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Europa
The first mission to Europa—Jupiter's enigmatic moon—has landed, and humanity’s darkest fears are about to awaken.
For years, mankind has speculated that this frozen world harbors a hidden ocean twice the size of all Earth’s oceans combined—an ocean potentially teeming with life.
Driven by this tantalizing mystery, they venture forth to unlock its secrets. But what they discover in the abyssal depths is far beyond anything they could have imagined.
Nearly four hundred million miles from Earth, their search for life has succeeded. But in their triumph, they overlook the most terrifying what they have found is something far older and more horrifying than they ever could have conceived. Something has been trapped in the dark for eons—watching, and waiting, for them.
Now, the crew stands at the threshold of unimaginable terror, realizing too late that Hell, in its purest form, is cold.
A brutal, heart-stopping descent into deep space horror by international bestselling author Greig Beck.
For years, mankind has speculated that this frozen world harbors a hidden ocean twice the size of all Earth’s oceans combined—an ocean potentially teeming with life.
Driven by this tantalizing mystery, they venture forth to unlock its secrets. But what they discover in the abyssal depths is far beyond anything they could have imagined.
Nearly four hundred million miles from Earth, their search for life has succeeded. But in their triumph, they overlook the most terrifying what they have found is something far older and more horrifying than they ever could have conceived. Something has been trapped in the dark for eons—watching, and waiting, for them.
Now, the crew stands at the threshold of unimaginable terror, realizing too late that Hell, in its purest form, is cold.
A brutal, heart-stopping descent into deep space horror by international bestselling author Greig Beck.
220 pages, Paperback
First published March 20, 2025
878 people are currently reading
721 people want to read
About the author
Greig Beck
46 books1,156 followersHi GoodReaders, I’m an Australian author residing in Sydney with my wife, son and a mad Golden Retriever named Jessie. My novels are now available globally, also in Large Print and now in full AUDIO format.
I grew up spending my days surfing at Bondi Beach before entering a career in Information technology which took me around the world. After completing an MBA, i was appointed both an Australasian director of a multinational software company, and tasked with setting up the USA arm of the organisation.
Today, I spend most of my time writing... with plenty left over for surfing.
More information about me and my works can be found at either www.greigbeck.com, or join me on FaceBook (Greig Beck Author).
I grew up spending my days surfing at Bondi Beach before entering a career in Information technology which took me around the world. After completing an MBA, i was appointed both an Australasian director of a multinational software company, and tasked with setting up the USA arm of the organisation.
Today, I spend most of my time writing... with plenty left over for surfing.
More information about me and my works can be found at either www.greigbeck.com, or join me on FaceBook (Greig Beck Author).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
June 2, 2025
Rating: Stupendous!
This book is better than l expected it to be. I figured it would be good, but not as awesome as it turned out to be. I am in love with this book. This book is excellent!
I love the way Greig Beck keeps the pace going. He continues his thread of horror throughout his book. Makes the pacing faster and faster. And gives the horror more and more terror. This book is amazing!
The character, Morgan, is very interesting and likable and you hope that he survives. The female character Nina is another one of my favorites. I’m sure glad she did whatever it takes to get her team together and safe. This book is incredible!
The monsters are small and dangerous, but some of them are large and ugly! They need to be wiped off of the moon, Europa. And sent to hell. This book is awesome!
The book is full of great sights that you can see in your own mind. The eyes are stimulated by the intense white light, white noise, and white space. The danger is surrounding the team and their planet that they come from. This book is stupendous!
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
This book is better than l expected it to be. I figured it would be good, but not as awesome as it turned out to be. I am in love with this book. This book is excellent!
I love the way Greig Beck keeps the pace going. He continues his thread of horror throughout his book. Makes the pacing faster and faster. And gives the horror more and more terror. This book is amazing!
The character, Morgan, is very interesting and likable and you hope that he survives. The female character Nina is another one of my favorites. I’m sure glad she did whatever it takes to get her team together and safe. This book is incredible!
The monsters are small and dangerous, but some of them are large and ugly! They need to be wiped off of the moon, Europa. And sent to hell. This book is awesome!
The book is full of great sights that you can see in your own mind. The eyes are stimulated by the intense white light, white noise, and white space. The danger is surrounding the team and their planet that they come from. This book is stupendous!
Five stars. ✨✨✨✨✨
August 27, 2025
This is a space-based horror and revolves around 2 brothers: Greg, who works for NASA, and Brad, who is in the Air Force. The latter has been chosen to be Commander for a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.
We start off with an escape pod crash landing back on Earth. Out of the 9 astronauts sent on the mission, it contains only one occupant, Brad. Whilst Brad is in a coma, Greg and his team try to figure out what has happened on the mission via data files and examining the escape pod. Then they start to notice… strange things.
The story then takes us back to Brad and the other astronauts coming out of their hypersleep and getting prepared to land on Europa for their mission. When they land, we follow their journey as the horror starts to unfold.
The plot moved on at a steady pace and kept me reading, but there were some irregularities here and there. This is sci-fi after all, so you do have to stretch your disbelief a little bit at times; even so, some scenes were a little bit jarring.
The writing was also a bit clunky in places. The changing of POV from Brad to one of the Russian astronauts was a bit messy. We were first hearing Brad listen to said astronaut's recording, only for the POV to change completely to the astronaut.
This wasn't a bad read; the last third of the book, I felt, let it down a little. It was pretty predictable from the start. It was very Prometheus meets The Thing, with a splash of The Abyss thrown in.
We start off with an escape pod crash landing back on Earth. Out of the 9 astronauts sent on the mission, it contains only one occupant, Brad. Whilst Brad is in a coma, Greg and his team try to figure out what has happened on the mission via data files and examining the escape pod. Then they start to notice… strange things.
The story then takes us back to Brad and the other astronauts coming out of their hypersleep and getting prepared to land on Europa for their mission. When they land, we follow their journey as the horror starts to unfold.
The plot moved on at a steady pace and kept me reading, but there were some irregularities here and there. This is sci-fi after all, so you do have to stretch your disbelief a little bit at times; even so, some scenes were a little bit jarring.
The writing was also a bit clunky in places. The changing of POV from Brad to one of the Russian astronauts was a bit messy. We were first hearing Brad listen to said astronaut's recording, only for the POV to change completely to the astronaut.
This wasn't a bad read; the last third of the book, I felt, let it down a little. It was pretty predictable from the start. It was very Prometheus meets The Thing, with a splash of The Abyss thrown in.
April 5, 2025
Worst Beick book I’ve read. I mostly liked the other ones, but this one had so many inconsistencies and jarring errors that I just gave up on it.
Starts out with a probe to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Ok so far. Then when a manned follow up mission is sent, suddenly in chapter 5 Europa is referred to as a moon of Saturn???
Also, sci fi is obviously not this author’s wheelhouse. Does he even understand gravity? When the explorers debark from a lunar explorer vehicle, suddenly they experience Europa’s lighter gravity? Like earth gravity follows them around until they step outside?
Also these intrepid explorers are so casual about any contamination it is laughable. Removing helmets in an undersea cavern?
Anyway, enough of my old man rant. Authors should at least do some research when writing a book like this…
Starts out with a probe to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Ok so far. Then when a manned follow up mission is sent, suddenly in chapter 5 Europa is referred to as a moon of Saturn???
Also, sci fi is obviously not this author’s wheelhouse. Does he even understand gravity? When the explorers debark from a lunar explorer vehicle, suddenly they experience Europa’s lighter gravity? Like earth gravity follows them around until they step outside?
Also these intrepid explorers are so casual about any contamination it is laughable. Removing helmets in an undersea cavern?
Anyway, enough of my old man rant. Authors should at least do some research when writing a book like this…
August 26, 2025
Talk about having a bad day. This research team is about to change the course of human history, and not in a good way. Investigating possibly the greatest discovery of mankind: life forms on Europa, a dangerous and amazing world imbedded in ice. Things do not go as planned; their first contact could be their last, and the whole human race is on the line.
Right, enjoyed this. A sci-fi horror in the nature of The Thing, it is a fun ride with a quick pace, and the action does not stop. The antagonists (the aliens) are very well done, and the setting is fantastic. 4 strong stars—highly recommend!
Right, enjoyed this. A sci-fi horror in the nature of The Thing, it is a fun ride with a quick pace, and the action does not stop. The antagonists (the aliens) are very well done, and the setting is fantastic. 4 strong stars—highly recommend!
October 24, 2025
I honestly wanted EUROPA to work for me.
"Bestselling author Greig Beck."
Fresh young voice from Australia.
"Deep space horror."
"Nearly four hundred million miles from earth...."
And that cover......a space helmet with compromised face
plate...and an eyeless, multi-tentacled thingy inside....
Along comes me :
- big time ALIEN fanboy (Ridley Scott, 1979)
- believer in Deja Vu.
- naive goober with expendable cash.
Welcome to my world : tantalizing copywriting,
merchandising and, oh yeah, less expendable cash
now.
While there was early promise and a nice ironic twist
in the epilogue, Beck begged, borrowed and outright
ripped off story lines, stock space opera characters,
and knocked out an up-and-down potboiler in less than
200 pages. There were double negatives, some dialogue
that sounded like Yoda-speak, repeated facts and scenes
and a near - total disdain for actual science-fact.
Movie potential :
Direct to bargain bin.
T.V. : world premiere on local network. Fridays after midnight.
A "show" cleverly called Scare Fare hosted by a heavily
made-up Elvira look a like.
"Bestselling author Greig Beck."
Fresh young voice from Australia.
"Deep space horror."
"Nearly four hundred million miles from earth...."
And that cover......a space helmet with compromised face
plate...and an eyeless, multi-tentacled thingy inside....
Along comes me :
- big time ALIEN fanboy (Ridley Scott, 1979)
- believer in Deja Vu.
- naive goober with expendable cash.
Welcome to my world : tantalizing copywriting,
merchandising and, oh yeah, less expendable cash
now.
While there was early promise and a nice ironic twist
in the epilogue, Beck begged, borrowed and outright
ripped off story lines, stock space opera characters,
and knocked out an up-and-down potboiler in less than
200 pages. There were double negatives, some dialogue
that sounded like Yoda-speak, repeated facts and scenes
and a near - total disdain for actual science-fact.
Movie potential :
Direct to bargain bin.
T.V. : world premiere on local network. Fridays after midnight.
A "show" cleverly called Scare Fare hosted by a heavily
made-up Elvira look a like.
April 11, 2025
Interesting
Europa is the story about astronauts sent to a far away planet to examine possible life forms. Good plot with warm characters. Worth your time.
Europa is the story about astronauts sent to a far away planet to examine possible life forms. Good plot with warm characters. Worth your time.
April 10, 2025
Ehhh....
It's moderately entertaining with the typical slightly silly stuff, but jesus this author needs to go back to school and take some basic science classes.
More than once it's mentioned that someone "felt lighter" as the gravity changed when leaving the spaceship through the airlock. I am not sure if the author believes that gravity is somehow connected to earth air or that the spaceship magically generates it somehow.
Another thing was "using satellites" to somehow make it possible to remote drive probes from Earth, bypassing the issue that the signal would need 30-40 mins to go from one place to another. I am sure Einstein would be interested in this one!
It's moderately entertaining with the typical slightly silly stuff, but jesus this author needs to go back to school and take some basic science classes.
More than once it's mentioned that someone "felt lighter" as the gravity changed when leaving the spaceship through the airlock. I am not sure if the author believes that gravity is somehow connected to earth air or that the spaceship magically generates it somehow.
Another thing was "using satellites" to somehow make it possible to remote drive probes from Earth, bypassing the issue that the signal would need 30-40 mins to go from one place to another. I am sure Einstein would be interested in this one!
August 5, 2025
Walking into a post while reading a book does not help my level of "coolness".
Have you ever been so engrossed in your phone or Kindle that you walked straight into someone or something? Well, Mr Beck, your story did that to me, and the battle between my noggin and the street lamp post...you can guess who won. Far more painful was the embarrassment suffered when a bunch of schoolgirls alighting from a bus witnessed my foible and started a loud round of tittering. Bitches!
Anyhoo! This seems to be a retelling of Carpenter's, The Thing...only updated and improved. There are some glaring errors in the science relating to gravity and fires in low oxygen environments, so a little suspension of belief is required...well...maybe a lot. To his credit, the author does make mention of artificial gravity on the ship, but it's almost an afterthought. The story was exciting enough to keep my eyes sucking in those words until the end and the characters were engaging. Speaking of the end, it was satisfying though predictable. All in all, I liked this book. Good job, Greig.
Now where did I put those worming pills?
Have you ever been so engrossed in your phone or Kindle that you walked straight into someone or something? Well, Mr Beck, your story did that to me, and the battle between my noggin and the street lamp post...you can guess who won. Far more painful was the embarrassment suffered when a bunch of schoolgirls alighting from a bus witnessed my foible and started a loud round of tittering. Bitches!
Anyhoo! This seems to be a retelling of Carpenter's, The Thing...only updated and improved. There are some glaring errors in the science relating to gravity and fires in low oxygen environments, so a little suspension of belief is required...well...maybe a lot. To his credit, the author does make mention of artificial gravity on the ship, but it's almost an afterthought. The story was exciting enough to keep my eyes sucking in those words until the end and the characters were engaging. Speaking of the end, it was satisfying though predictable. All in all, I liked this book. Good job, Greig.
Now where did I put those worming pills?
June 1, 2025
If you liked Aliens and The Abyss, then you’ll love Europa!
When you read the abstract on the leaflet, you get the gist of the story, so it’s not a spoiler to tell you here that it is almost exactly like Alien.
NASA has commissioned a ship and crew to land and explore the moon Europa. The crew encounters an unknown foe and the rest of the story is trying the contain the threat. Yadda yadda yadda.
Europa goes where Nostromo did not: Under the ice and into the sea. The story wanders a bit into The Abyss territory (no spoilers), but it is a fanciful, fantastical, perilous journey.
Is there life on Europa? Hmmm…
Not sure I would read it again, but I did send a copy to my sister (a sure sign of approval!) and Can Recommend to others.
When you read the abstract on the leaflet, you get the gist of the story, so it’s not a spoiler to tell you here that it is almost exactly like Alien.
NASA has commissioned a ship and crew to land and explore the moon Europa. The crew encounters an unknown foe and the rest of the story is trying the contain the threat. Yadda yadda yadda.
Europa goes where Nostromo did not: Under the ice and into the sea. The story wanders a bit into The Abyss territory (no spoilers), but it is a fanciful, fantastical, perilous journey.
Is there life on Europa? Hmmm…
Not sure I would read it again, but I did send a copy to my sister (a sure sign of approval!) and Can Recommend to others.
April 12, 2025
Stupid very stupid
If you are going to write space based fiction have at least a high school level understanding of physics and don’t start breaking those basics until the horror actually starts. Just bad.
If you are going to write space based fiction have at least a high school level understanding of physics and don’t start breaking those basics until the horror actually starts. Just bad.
April 17, 2025
Edit: This is becoming a DNF. I just can't bring myself to finish this with the amount of incorrect things in this book. It is one thing to write a sci-fi book and set it up in a far-future environment where we can accept things like FTL communication or artificial gravity or whatever, but this is portrayed as a near-current day setting. Did no one proof read this book?
--
Currently reading - but struggling with major inconsistencies in the first few chapters.
The very first chapter of this book is just... filled with errors, I guess? The heading of the very first chapter says the year is 2000, but then a reference is made to a movie that came out in 2003. Then they are, somehow, controlling a probe at Europa in near-real time from Earth, and it is explained that they're able to do this because they have a string of satellites lined up to allow faster communication? It doesn't work that way. Then, to top it off, they are using AI image enhancement.... in the year 2000? What?
I read lots of sci-fi, I realize authors take liberties, but all of this in the very first chapter doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of the book. Perhaps the date is a miss-print or typo on the Kindle edition?
Chapter five starts by calling Europa a moon of Saturn... it isn't a moon of Saturn. It is a moon of Jupiter. How did this make it into print?
Okay, they've now referenced Europa being a moon of Saturn multiple time. That's it for me folks. See top note.
--
Currently reading - but struggling with major inconsistencies in the first few chapters.
The very first chapter of this book is just... filled with errors, I guess? The heading of the very first chapter says the year is 2000, but then a reference is made to a movie that came out in 2003. Then they are, somehow, controlling a probe at Europa in near-real time from Earth, and it is explained that they're able to do this because they have a string of satellites lined up to allow faster communication? It doesn't work that way. Then, to top it off, they are using AI image enhancement.... in the year 2000? What?
I read lots of sci-fi, I realize authors take liberties, but all of this in the very first chapter doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of the book. Perhaps the date is a miss-print or typo on the Kindle edition?
Chapter five starts by calling Europa a moon of Saturn... it isn't a moon of Saturn. It is a moon of Jupiter. How did this make it into print?
Okay, they've now referenced Europa being a moon of Saturn multiple time. That's it for me folks. See top note.
March 28, 2025
Europa Moon Of Saturn?
Europa is a moon of Jupiter, not Saturn. Could have been a good story, but we expect a basic understanding of the subject.
Europa is a moon of Jupiter, not Saturn. Could have been a good story, but we expect a basic understanding of the subject.
May 1, 2025
70%; Some interesting detail but weak on science. Silly crushes between crew members substitute for any characterization. Like Europa Report meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but less than the sum of them. Maybe some Apollo 18 too? Russians there first and got whacked but survivors try to use their ship.
October 25, 2025
Greig Beck has some nifty ideas in this humans-go-where-they-shouldn't creature feature. The threat - once it is revealed - is creative and suitably horrifying and a lot of the fun to be had with Europa is in reading how the characters react to something so alien.
The short novel is also fast-paced. In fact, maybe too fast paced, as the final part of the novel could have been its own full-length sequel without much trouble at all.
However, the framing device Beck chooses to use to tell his story is terrible. Not only does it tell the reader exactly who is going to make it to the last part of the novel, it is extremely obvious what is going to happen because of that device, robbing the book of what should have been a gut punch of a moment. It also does not allow for the cheats Beck writes into the section of the book on the titular moon. This lack of internal consistency drives me mad and drops my score by a full star.
Equally, this copy could have used another once over as some of the writing is clunky, one brother goes by his last name throughout the narrative, but the other is referred to interchangeably by that last name and his first name, and Beck (again as a result of his choice of framing device) opts to introduce and thinly sketch in some throwaway characters in the last 10% of the novel, which just feels like a waste.
A better editor with a mightier set of tracked changes could have made Europa something special. As it is, it's just a fun spin on Carpenter's The Thing. I'll give Beck another go, as his ideas are top notch. Hopefully his execution in other novels matches that.
2.5 (Rounding Up to 3) Bold Explorations for Europa.
The short novel is also fast-paced. In fact, maybe too fast paced, as the final part of the novel could have been its own full-length sequel without much trouble at all.
However, the framing device Beck chooses to use to tell his story is terrible. Not only does it tell the reader exactly who is going to make it to the last part of the novel, it is extremely obvious what is going to happen because of that device, robbing the book of what should have been a gut punch of a moment. It also does not allow for the cheats Beck writes into the section of the book on the titular moon. This lack of internal consistency drives me mad and drops my score by a full star.
Equally, this copy could have used another once over as some of the writing is clunky, one brother goes by his last name throughout the narrative, but the other is referred to interchangeably by that last name and his first name, and Beck (again as a result of his choice of framing device) opts to introduce and thinly sketch in some throwaway characters in the last 10% of the novel, which just feels like a waste.
