Rat Trap

Space Station Rat #2

by Michael J. Daley

Rat and Jeff are back and still aboard the space station—but with suspicious scientists and robots around every corner, Rat is in danger again

Rat barely escaped the wrath of the researchers aboard the space station last time around. Thanks to her best friend, Jeff, she has managed to stay safe and out of sight. When Jeff learns that he and his parents will be taking the shuttle back to Earth, he’s thrilled. But the scientists—Jeff’s parents included—want to get rid of Rat for good.
 
After a couple of serious close calls, Jeff starts to fear for the safety of his rodent friend. But can he outsmart a team that is bent on hunting Rat down? This science fiction adventure story is a must for young readers. 

Genres: Science Fiction

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2008

About the author

I have enjoyed a life-long love of science, machines, and science fiction. These passions inform my fiction and non-fiction writing with a unique spirit. I am currently branching out with easy readers, the fulfillment of a long held dream begun with the discovery of the Frog & Toad books. My third passion is energy issues and with the help of my wife, Jessie Haas, we built a solar powered cabin in 1984 to nurture our budding writing lives just as our hero, Thoreau. I am available for school visits, presentations, conferences and workshops.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a pleasant surprise. I thought this sci fi title would be a mediocre, cartoonish animals-in-space adventure. Not so. It was indeed adventurous, but the characters were also quite multi-layered, and their conflicts added favorably to their quest to escape the space station before it's too late.

[Thistle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first book in 2016, but apparently I didn't remember the book at all, since I had written "The book was very very light and somewhat cute. The rat character is the only reason I finished it, however she wasn't enough to make me want to read any further books in this series."

One of my biggest complaints about the first book was:

The captain got no characterization than "fat and useless," he only showed up in the story when conflict was needed. Every time he showed up, the author made sure to mention how fat and useless he was. The fat comments got really, really old.

And even without remembering that about the first book, it really struck me as odd in this book as well: Every time the captain showed up, the one and only description he got was that he was fat. Fat. Really fat. Big and fat. He couldn't move well because he was fat. FAT! This book was traditionally published, it had an editor, how did no one comment on that across the two books?

The plot: Picking up soon after book 1, Rat was still on the space station with a boy named Jeff. She wanted to get back to Earth so she could experience sunshine for the first time and see what grass/trees/life on a planet was like. There was an "evil" (malfunctioning) robot trying to kill her and a mad scientist wanted to recapture her.

My feeling about the first book ("very very light and somewhat cute") was the same about this one. It was okay. The characters were mostly very flat and one-dimensional. While I fully believed the rat as a "real" rat (she was a science experiment, so she was basically "uplifted" -- smarter than humans, but she still felt like a real rat), I can't really recommend these two books. This one wasn't awful, it sadly just wasn't anything special either.

...okay, that's odd. Goodreads had a link to the author's website, so I followed that to see if maybe I could find a clue as to if he had issues with overweight people or not. There's not a single thing on his website about writing or books anymore, it's only about his massage therapy practice. I guess he's given up on writing.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of Space Station Rat, here we have a battle royale between a rat and a robot, plus a majorly pissed scientist and a just became self-aware computer adding to the confusion. All on a rickety old space station that needs some repairs. Not quite a cliffhanger ending, but definitely a part 2 of 3 ending.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rat Trap is a good sequel to the first book in this series. This book is exciting and young readers will have a fun time reading it.

The only problem I had with the book is that I didn't like Rat. Being a genetically engineered rat who can use sign language and can write programs on the computer, I had a little problem with her only solution to issues is to kill something. So, with Dr. Vivexian coming, she decides to kill him using a laser. I thought that this was a too violent of a solution to the problem. Plus, she just isn't a very nice rat. I certainly wouldn't want her as a friend. Other than not liking one of the two main characters, I did sort-off enjoy the book, but not as much as I could have.

Young Readers need to bond with the main characters so they will enjoy the book. But that just doesn't happen in Rat Trap. Otherwise, the reader will end up not caring what happens to these characters. This is just too bad that it happened with this book. Maybe Michael J. Daley will fix this problem if he creates another book involving these characters. I can only hope so as I love a good Science Fiction story.

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

We liked the pace of this book and the "machines," especially LB. We did not read the first in the series, but we caught on quickly.