The Orion Plan

by Mark Alpert

Scientists thought we were safe from invasion. The distance between stars is so great that it seemed impossible for even the most advanced civilizations to send a large spaceship from one star system to another. But now, a species - a planet - other than our own has found a way.

An unassuming probe from another star system lands in an empty corner of New York City and drills into the ground underneath, drawing electricity from the power lines to jumpstart its automated expansion. When it's discovered, it injects nanodevices into those people unlucky enough to come near it. The devices migrate to the brains of the victims and influence their behavior, forcing them to perform tasks that will assist the probe as it prepares for an alien colonization. When the government proves slow to react, a NASA scientist realizes he must lead the effort to stop the probe before it becomes too powerful.

For fans of Michael Crichton, Douglas Preston, and James Rollins, Mark Alpert presents a story of first contact with an alien intelligence far beyond what we can imagine.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction Fantasy, Aliens

322 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2016

About the author

Mark Alpert, author of Final Theory, The Omega Theory, Extinction, The Furies, and The Six, is a contributing editor at Scientific American. In his long journalism career he has specialized in explaining scientific ideas to readers, simplifying esoteric concepts such as extra dimensions and parallel universes. And now, in his novels, Alpert weaves cutting-edge science into high-energy thrillers that elucidate real theories and technologies.

A lifelong science geek, Alpert majored in astrophysics at Princeton University and wrote his undergraduate thesis on the application of the theory of relativity to Flatland, a hypothetical universe with only two spatial dimensions. (The resulting paper was published in the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation and has been cited in more than 100 scholarly articles.) After Princeton, Alpert entered the creative writing program at Columbia University, where he earned an M.F.A. in poetry in 1984. He started his journalism career as a small-town reporter for the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle Times, then moved on to the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. In 1987 he became a reporter for Fortune Magazine and over the next five years he wrote about the computer industry and emerging technologies. During the 1990s Alpert worked freelance, contributing articles to Popular Mechanics and writing anchor copy for CNN's Moneyline show. He also began to write fiction, selling his first short story ("My Life with Joanne Christiansen") to Playboy in 1991.

In 1998 Alpert joined the board of editors at Scientific American, where he edited feature articles for the magazine and wrote a column on exotic high-tech gadgets. With his love for science reawakened, he wrote his first novel, Final Theory, about Albert Einstein and the historic quest for the holy grail of physics, the Theory of Everything. Published by Touchstone in 2008, Final Theory was hailed as one of the best thrillers of the year by Booklist, Borders and the American Booksellers Association. Foreign rights to the novel were sold in more than twenty languages, and the movie rights were acquired by Radar Pictures, a Los Angeles production company. Alpert continued the saga of the Theory of Everything in his second book, The Omega Theory, a gripping story about religious fanatics who try to trigger Doomsday by altering the laws of quantum physics. His next thriller, Extinction, focused on brain-computer interfaces and a collective intelligence that decides to exterminate the human race. His fourth novel, The Furies, told the story of an ancient clan who share a genetic mutation so shocking that its discovery could change the course of history. And his first Young Adult novel, The Six, is about six dying teenagers whose lives are “saved” when their minds are downloaded into U.S. Army robots.

Alpert lives in Manhattan with his wife and two non-robotic teenagers. He's a proud member of Scientific American's softball team, the Big Bangers.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned it after the halfway mark. Alien space probe lands in NYC with the intention of colonizing Earth. A high tech version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, using AI and nanotechnology instead of plant spores. The pace was too uneven for a thriller and the science wasn't that interesting for SF. Nothing new in the plot, and the writing wasn't that good.

[John Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining story. A different slant on alien life forms than usual. The science is quite complex, but is written very well in lay terms. It's easily understandable. Quite enjoyable.

[Amy Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

ScienceThrillers.com review:
Ah, New York. All the crazy stuff happens there. Author Mark Alpert should know–he’s a Manhattan native, and his intimate knowledge of the territory shows in this science fiction ensemble thriller The Orion Plan, which is set in the state of New York, mostly in New York City.

In the arresting opening scene, astronomer Sarah Pooley spots a planet-bashing meteor about to strike Earth. Inexplicably the object nearly vanishes while on a path to hit Manhattan. A clock is ticking but for what, Sarah–and the reader–don’t know yet.