A better editor with a mightier set of tracked changes could have made Europa something special. As it is, it's just a fun spin on Carpenter's The Thing. I'll give Beck another go, as his ideas are top notch. Hopefully his execution in other novels matches that.
2.5 (Rounding Up to 3) Bold Explorations for Europa.
July 15, 2025
Scifi horror is a subgenre that I want more of and I'd be keen for Beck to do a lot more of it for me, please and thank you sir!
This was thrilling and it honestly hit in all the right ways. The isolation was terrifying, the creature was insurmountable, and I applaud Beck for writing such a creature. Something that you wonder how they're possibly going to battle always does it for me in every genre. It was creepy because it could happen. And the revelation of the underwater world was fantastic.
This was thrilling and it honestly hit in all the right ways. The isolation was terrifying, the creature was insurmountable, and I applaud Beck for writing such a creature. Something that you wonder how they're possibly going to battle always does it for me in every genre. It was creepy because it could happen. And the revelation of the underwater world was fantastic.
March 30, 2025
A 2.5 rounded up to 3 because of the Goodreads way.
More action fiction than science fiction (Europa is a Jovian moon, not Saturn). Under the impression the research amounted to some quick Google searches, which makes the error of Europa a moon of Saturn even more glaring. The editing errors, especially at the beginning and end of the novel (character descriptions & introductions, skillsets, etc) also detracted from giving it any higher rating.
I'm under the impression this was on some alternate earth with much more advanced tech than our Earth of 2025, and some odd combination of current science and future science, such as cyrotubes for long distance spaceflight, light speed communications of some sort (minutes to get a message to Earth and not hours; then not as fast for plot convenience), a moon with 13 percent of Earth’s gravity, yet people are moving (and working) as if earthbound. At points gravity is treated as if it were like an atmosphere - open the rover’s door and “let out” air and gravity…but then there are some brief tie-ins to the "shared universe" Beck employs with his Alex Hunter novels that told me it’s in that universe.
In the novel Europa, we have a hero character with a love interest that's not really necessary, but explained by furtive glances, smiles, etc., and the relationship seems to be modeled off the primary couple in the Alex Hunter novels (before the woman was turned into a constant damsel-in-distress in subsequent novels). Throw in a generous helping of smart people doing stupid things and some monstrosit(ies) doing monster stuff to the primates coming into their territory.
As far as Europa goes, it hits the same tones and direction as book 1 and 6 of the Alex Hunter series (sub in Europa for Antarctica and some "inner" Europa environment). Not too far into the book and one can figure out how the story ends. If you're a movie fan, you'll recognize elements from Alien, The Thing, Life, or the countless movies that have a crew not recognizing danger until it bites them in the face. Only this time the setting is a moon orbiting Jupiter (or Saturn in the case of the novel).
Recommend for fans of Beck’s previous works who just want to go on autopilot for a few hours, book is better than his work from the last few years (the last 2 or 3 Hunter books have become outlandish, even for that universe); reserved recommendation for new Beck readers - Beck has stronger material out there than Europa to read first.
More action fiction than science fiction (Europa is a Jovian moon, not Saturn). Under the impression the research amounted to some quick Google searches, which makes the error of Europa a moon of Saturn even more glaring. The editing errors, especially at the beginning and end of the novel (character descriptions & introductions, skillsets, etc) also detracted from giving it any higher rating.
I'm under the impression this was on some alternate earth with much more advanced tech than our Earth of 2025, and some odd combination of current science and future science, such as cyrotubes for long distance spaceflight, light speed communications of some sort (minutes to get a message to Earth and not hours; then not as fast for plot convenience), a moon with 13 percent of Earth’s gravity, yet people are moving (and working) as if earthbound. At points gravity is treated as if it were like an atmosphere - open the rover’s door and “let out” air and gravity…but then there are some brief tie-ins to the "shared universe" Beck employs with his Alex Hunter novels that told me it’s in that universe.
In the novel Europa, we have a hero character with a love interest that's not really necessary, but explained by furtive glances, smiles, etc., and the relationship seems to be modeled off the primary couple in the Alex Hunter novels (before the woman was turned into a constant damsel-in-distress in subsequent novels). Throw in a generous helping of smart people doing stupid things and some monstrosit(ies) doing monster stuff to the primates coming into their territory.
As far as Europa goes, it hits the same tones and direction as book 1 and 6 of the Alex Hunter series (sub in Europa for Antarctica and some "inner" Europa environment). Not too far into the book and one can figure out how the story ends. If you're a movie fan, you'll recognize elements from Alien, The Thing, Life, or the countless movies that have a crew not recognizing danger until it bites them in the face. Only this time the setting is a moon orbiting Jupiter (or Saturn in the case of the novel).
Recommend for fans of Beck’s previous works who just want to go on autopilot for a few hours, book is better than his work from the last few years (the last 2 or 3 Hunter books have become outlandish, even for that universe); reserved recommendation for new Beck readers - Beck has stronger material out there than Europa to read first.
