are quite interesting, only the main protagonist is fully developed. My favorite, naturally, is Jim. He is funny, straightforward, unpretentious, and brave. I like how he tries to find humor in everything to make things more bearable. Moreover, I like his stand on computers. I find it very sensible.
Aside from a few errors (like it’s diameter, requires and EVA and bring is into orbit) and a short but probably significant part near the end that I didn’t at all understand, this is, generally, a great book and I enjoyed it a lot.
I, therefore, rate it 4 out of 4 stars. It is intriguing, exciting, suspenseful, well-researched, well-referenced, informative and quite entertaining. I recommend it to readers who enjoy science fiction, suspense and thriller. Some scenes, of death and sex, however may not be suitable for very young readers.
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Pluto's Ghost: A Suspense Novel
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