What follows is a delightful page-turner that shows Alpert’s enthusiasm for geeky speculation about space travel and intelligent life in the universe. This author has a degree in physics and a career as a science journalist, so the many bits of science and technology tossed in the plot are accurate (except for the alien parts, of course). Readers who like real science in their fiction will find plenty of tasty morsels here, from Martian microfossils to stray voltage detection to interstellar travel.

The Orion Plan unfolds from multiple points of view as a host of interesting characters encounter the alien object now lying in the forested, relative wilds of Inwood Hill Park. It’s a minor spoiler to say that some of these encounters between humans and the alien probe have a powerful effect on the humans and influence the characters’ subsequent actions. Much of the book follows the individual story lines of these various characters: a former physician laid low by alcoholism; an African-American woman pastor dying of cancer; a young Dominican gangster. In the meantime, our heroine-scientist Sarah doggedly pursues answers. With a personal history of belief in alien life, Sarah is primed to leap to certain conclusions that government and military people are not.

What drives this story is the question of what the probe is trying to do. For most of the book, the outcome is uncertain. There’s definitely a sinister flair to what’s going on, yet Alpert gives us reasons to suspect the humans’ reaction to this “invasion” may be worse than the problem. Should we root for the alien, or hope that it is destroyed? Does it want to save us, or destroy us? The ambiguity will keep you guessing.

The twists and wrap-up at the end come a little too suddenly, but they do fit the story. Other quibbles I had include the lengthy backstories about the characters, which at times interrupt the momentum and make large sections of the book not directly related to the alien plot line. Also, Sarah’s negative feelings about the military’s involvement, and her decisions to go it alone when possible, seemed unjustified.

Visiting unfamiliar places through books is a good reason to read thrillers, and The Orion Plan obliges with great scenes at the American Museum of Natural History, Rikers Island prison, below a Con Edison manhole cover (you’re curious, right?), Yankee Stadium, Cornell University, on a train, and of course at Inwood Hill Park.

Thriller fans will find easy, satisfying entertainment in this fresh take on a classic sci-fi premise. Peppered with real science details, The Orion Plan combines a looming disaster in Manhattan with the individual struggles of people trying to do the right thing after an encounter with a force far beyond their understanding. You won’t stop reading until the last page is turned.

Alert: Occasional adult language.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Exciting, Fast-Paced New Take On A Timeless Scientific Fictional Theme

"The War of the Worlds" meets "Mean Streets" (Martin Scorsese's second film) in Mark Alpert's clever, fast-paced science thriller "The Orion Plan", which may be the most original novel I have read in years regarding a possible alien invasion of Earth. Native Manhattanite Alpert takes readers on a whirlwind tour of above and below the streets of Manhattan when a mysterious alien object crashes into northernmost Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park. NASA scientist Sarah Pooley spots the object hurtling rapidly towards the Earth at the incredible speed of thirty-seven kilometers per second (83,000 miles per hour), and warns United States Air Force's Space Command, under the command of its brilliant, MIT-educated commander, General Brent Hanson. Soon she realizes that she must lead the effort to find the object and discover the true nature of its intentions, as it begins tapping into New York City's Con Edison electrical network. A homeless man, a dying African-American priest, and several Dominican-American teenaged gang members are among those who make "first contact' with the object, becoming unsuspected subjects as its influence over them increases. Much to his credit, Mark Alpert - a Scientific American contributing editor with a background in astrophysics - has admirably melded state-of-the-art science, and informed scientific extrapolation - though as a former evolutionary biologist, I have some doubts regarding the physical appearance of the aliens which launched the probe from their distant planet in a remote solar system far, far away - with his fine prose and storytelling into a fast-paced, compelling page-turner of a thriller. "The Orion Plan" will please any potential reader interested in a fresh take on one of the most important themes of science fiction - first contact with hostile aliens - as well as those who are long-time fans of Alpert's earlier science thrillers.

[Cardyn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Orion Plan is a pleasing mix of brainiac science and math applications with personal drama. It's actually science plus fiction that really flows. The concepts are understandable for non-geniuses, and the very specific jargon is easily skimmed or skipped without losing the connective story threads.

