Obscura - Review

Title: Obscura

Author: Joe Hart  

Synopsis: “She’s felt it before… the fear of losing control.  And it’s happening again.

     “In the near future, an aggressive and terrifying new form of dementia is affecting victims of all ages.  The cause is unknown, and the symptoms are disturbing.  Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the cutting edge of research and desperately determined to find a cure.  She’s already lost her husband to the disease, and now her young daughter is slowly succumbing as well.  After losing her funding, she is given the unique opportunity to expand her research.  She will travel with a NASA team to a space station where the crew has been stricken with symptoms of a similar inexplicable psychosis – memory loss, trances, and violent uncontrollable impulses.

     “Crippled by a secret addiction and suffering from creeping paranoia, Gillian finds her journey becoming a nightmare as unexplainable and violent events plague the mission.  With her grip weakening on reality, she starts to doubt her own innocence.  And she’s beginning to question so much more – like the true nature of the mission, the motivations of the crew, and every deadly new secret space has to offer.

     “Merging thrilling science-fiction adventure with mind-bending psychological suspense, Wall Street Journal bestselling author Joe Hart explores both the vast mysteries of outer space and the even darker unknown that lies within ourselves.”

Review:  This was the first book that I’ve read by author Joe Hart.  I loved it, and I now own two more that have been added to my TBR pile.  Be warned though, Obscura rips your heart out in the very beginning and lodges it firmly in your throat until the very end when it is placed neatly back into your chest.  I started it last night before bed, a very bad habit of mine is starting a new book at bedtime, and read way past my bedtime.  I read about half last night, and immediately picked it back up this morning and finished before breakfast.  Thank goodness I had today off.  If I had to go to work leaving this book unfinished I don’t know if I would have been able to concentrate all day. 

     Obscura is a murder mystery set in space, and it’s awesome.  The main character is a real person dealing with real issues.  I hate it when the main character of a book is perfect and bad things just happen to happen to them.  This is not like that.  Gillian struggles with addiction, and it’s a large part of the book.  The character development is extremely well done.  The characters are so real that at times I forgot I was reading a book about fictional people.  It doesn’t get much better than this.

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review via NetGalley.**

Publisher:  Thomas & Mercer

If you like this book you may want to read:

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon