Vessel

by Darren R. Hawkins

Aboard the military-commercial starship Paraclete, a murder has been committed, and the decadent, powerful, and notoriously reclusive Whiston family wants to know why. With only a few scant weeks remaining before Paraclete arrives at the Whiston’s corporate-owned New Holyoke colony, the investigation must be rapid, thorough, and above all else, discreet. Ray Marlowe, a deep cover anti-terrorism agent for the Criminal Investigations Unit, considers himself anything but discreet. But this crime isn’t just heinous, it’s personal -- with disturbing links all the way back to his days as a combat Marine on the New Mesopotamian battlefields of Old Earth. Events too wickedly similar to be mere coincidence hint at the return of an ancient and insatiable evil. Now, in a far flung future, Ray Marlowe’s dark past is about to catch up with him.

492 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2013

About the author

Darren Hawkins lives in Owen County, Indiana with his wife and three sons. He purchased a B.A. in English from Indiana University so he could work in a field completely unrelated to his degree. When not writing science fiction, he divides his time between gainful employment with his alma mater as a database analyst and SQR developer and the Front Office Baseball League, where he has successfully been running his fantasy baseball team into the ground since 2002. He is disturbed by how pleasant it is to discuss himself in the third person.