Politics, conflicts of interest and bad breakups set the stage for an interstellar smackdown.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Excellent read! I look forward to reading more of his books. Kudos Mark!!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun book. If Jules Verne was alive today would he be writing like Mark Alpert? Quite possibly.

[Steve Schlutow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book. I enjoyed his story telling while integrating the science explaining the story.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review this Friday on bookreporter.com .

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's give it a strong 4.25.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lol this is what happens when forced diversity + r/menwritingwomen collides. The black character is introduced by her mentioning that her grandmother was a cotton picking slave 😭 the women are described like European cars. The science is uninspiring and the military descriptions are very "pew pew! bang bang!" It's not great but I finished it so 1.5 stars

[Joe Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book had some interesting ideas and overall it was a quick, fun read. I just never got invested in any of the characters which is why I only gave it 3 stars.

[Maria Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a ScYFY fantasy story released in 2016, concerning a possible UFO alien arrival to our planet by a probe that contains both a highly advanced AI and the fundementals to recreate the alien creatures from the planet, who needed a new planet to live on. One of the reasons I chose to read this book was the location where the story takes place, my home state of NYS, plus it covers a few georgraphic streets I am quite familar with.
The story starts with Sarah Pooley who is in charge of the program that moniters the path of asteriods, just in case they may come be passing close enough to enter the atmosphere, noticing a extremely large object approaching the Earth which visible in the skies over the western hempshire. She sends notification to all monitoring systems across the USA going west to east and then goes to USA Space Force complex near her in Califfornia to see what view and coordinates they can get via their program. From their observations, they are able to predict the course path,that the object is taking once it enters the atmosphere, which they were concerned with because of the size. During this interaction Colonal Hanson appears in the room, since he was still on duty, and directly communicates with the Hawaii branch monitoring system, which tells them that the object's size has diminished in size from a large building to a bus size. Still large, but they expect most of it to shrink as it burns through the atmosphere. They intently follow the path of the object which is headed for an area in New Jersey, where it just disappears of the tracking. Further evaluation reveals that the object may have exploded further and a smaller particle the size of a basketball traveled up the coast to NYC. They conclude that area to be somewhere near the northern part of Manhattan, near the Inwoood Park area but close to the river area between the Bronx and Manhattan. Hanson dismisses Sarah's reasoning on further investigations and sends her out of the base.
Meanwhile at the site where the probe actually came down, in a field near the woods that slope up Inwood Park, a homeless man, named Joe Graham, former doctor at St Lukes, had been woken suddenly by both a loud noise and a something crashing against the top of his refrigerator box he was using as a shelter.He goes to investigate and finds a black shiny sphere half buried in the mud in the area just off the slope he was on. He goes to bury it by digging up mud to cover it, but is interrupted by a gang of Dominican teenagers called the Trinitalos, head by Emilios. They start to beat him up but are stopped by their leader, who had gotten pricked by something when he tried to touch the sphere. Joe Graham manages to cover the sphere with his box after they leave him. The next morning, Dorothy Adams, comes by and finds him and during their conversation, she thinks that she stepped on a sharp object, but Joe now has realized that the sphere is sending out tentacles, which he tries to avoid until he also is pricked by the tentacles.
The rest of the story involves revealing the reason for the probe and the battle for how it is approached to first deal with the AI and then the regenerated aliens inside their cocoon habitat built by the AI and all the mistakes made by those in charge and those affected by the probe.

[J. (JL) Lange · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. This was a pretty fun first contact story revolving around disgraced NASA scientist, Dr. Sarah Pooley, alcoholic ex-surgeon, Dr. Joe Graham, and Dominican gang member, Emilio Martinez.

All three characters were written pretty well, despite being written by a white male. Though we did get one completely extraneous description of what Dr. Sarah Pooley's breasts were doing at one point, spoiler: they were swaying on the train, but as that section was written from Joe's perspective after he got sloshed, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, I guess. I'm less inclined to give the author a pass for Emilio's gangbanging, just because white authors portraying minority characters as gang members is super cringey for a book published in 2016. Nevertheless, the character was still a good one and I can see how having him be a member of a street gang was important to the plot. Also the author mentioned in the afterword that he got the idea for the novel in 1999, so I can see that maybe he had been working with this plot from back when that was a more common, if still superfucking frustrating, trope. The character's bisexuality definitely made him more robust at least.

