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A review by wlreed312
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There are things in this book that aren't going to work for everyone, but it was perfect for me and I adored it.
Claire Kovalik and her small crew are just a few days away from the end of their rotation and about to be picked up to head back to Earth, when they come across a distress call. Upon investigation, it's a luxury cruise ship that was lost years ago with no one ever able to find any remains of it at all. The crew decides to claim salvage rights, and heads aboard to take apart the ship and finance their way to a better future. But when they board the Aurora, nothing is as it seems, as they find bodies that appear to have died in horrible ways, messages scrawled in blood, and evidence of a group of people that collectively went insane. Flashing between the present, where Claire is held in a medical facility trying to make sense of what happened, and six months ago when the crew found the ship, the mystery of what happened on the luxury space liner is slowly revealed.
I loved everything about this. It's my favorite kind of horror, the kind that deals more with a mind-fuck than jump scares or gore. I thought the tension was very well done, and it has great visuals. A member of the group I was reading it with said it would make a great movie or miniseries, and I think they're right (one scene in particular would be amazing with good lighting and camera work). But even more than that, it felt real to me in a way that science fiction sometimes doesn't. I don't know what Barnes background is, but the way she writes about being a part of a small (basically military) crew and the running of a ship makes me appreciate the research she did. There is a part where Claire is laying out a routine for getting sleep and I wanted to actually cheer because she left people monitoring the bridge. One of the things about running a ship is things have to be monitored constantly (this was a pet peeve about Firefly. Who was watching the gauges in the engine room when Kaylee slept?) The crew also felt like a realistic group. Koller is an unlikable dick, but I knew so many men like that in the navy. It was just incredibly well done in a way that is extremely specific to me that probably no one else is going to care about but I loved all the details that made it feel like Barnes actually talked to someone who worked in an engine room or on a ship.
I also loved a lot of the corporate competition and anti-capitalism angle, it feels both realistic and timely in a way that's slightly uncomfortable. The heads of Verux feel very much like they could have stepped out of today's news, and also have the same feel that high ranking career military people do, in my experience. (So both slimy and unwilling to listen to the people who actually do the work. Not a great combination).
In other words this was great, I loved it, it's probably not going to work for everyone but it is extremely my cup of tea.
Claire Kovalik and her small crew are just a few days away from the end of their rotation and about to be picked up to head back to Earth, when they come across a distress call. Upon investigation, it's a luxury cruise ship that was lost years ago with no one ever able to find any remains of it at all. The crew decides to claim salvage rights, and heads aboard to take apart the ship and finance their way to a better future. But when they board the Aurora, nothing is as it seems, as they find bodies that appear to have died in horrible ways, messages scrawled in blood, and evidence of a group of people that collectively went insane. Flashing between the present, where Claire is held in a medical facility trying to make sense of what happened, and six months ago when the crew found the ship, the mystery of what happened on the luxury space liner is slowly revealed.
I loved everything about this. It's my favorite kind of horror, the kind that deals more with a mind-fuck than jump scares or gore. I thought the tension was very well done, and it has great visuals. A member of the group I was reading it with said it would make a great movie or miniseries, and I think they're right (one scene in particular would be amazing with good lighting and camera work). But even more than that, it felt real to me in a way that science fiction sometimes doesn't. I don't know what Barnes background is, but the way she writes about being a part of a small (basically military) crew and the running of a ship makes me appreciate the research she did. There is a part where Claire is laying out a routine for getting sleep and I wanted to actually cheer because she left people monitoring the bridge. One of the things about running a ship is things have to be monitored constantly (this was a pet peeve about Firefly. Who was watching the gauges in the engine room when Kaylee slept?) The crew also felt like a realistic group. Koller is an unlikable dick, but I knew so many men like that in the navy. It was just incredibly well done in a way that is extremely specific to me that probably no one else is going to care about but I loved all the details that made it feel like Barnes actually talked to someone who worked in an engine room or on a ship.
I also loved a lot of the corporate competition and anti-capitalism angle, it feels both realistic and timely in a way that's slightly uncomfortable. The heads of Verux feel very much like they could have stepped out of today's news, and also have the same feel that high ranking career military people do, in my experience. (So both slimy and unwilling to listen to the people who actually do the work. Not a great combination).
In other words this was great, I loved it, it's probably not going to work for everyone but it is extremely my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail