Derelict

by Mark All

If you find alien technology … don’t turn it on.

Beyond the farthest reaches of explored space, survey ship Cerberus arrives at an unclaimed planet to find a deserted vessel already in orbit. When newly commissioned captain Janet Hollander leads a team to the derelict, they find an ancient alien artifact on board.

As her own crew members begin to disappear, Hollander learns that neither the ghost ship nor the planet are as lifeless as they appear. She must survive long enough to find out what happened to the derelict—before she and her crew suffer the same fate.

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 9, 2022

About the author

Mark All is the author of science fiction horror novel Derelict and Death Metal, a Rock ‘n’ Roll horror novel, based on his experiences as a rock musician and set in Athens, GA. His paranormal thrillers The Spellcaster’s Grimoire and Mystic Witch are published by BelleBooks/ImaJinn. He has won two international writing awards and contributed to Computer Legends, Lies, & Lore.

Before a career as an instructional systems designer, Mark worked as a rock guitarist, FM radio announcer, and gravedigger. Mark earned a Master’s degree in Computer-Based Education and a Bachelor of Music cum laude.

Mark’s next book is The Story Generator.

Reviews

[Mary Overton]

Gothic horror in space. On a long-dead world, a dead civilization has left behind its sad remains — ruins, artifacts, ghosts, and perhaps a curse or two. Around this desolate planet orbits a haunted spaceship. What happens when a snazzy corporate ship arrives, its profit-driven mission to stake a claim for mining rights? Captain Janet Hollander has decisions to make that will determine the future of her career and the fate of her crew, choices that will draw on all her resources, on her survival instincts and on her sense of honor.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a thriller movie in book form, set in space! An exploration vessel going to a new planet finds a derelict ship in space with no sign of life, so they decide to investigate. This book had me on the edge of my seat! I was reading at night and definitely got a little spooked, just because I am a wimp and I never knew what was going to be around the next corner in this book. I thought the weakest part of this book were the characters. Because there were so many in such a short book, none of them really were fleshed out and I definitely got them confused. I thought the things that were happening were cool, but towards the end, it did feel a bit too long, but overall, I thought it was fun!

[Sean Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a vibe of Dave Duncan's wildcatter from this, which of course was enough to keep me going, for although it is perhaps one of his shortest and less technically brilliant works, Wildcatter is one of my favourite ever science fiction novels.

Derelict lacked a certain something, perhaps structure. everything happened in a linear, predictable way, with very little doubt as to what was coming next. The chapters were insanely short and, if I'm honest, I felt that at times it was more aimed at movie screens than Kindles.

Still, it's a worthy entry to the genre, even if I've never seen mutagenic tech change a creature to rely on a holy different blood chemistry.

[Sharon Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine for me. It started off really strong but then it started to feel really choppy at times, I wanted more character development as I didn't really care about any of the characters. I actually think this story would have benefited from being a tad longer, to allow for the characters to be a little more developed. I would be up for trying something from this author again.