The plot was exciting. I appreciated how it kept you guessing as to the intentions of the emissary until later in the novel. It didn't really stick the landing, but was still a fairly enjoyable, if not incredibly remarkable, read.

Edited to drop a half-star because I forgot how much I disliked how the author handled Dorothy. Also it was messing up my scale on another book.

[Chrystal Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for what it is: a very fast paced pleasure read.
Some science is hard, some is fiction. There are some creative and unpredictable things here.
Use of the military/government is rather one dimensional, and that's a thing one has to just accept to move forward.
A few other areas also feel not well researched. But it's a pleasure read, for fun. There's a fresh basic concept or two here. One won't come away feeling educated, just entertained.

Probably the most annoying thing? Multiple characters with different backgrounds thinking the word "drunk" as a noun. Alcoholic is more 2016 and educated, and there's a whole cornucopia of other words that are used in different regions and families and so on. One perspective, okay. But it seemed a bit persistent.

[Ted Waterfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thriller from the current master of the Science Fiction/Thriller/Suspense genre, Mark Alpert creates an interesting story as a space probe from a distant solar system crashes into New York and initially injects nanobots into an ex-doctor turned homeless drunk, a local street thug, and a scientist, among others, and then uses them in its efforts to colonize, and then exterminate life on this planet. These refugees from an interplanetary war are unstoppable, until they encounter a discredited astronomer with a plan. But can the planet be saved before its too late?

Lies and deceit, unexpected plot developments, combat, and story lines that will tug at your heart are all included. If you like Michael Creighton, you will like Mark Alpert.

[Carrie Wicker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing and style reminds me a lot of Dan Brown. There are many POVs and chapters are shorter. I liked the concept of the book and some of the characters were interesting, but there were a few occasions where I was pulled out of the story because of details in the writing. For example, a few scenes had some pretty sexist undertones. Also he uses gross car analogies to describe one of the female characters. IMHO just go read a Dan Brown book instead, it fills a really similar niche but in a better way.

[Falbs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some decent action, but most of the ideas that had anything to do with science fiction have been examined in much greater depth and with more interesting potential conclusions than anything contained here. This reads as if the author was thinking more about a potential movie than any examination of scientific possibilities. I basically got into it because I'm reading both Eugenia Cheng and Daniel Kahneman concurrently and I needed something that didn't hurt my head quite so much. This book certainly filled that need.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this version of aliens taking over. Not as flashy as the movies would like it to be, but who needs flash when you can make the monkeys do the work for you? Solid addition to the sci-fi thriller genre, though it wasn't 100% for me. A high 3 at least, mainly because I prefer characters I can really love (or hate).

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the intertwined changing POV. Very cool idea and slightly new approach to the whole aliens-earth idea. Science is well explained though not sure how accurate. It kind of felt like there was something missing from the plot though.

[Gary Allen, PhD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate when authors use characters in the US military and obviously don’t know anything about the topic other than what they got from movies. This book is no exception. The basic story is interesting but the implementation stinks.

[Anita]

I read 43%. The storyline was intriguing and I wanted to find out what was going on, but I grew tired of what seemed to be rather forced action that did not seem driven by the characters. It just didn't seem worth reading to find out the mystery of it and what happened to each of the characters.

[Danielle Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, this book was actually pretty good! The plot was out there but the story was told in a creative way. I liked the numerous characters telling their own story from their perspective. Makes you think what’s really out there 👽🛸

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me years to finish this book only because I liked it so much I kept trying to save and then waiting too long and having to re-read it. The mind of the author is so impressive to come up with such an imaginative futre. I look forward to picking up another over of Mark's books.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough call. Alpert has enough science chops, and has used them here - but I'm left with the feeling that at every decision point he chose "thriller" over "good SF". Fair enough, it says "A Thriller" on the cover.

But remember how you read "The Da Vinci Code" right through quickly, and it didn't seem so absurd, and looking back you slowly came te realize that it was not so great, in fact maybe not great at all, and indeed it was a stinker and I'm ashamed of having enjoyed it.

