The Return

Mars Hill Classified #3

by Austin Boyd

The Return picks up six years after the events of book 2 in the series, with John Wells leading another Mars mission. In the opening chapters, John discovers two things: first, there has been another manned Mars mission on the planet simultaneously with John’s, launched by Rex Edwards’s Delta-V Corporation as an advance colony. Rex was part of that mission, but died not longer after arriving on Mars. And second, he discovers the wreckage of a couple of the “alien spiders” from the first books in the series, and it’s clear that their components originated on Earth—putting the lie to Malcolm Raines’s new religion.
Meanwhile, Amy Wells, John’s wife presumed dead after the catastrophic helicopter crash in book 2, is alive, with their daughter, living in captivity in Raines’s complex in Slovenia. On Mars, the astronauts’ Earth Return Vehicle, in orbit, is apparently hit by meteorites and ruined. They begin to move their entire base, on wheels, to the site of the colony. Kerry and the FBI monitor, through secret surveillance, Raines’s compound in Slovenia. They rescue Amy, Alice, and the Wells boys.
In preparation for impregnating the hundreds of teenage clone girls who first showed up in book 2, Raines moves them all to China; Monique escapes and stays behind, then plots with the FBI on how to apprehend and stop Raines.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Christian Fiction

496 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 14, 2007

About the author

Austin is an award-winning author who writes extensively about faith issues related to technology and business. He published award winning poetry and more than two dozen technical articles and papers during his career as a Navy pilot, NASA astronaut finalist, and spacecraft engineer. The author of six novels, he is a Christy Gold Medal finalist (The Proof, 2007) and the winner of the Mount Hermon “Pacesetter Award.”

Reviews

[Tim Frye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jumping 6 years forwards this final book introduces and develops some new characters and relationships while driving towards resolution. There is quite a web of intrigue being slowly uncovered in this series and there is a lot to conclude in the final pages, keeping you engaged right to the end.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conclusion of this exciting trilogy jumps us to the year 2020, where John Wells and FBI agent Terrance Kerry continue their respective adventures on the red and blue planets. The space prophet, Malcolm Raines, is about to see the culmination of his deluded preparation of the Mother Seed. The threads running through all three books finally unravel enough to put the pieces together... but are the difficulties of time and the distance of space too great to allow a safe rescue for everyone?

[Dock Hoilman]

Austin Boyd has a hat trick with this series. The final book of the Mars Hill Classified series was absolutely great! In this book, six years after completing a manned mission to Mars, Admiral John Wells returns with a fresh crew while on earth John Raines' continues grow a breeding farm of clones for the "Father Race." Boyd weaves great, believable science fiction to tell Biblical truths that impact the lives of the readers. If you like science fiction, this is a must-read book.

[Demetra Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully written Science fiction with underlying Christian themes.