September 22, 2025
Thank god I am finally done with this garbage book. It's only 213 pages, but it took me several weeks to trudge through. There is no chance this books was proofread by anyone, and it genuinely felt like a 12 year old wrote it. The writing was bad, the story was bad, the dialogue was bad, the science was bad, everything was just so BAD.
I should've known how terrible it was going to be during the first chapter. Set in the year 2000, they launch a probe to Europa, named Nemo "after the animated movie". Finding Nemo came out in 2003. I even remember thinking that didn't bode well for the rest of the book, and I should have just trusted my gut. I could go on and on about what I hated about this book (the reasons are endless) and still not fully convey how terrible it was. Do not read it.
I should've known how terrible it was going to be during the first chapter. Set in the year 2000, they launch a probe to Europa, named Nemo "after the animated movie". Finding Nemo came out in 2003. I even remember thinking that didn't bode well for the rest of the book, and I should have just trusted my gut. I could go on and on about what I hated about this book (the reasons are endless) and still not fully convey how terrible it was. Do not read it.
April 26, 2025
I love this book in theory. Prometheus x Annihilation? Yes please!
But ultimately, this was far too predictable, despite inconsistencies in plot. There was also a description of a woman who is apparently 5’4” and 80 pounds, which makes me think this author has literally never met a woman. First and last!
But ultimately, this was far too predictable, despite inconsistencies in plot. There was also a description of a woman who is apparently 5’4” and 80 pounds, which makes me think this author has literally never met a woman. First and last!
June 29, 2025
This read like it was written with AI, and I wouldn’t be surprised I guess if it was. The plot was good, the writing just wasn’t to my taste I guess. Could have done with so many more rounds of edits because of the grammar issues. Also, whatever romance he tried to add was so forced. Sorry I guess.
July 7, 2025
more like 2,5*
It would be 3 stars if there weren't so obvious mistakes in the writing stuff. Give this author a proof reader.
The author ignored in two cases his own story - Morgan explored an area with one of his already dead Crewmates, because the author forgot who was dead and who wasnt. In the second case they wanted to split up the members (without spoiler) A, B, C and D, E, F. Then the author forgot that, because there needed plot to happen, so the groups were A, B, D and E, F, C. Quite major blunders in the story.
The other part was changing the POVs freely. Actually too freely.
That we as a reader see the POVs off all crew members makes sense, because we are listening to the diaries of all of them. But then we get a backflash in a backflash, and there he suddenly used the First POV, then changed to a Third POV again, that doesn't make sense and yeah .. :/ proofreading help.
Otherweise it was a normal trashy sci-fi-horror story. As a movie it would've be very fun. As a book it was entertaining enough, but also the crew members are all very fucking stupid - but this stupidity is the plot device :D i mean without any stupid ppl we don't get all the drama, right?
But still - that not one of the crew members actually thought about the mission going wrong AND were surprised when shit went side ways is quite ... confusing to me.
I mean, NASA woudln't send ppl to Europa in a 5-year-mission without training them for worst case scenarios??? But obviously they did, bcs they were all panicky when there was the thought of never returning to earth.
But whatever.
Also the Romance was unnecessary again, bcs rly, who cares.
The last Plottwist was quite nice.
Also the last 15% of the book, back on earth, should be cut. It would've been a way better ending if the book ended openly, but okay. But at least it wasn't as bad, so I probably try some more books of the author.
It would be 3 stars if there weren't so obvious mistakes in the writing stuff. Give this author a proof reader.
The author ignored in two cases his own story - Morgan explored an area with one of his already dead Crewmates, because the author forgot who was dead and who wasnt. In the second case they wanted to split up the members (without spoiler) A, B, C and D, E, F. Then the author forgot that, because there needed plot to happen, so the groups were A, B, D and E, F, C. Quite major blunders in the story.
The other part was changing the POVs freely. Actually too freely.
That we as a reader see the POVs off all crew members makes sense, because we are listening to the diaries of all of them. But then we get a backflash in a backflash, and there he suddenly used the First POV, then changed to a Third POV again, that doesn't make sense and yeah .. :/ proofreading help.
Otherweise it was a normal trashy sci-fi-horror story. As a movie it would've be very fun. As a book it was entertaining enough, but also the crew members are all very fucking stupid - but this stupidity is the plot device :D i mean without any stupid ppl we don't get all the drama, right?
But still - that not one of the crew members actually thought about the mission going wrong AND were surprised when shit went side ways is quite ... confusing to me.
I mean, NASA woudln't send ppl to Europa in a 5-year-mission without training them for worst case scenarios??? But obviously they did, bcs they were all panicky when there was the thought of never returning to earth.
But whatever.
Also the Romance was unnecessary again, bcs rly, who cares.
The last Plottwist was quite nice.
Also the last 15% of the book, back on earth, should be cut. It would've been a way better ending if the book ended openly, but okay. But at least it wasn't as bad, so I probably try some more books of the author.