I'm going to review this as an SF book because that's where my library shelved it. Later I'll re-examine it as a thriller instead.

This one rolls along, with characters that feel as if they were designed for a movie. Their back stories are plausible if a tad long. Hanson is a variation on the single-minded stupid general - he's not stupid - and that's good enough for me. Joe and Sarah are OK.

The science of the arriving object is good, and I was OK with the first explanations of what it was doing. But then we slipped into the trap that has snared so many books: the antagonist is drawn as being impossibly capable. It can do 100 unbelievable things, each one explained with a bit of handwaving that would have been OK if the story had not developed as it did.

Alpert was very careful to be diverse, making sure to have some African-American and Latino and female characters, throwing in a little dash of homosexuality, etc. If the book had been any longer I'm sure we would have had some Russians and Greeks and Chinese and Muslims and Inuit. Not criticizing, just observing.

Anyway, the plot develops, we find out more about what's happening, and we learn that the visitor that seemed so nice isn't and then eventually that it was created by intelligent pond scum. Let's call that last fact X so I can discuss it without revealing the spoiler.

So X was able to create nano-tools, and manipulate them. Fair enough. And then use them to build ramps, and levers. OK. And hammers, and screwdrivers, and something that could manipulate them. And use them to build technology. And spaceships. And AIs. Uh-huh.

OK, lookit, from here on I can't help but give away some of the plot, you have been warned.

An AI that can be sent autonomously to a distant star, where it will look for electrical activity. Let's think for a moment about the difficulty of an X developing electricity. OK, maybe their seas are full of electric eels. The AI finds some evidence of electricity. It immediately displays a detailed knowledge of how to navigate a sea of underground wiring and get to electrical sources. We are never told where it takes the electricity, or how it uses it to get stuff done. But it's getting strong-er (eerie music). It can stab you in the foot and instantly speak your language, and know what motivates you, and how your body works, and all that other stuff that is a tad surprising given that it was created by a [see spoiler above].

Now it's found a way to place blasters in the palms of dupes. Ah, so it can manipulate human tissue. And it can use the electricity it has tapped - and somehow stored - to create invisible death rays that are for all practical purposes magic fireballs.

Oh, did I mention that the visitor is telepathic? Yeah, it did that with nanomachines too, because science. Yep, reads minds and controls muscles, understands and changes body chemistry. Despite never having seen a human before.

So why zap people at all? Why not just reach out and rearrange their molecules? Or just disintegrate the soil under them? Or use a mind ray to make them shoot themselves, or just forget why they are there and go away? Or flip them into a parallel universe? Or teleported or travelled in time to appear behind the soldiers and zap them with its electricity. Or turned them into toads. Or grabbed some dirt clods and turned them into orc warriors or a cloud of sentient bees?

See where we get to when the bad guy is too strong?

The other problem with an overpowered bad guy is that you're going to need an implausible solution to wrap up the story.

This story has some elements in common with H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, and the ending is one of them. A superhyperultra-capable enemy is brought down by an unlikely "Oh, golly, we didn't think of that!" that was set up earlier by an unlikely back story about a third sentient race. This also made me think of E.E. "Doc" Smith's ultra-adventure series.

Does all that make it a bad book? No, as long as they continue to market it as a thriller and not an attempt to stand beside the SF books that are actually good SF. It requires more suspension of disbelief than most SF, but if you're OK with that it's a good read. You can go quickly and not miss a lot. Beach book? Probably. Better than Sookie Stackhouse? Sure.

It's about as plausible as most movies that pretend to be SF, and indeed could make a successful one.

If Alpert does another SF book that is not built as a thriller I will probably read it.
Another thriller, probably not.

[J.L. Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal!! I loved the relationships between the characters and the pacing was perfect. Awesome summer read 👍

[Jimagn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. Quick and entertaining.

[Anastasia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first third of the book. Sarah was a great character. Joe was interesting too until all of the weird stuff.

The story just became to unbelievable for me.

[Daniel Villa · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOT A THRILLER, bland, caricature characters. Refused to stop reading since I REALLY hoped it got better. Science explained is fantastic just fails to entertain and engage.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decently paced thriller.