Contagion

Contagion is quite the thrill ride. The action starts quick and doesn't really ever let up, making this a fast paced science fiction read with a strong dose of horror. Thea is a research intern being evacuated from a remote planet- inclement weather- when her team receives a distress call from another, even more remote, planet- Achlys. Since they are the closest team, they are sent to Achlys to assist, pending the arrival of a better equipped team. It's a ragtag bunch, Thea's crew, and they are not even remotely equipped for search and rescue, but their hard-as-nails captain Dylan insists on going. She has personal skin in the game, as her father is the commander on Achlys. The crew are resentful of Dylan's gung-ho approach to the mission, but they have no choice in the matter.

The story is told from several perspectives, including Thea and Nova, the pilot, as well as the lone survivor of the Achlys incident, who is still there. How did he survive? What is on Achlys? Well, that's the fun part. The atmosphere here is one of dread throughout, of slowly rising tension, and I loved it. The story is very cinematic, and felt like a movie- the author describes hissing vents, alert klaxons, shadows in darkened hallways. Catwalks and steam, emergency lighting- I felt like I was there almost, treading carefully through an abandoned spaceship, never sure what is around the next corner.

The pace is pretty relentless and I loved that. The crew is driven hard by Dylan, and instead of waiting for the full search and rescue crew, she makes them push on into the facility, which goes about as well as you'd expect. I liked Thea and Nova a lot, and was pulling for them throughout, even as I was hoping Dylan would die soon. The other members of the team were more or less expendable, in my view, although Sullivan grew on me. The doctor was interesting as well, with her personal connection to the crisis. I was never really sure who was trustworthy, other than Thea really, and that added to the suspense.

The only thing I didn't like was a certain twist towards the end that didn't really work for me, but I can't say much for spoiler reasons. Suffice to say it didn't really impact my enjoyment of the story- I had a blast with this- but it does impact the story going forward, and changes things quite a bit. I'm of mixed feelings about that, but nevertheless I'll be chomping at the bit when the next one arrives. And while it does have a bit of a cliffhanger ending, I was glad this didn't have a pat little ending that tied everything off. After the horrific events in this book, it would have felt cheap, perhaps, to have the survivors just go off into the sunset. No, it's more complicated than that.

So I highly recommend this if you want a thrilling, suspenseful foray onto a blasted planet, inhospitable to life, that holds a deadly secret and more than a little horror. I read this in two sittings, and the way the book is structured- with each section titled after a certain theme of the story- just added to the suspense. This would make a phenomenal movie, and while some aspects of it may remind of certain sci-fi horror or jump scare films, I enjoyed that. Just like the characters when their vital signs were displayed on the inside of their suit helmets, I think my pulse rate was probably elevated throughout most of this book!