November 23, 2025
I went into this with no expectations and yet I’m still disappointed haha
Europa is a classic space adventure horror, ripped right out of the pages of a men’s adventure compendium. And I do mean that derogatorily. A mission to a moon, an alien presence determined to take over, a strong man to save the day, etc etc.
If I could only ask one question about this book, it’d probably be why the author named the MMC the same name. Bit egotistical no?
If I could share one quote that summed up the impression I’m left with it would be “even the women seemed to be more formidable than he was” (a NASA engineer/scientist mid action sequence with a bunch of soldiers around him).
I wanted creepy space horror, I got B-grade misogyny with crap dialogue, stupid characters and an uninspired alien.
Europa is a classic space adventure horror, ripped right out of the pages of a men’s adventure compendium. And I do mean that derogatorily. A mission to a moon, an alien presence determined to take over, a strong man to save the day, etc etc.
If I could only ask one question about this book, it’d probably be why the author named the MMC the same name. Bit egotistical no?
If I could share one quote that summed up the impression I’m left with it would be “even the women seemed to be more formidable than he was” (a NASA engineer/scientist mid action sequence with a bunch of soldiers around him).
I wanted creepy space horror, I got B-grade misogyny with crap dialogue, stupid characters and an uninspired alien.
January 1, 2026
Great story as usual from Greig.
December 18, 2025
DNF at 60%. Too predictable and at times too silly.
August 2, 2025
2/5 stars.
I picked this one up on the recommendation of a few indie horror authors that enjoy Beck’s writing. This must have been the rotten egg in the bunch because, just, woof.
Honestly, the basic plot was enjoyable - The Thing but on Europa. That’s why it gets more than 1 star from me. If you turn off your brain, and I mean really switch it to low power mode you can enjoy this.
So what’s the bad?
This read like the author fed a basic plot outline into Chat GPT.
The worst of it wasn’t the grammatical errors. Which there were plenty of.
I know this is fiction, but a basic understanding of physics and an elementary school knowledge of the solar system would have fixed a lot of the issues with this book.
What issues you say? How about Europa being described as a moon of Jupiter and Saturn at multiple points throughout the story. That’s just one. You can read the book for yourself if you’re dying to discover others.
Why did I keep reading if it was so bad? I’m a sucker for The Thing and anything like it. Also, it was a quick read and I spent $15 on it. Sometimes stubbornness opens doors to a rubbish heap.
Anyway, read it if you have nothing else to read.
Actually, don’t read this. Avoid it. Just spend the time you would have invested in reading this and go watch John Carpenter’s The Thing.
I picked this one up on the recommendation of a few indie horror authors that enjoy Beck’s writing. This must have been the rotten egg in the bunch because, just, woof.
Honestly, the basic plot was enjoyable - The Thing but on Europa. That’s why it gets more than 1 star from me. If you turn off your brain, and I mean really switch it to low power mode you can enjoy this.
So what’s the bad?
This read like the author fed a basic plot outline into Chat GPT.
The worst of it wasn’t the grammatical errors. Which there were plenty of.
I know this is fiction, but a basic understanding of physics and an elementary school knowledge of the solar system would have fixed a lot of the issues with this book.
What issues you say? How about Europa being described as a moon of Jupiter and Saturn at multiple points throughout the story. That’s just one. You can read the book for yourself if you’re dying to discover others.
Why did I keep reading if it was so bad? I’m a sucker for The Thing and anything like it. Also, it was a quick read and I spent $15 on it. Sometimes stubbornness opens doors to a rubbish heap.
Anyway, read it if you have nothing else to read.
Actually, don’t read this. Avoid it. Just spend the time you would have invested in reading this and go watch John Carpenter’s The Thing.
March 30, 2025
Huge Plot Mistake in chapter 27
In chapter 27 there is a huge mistake in the plot that makes the rest of the book a joke. This doesn’t reveal the plot so not a problem to read the rest of my review.
in chapter 27 the astronauts decide into 2 teams to look for the monsters/aliens. Astronauts A, B and C are in 1 group and Astronauts D, E and F are in the second group. The groupings are critical to the plot because of talents and attitudes. All of a sudden two characters are switched. Without explanation in the middle of action the groups become A, B and F and D, E and C. The attitudes and skills are completely wrong and the plot goes from intelligent to stupid and trite. Even if the author didn’t notice this mistake (we all have had a few misfires in our brain neurons) the editor should have caught it.
I read until the end to see if there was a time warp kind of explanation but no. I have enjoyed Greig’s books in the past and was totally involved in this one until the character swap in chapter 27.The novel went from logical and exciting to stupid and contrived. i joined kindle unlimited just to read this book. if I had purchased it, I would ask for my money back.
