Red Exile: Getaway

by Tim L. Rey

In a pulse-quickening science fiction thriller, colonist Jimmy Ray and airwoman Malika El Alami confront a disastrous conspiracy.

Mars, sand refinery, 2102. As colonist Jimmy Ray wants to secure a harvester from a fatal sandstorm, he collapses due to foreign memories. His colleague Malika saves his life at the last moment—in a heroic act.
At the infirmary, he makes an astounding discovery, so he starts to doubt the health program of his employer. Why is medication given weekly to the colonists? And why does he only vaguely remember the time before his flight to Mars? Is he truly a volunteer for this dangerous mission?
Together Jimmy and Malika flee the refinery to find the truth—but soon they don't know what's more dangerous: their employer, the foreign memories, or the relentlessness of the Red Planet . . .

Red Exile: Getaway is a fast-paced roller-coaster ride of a science fiction thriller filled with passion and mystery as the workers on Mars race against time to remember their pasts.

Genres: Science Fiction

307 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2022

About the author

As a child, Tim L. Rey wanted to be an inventor; now he invents suspenseful stories. He loves unusual storylines and learning about the latest scientific findings, which help him write science-fiction thrillers that reveal the dark side in human beings—because dark fantasies lurk in each of us.

Tim has a degree in communication design and designs book covers when he is not writing. He also enjoys playing music and taking long walks with his dog, Tessa, to recharge his creative batteries.

Reviews

[Read Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a GoodReads giveaway win of a Kindle ebook.

This is part one of a series. It ends without a resolution, so you need to get the next book in the series to find out where it is leading.

Mostly it sticks to hard science. BUT there is a realization that Mars only has about one third of Earth's gravity. Then (more than once) there is mention of having to move a heavy object, but at one third of the weight would be a bit easier, so why harp on the weight? Not a big deal breaker, but annoys me that there is so much emphasis on the weight.

Mostly the story is a "I don't remember my past, so who am I?" storyline. Mostly this first part is a setup with more questions than clues to get you to the next book in the series. I did not hate it, but I was not that intrigued. There was just no unique "hook" to get me to continue.

Now go find your GoodReads.

[Noodle The Naughty Night Owl · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10: Good light-weight read, well done.

No highlighted quotes, but a fairly good read. Held my attention to get to the end.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking forward to the next in the series. Pretty good Sci Fi mystery. 3.5

[Luke Hansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I had a perfectly fine time reading this. It’s swift and easily consumable. However, it lacks any truly captivating elements and ultimately doesn’t leave an impact. The story is intriguing on paper but in execution it feels like little more than a hodgepodge of scenes we’ve seen before but without the hook. I think part of this issue is because while the story is pretty interesting, there’s really not much to ponder beneath it. What you see is what you get. Which is why is nice to read but not something to ever reflect on. It also ends in the weakest way possible. We reach an exciting and tension filled climax in the third act and then the characters have another task left to do. The task, unfortunately, looses the previously prominent sense of urgency and slowly drains the story of any urgency before abruptly ending without a real sense of resolution. Even books with a sequel should come to an end with some sense of closure for the immediate story that was told.

The one thing I did like, especially early on, was the atmosphere. During the opening chapters I was really pleased with how the setting was described. I was able to immediately visualize and enter the world at hand. I think this immersion is lost a bit towards the end, as the focus becomes more on action and less on tone, but it was still strong throughout.

There’s also a weird male gaze dominated undertone that was odd. The contrast of how the female character in the duo was described and handled was noticeably more “sexed up” (I’m sorry to use that term), than the male protagonist. I mean, I’m not against characters being overtly sexual in nature if that makes sense for them but that’s not the case her. She’s just a regular women except she just has sex with the lead as “a test” or some other BS. It just feels like the most primal of fantasies and reeks of a lack of restraint.

Overall, it’s fine. If you’re really into sci fi, I think it’s probably worth a read. Will I read the sequel? Unlikely.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to Normal

Jimmy keeps having headaches and visions. Slowly, the visions become clearer and he begins to piece things together. Trapped on Mars with a small colony of people, he has to figure out who he is and who is controlling him. And why. However, there are very powerful people on Mars and Earth who are trying to prevent that.

#GoodreadsGiveaway