Cosmonaut

by Peter Mcallister

When a mysterious enemy aboard the orbiting International Space Station devises a deadly campaign to destroy the station, keeping a horrifying secret buried forever, ex-astronaut-turned-homicide cop Edge Reynolds must find a way to warn NASA and the world of the impending threat, while fighting for his own survival. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published March 4, 2003

Reviews

[Ninja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsively readable thriller about a murder on the ISS.

[Andrew Monson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book. But it had too many problems. I loved the premise of it (murder on the ISS). I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. I also really liked the technical jargon of life on the ISS. I don’t know any of it, but I assume it was accurate. But it felt like I was reading a really good first draft. I was surprised at the end when the author acknowledges two editors. There were about a dozen typos, several awkward sentences, and a few plot holes that kind of ruined it for me. The biggest plot hole sets up the whole story, which is that on the ISS with one American, one Japanese, and four Russians, the murder of the American is assumed to have been committed by a singular person and they send up one guy to catch the murderer with no backup? They didn’t think he might also get murdered? The chain of events in the second half of the book kept getting more ridiculous. The hero never faltered. We want our heroes to fail at some point. The genetically engineered cosmonauts came out of nowhere. Not nearly enough foreshadowing to make me buy into that. And the protagonist’s love story with the Russian was not believable at all. He knew her for like two days. The sex was believable, but the love wasn’t. Kinda disappointed in this one because it could have been really good.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was with you ALL THE WAY UP UNTIL THE END WHEN YOU STARTED LYING TO ME ABOUT HOW THE SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINES WORK. For a book that is going to be read almost exclusively by space nerds, putting in such a drastically unrealistic element ruined it..

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am writing this more than three years after reading this, so apologies for my lack of specifics as to why I did not like this book.

I didn't like the plot at all, but the reasons for this are personal preferences. Overall, it was ridiculous and near the end predictable.

The primary reason I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone is because it was drawn out so excessively that I didn't find myself enjoying it at all, even when the plot was heating up.

Unfortunately, I was traveling when I was reading it and didn't have another option to pass the time; if it wasn't for that I probably would have abandoned it.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder mystery onboard the International Space Station! I thought that was all this book was about but the plot goes much deeper into genetics. I had fun during the action scenes in space and figuring out who-done-it. The beginning didn't immediately grab me but my patience was well rewarded around page 150.

[William Torres · Rating 2 out of 5]

A techo-thriller about an astronaut turned detective going into space to solve a murder. But the beginning didn't grab my interest until pg 171 when there is a plot twist with the prime suspect in custody. It was drawn out so excessively and the end was predictable. Not recommended for any one unless they have no other alternative.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic techo-thriller about an astronaut turned detective going into space to solve a murder. The word f**k is said 100 times (under several variations).

[Анастасия Грызунова · Rating 4 out of 5]

great example of shameless absurd