In chapter 27 there is a huge mistake in the plot that makes the rest of the book a joke. This doesn’t reveal the plot so not a problem to read the rest of my review.
in chapter 27 the astronauts decide into 2 teams to look for the monsters/aliens. Astronauts A, B and C are in 1 group and Astronauts D, E and F are in the second group. The groupings are critical to the plot because of talents and attitudes. All of a sudden two characters are switched. Without explanation in the middle of action the groups become A, B and F and D, E and C. The attitudes and skills are completely wrong and the plot goes from intelligent to stupid and trite. Even if the author didn’t notice this mistake (we all have had a few misfires in our brain neurons) the editor should have caught it.
I read until the end to see if there was a time warp kind of explanation but no. I have enjoyed Greig’s books in the past and was totally involved in this one until the character swap in chapter 27.The novel went from logical and exciting to stupid and contrived. i joined kindle unlimited just to read this book. if I had purchased it, I would ask for my money back.
June 13, 2025
The horror elements of this book are decently written and fun, and just about everything else is horrible. Astronauts are highly trained, multi-disciplinary scientists, but these characters are ignorant of some basic scientific information, presumably so they can explain things to each other for the benefit of the audience. Explaining science to the audience is very common in science fiction, but there are better ways to do it than writing dialogue that makes the characters unbelievable. Even worse is that every character is grinning non-stop. Several members of their team died just hours ago, and people are grinning at each other and joking. It's horribly inappropriate, and PhD scientists are not usually oafish fools. Which brings us to the other problem: most of the characters are interchangeable. And there are basic English mistakes at times. Blech.
June 30, 2025
DNF@24%
Basic science is wrong, e.g. Europa a moon of Saturn, in which universe does the author live?
Characters, which are the supposed to be the best astronauts ever, constantly behave stupidly.
Audiobook narration is slow slow slow, had to speed up to 135% and even then, it was slow.
Also narration felt very flat, lack of emotion.
Basic science is wrong, e.g. Europa a moon of Saturn, in which universe does the author live?
Characters, which are the supposed to be the best astronauts ever, constantly behave stupidly.
Audiobook narration is slow slow slow, had to speed up to 135% and even then, it was slow.
Also narration felt very flat, lack of emotion.
June 9, 2025
Nothing new but decently executed
June 11, 2025
Inept written-for-Hollywood pap. Author can't even remember which planet Europa orbits from chapter to chapter (sometimes it's Jupiter, sometimes it's Saturn).
July 29, 2025
Europa by Greig Beck
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The ice cracks, the silence breaks
Jupiter’s icy moon becomes the stage for humanity’s most terrifying discovery in Europa, a high-stakes blend of speculative science and primal fear. Beck delivers a claustrophobic, edge-of-your-seat thriller that probes not just the mysteries of alien life—but the consequences of disturbing something ancient best left forgotten.
The novel kicks off with Earth’s first mission to Europa, its frozen crust hiding a deep ocean ripe for exploration. But Beck doesn’t just tease us with scientific wonder—he swiftly yanks the reader into the abyss. What the crew finds beneath the ice isn’t life as we know it, but something older, malevolent, and cold beyond comprehension. The tension ramps relentlessly as isolation and dread seep into every corridor of the submerged base.
The horror here is cosmic, and beautifully bleak. Think The Thing meets Event Horizon, with Europa’s inhospitable beauty amplifying every ounce of fear. The unknown doesn’t just loom—it watches.
Beck’s pacing is breakneck, sometimes at the expense of deeper character development, but the atmosphere and terror more than make up for it. There’s enough pseudoscience to ground the thrills and enough gore to satisfy horror buffs—without tipping into gratuitous excess.
Verdict: If you’re looking for a smart sci-fi monster story that scratches the itch for isolation horror and awe-inspiring planetary dread, Europa delivers in spades. Four chilling stars for a journey into the frozen unknown.
Happy reading 🚀👾📚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The ice cracks, the silence breaks
Jupiter’s icy moon becomes the stage for humanity’s most terrifying discovery in Europa, a high-stakes blend of speculative science and primal fear. Beck delivers a claustrophobic, edge-of-your-seat thriller that probes not just the mysteries of alien life—but the consequences of disturbing something ancient best left forgotten.
The novel kicks off with Earth’s first mission to Europa, its frozen crust hiding a deep ocean ripe for exploration. But Beck doesn’t just tease us with scientific wonder—he swiftly yanks the reader into the abyss. What the crew finds beneath the ice isn’t life as we know it, but something older, malevolent, and cold beyond comprehension. The tension ramps relentlessly as isolation and dread seep into every corridor of the submerged base.
The horror here is cosmic, and beautifully bleak. Think The Thing meets Event Horizon, with Europa’s inhospitable beauty amplifying every ounce of fear. The unknown doesn’t just loom—it watches.
Beck’s pacing is breakneck, sometimes at the expense of deeper character development, but the atmosphere and terror more than make up for it. There’s enough pseudoscience to ground the thrills and enough gore to satisfy horror buffs—without tipping into gratuitous excess.
Verdict: If you’re looking for a smart sci-fi monster story that scratches the itch for isolation horror and awe-inspiring planetary dread, Europa delivers in spades. Four chilling stars for a journey into the frozen unknown.
Happy reading 🚀👾📚
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