Situation: Critical

Thunderbirds FTL #4

by Joan Marie Verba

John Tracy, the third of Jeff Tracy’s sons, coordinates communications for International Rescue on the space satellite Thunderbird 5, in addition to piloting the rocket ship Thunderbird 3 and assisting with Earth-based rescues. An experienced astronomer, John discovers a new planetary system and realizes its gravity has sent meteors and comets hurtling toward Earth. John and the rest of the International Rescue team find that this is only the beginning of the disasters they must handle, which affect them as well as the rest of the world. Can they save the Earth, and themselves, from catastrophe?

176 pages, Paperback

Published November 9, 2010

About the author

Joan Marie Verba earned a bachelor of physics degree from the University of Minnesota and attended the graduate school of astronomy at Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. She has worked as a computer programmer, editor, publisher, health/weight loss coach, social media manager, and web developer. An experienced writer, she is the author of the nonfiction books Voyager: Exploring the Outer Planets and Boldly Writing, as well as the novels Countdown to Action, Action Alert, Deadly Danger, Situation: Critical, Extreme Hazard, Danger Zone, Defying the Ghosts, and Sword of Queens, plus numerous short stories and articles. She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

Reviews

[The Bookseller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly better than the previous two (Action Alert! & Deadly Danger) but still suffers from all the same problems. Considering that these books are aimed at young readership, and won the Mom's Choice Award, there was an awful lot of jargon about banking, economics and share holders. I'm not sure whether this would turn of kids.

The overall plot, about meteorites going to crash into earth, was slightly made redundant by the lack of direct effect it had on the main characters. It was like reading a Zombie Apocalypse story where the only thing the main characters do is watch the news reports about the apocalypse.