Book Review: Offworld by Robin Parrish

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Fast paced story that hooks you early and doesn't let go

Cons: Christian theme; characters a little under done

The Bottom Line:

Hunting for people

In this exciting story

You'll stay up reading

Where Are They Hiding 10 Billion People?

Even if I hadn't already read and enjoyed other books by Robin Parrish, I would have had to read Offworld based solely on the premise.  Yes, it's more of a science fiction or fantasy book than the mystery I would normally read, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

In the not so distant future, NASA has launched the first manned mission to Mars.  And it has gone very well.  There's the small matter of the team leader, Chris Burke, and the 18 hours he was missing while on the planet.  Even he can't remember where he was during that time.

The four person crew is now on their way back.  After two and a half years away, they are looking forward to seeing family and friends again.  But two months out, they lose radio contact with Earth.  After their ship crashes at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, they emerge to find that every single person and animal on Earth has vanished.  Their only clue is a bright light shining out from Houston.  Can they make it there?  What will they find at the end of their trip?

The first chapter was a touch on the slow side, mainly because it was just setting up the story, getting the astronauts back to Earth.  Once they land, things really picked up, and I was soon drawn into the story.  There are several heart pounding action scenes and very few places I want to put the book down.  In fact, I read the final 110 pages in one morning because I needed to know what in the world was happening.  As with any action movie, I'm not sure some of the things the characters do would really work in real life, but I'm nitpicking here.

The characters could have been better.  Most of the time, they come across as rather flat.  But they did grow on me as the book progressed.  While the book focuses on the story, I was actually a little surprised by just how much I had come to care for these characters by the end.

Speaking of the end, parts of it were fairly predictable.  It's not necessarily a slight on anyone but just something I did want to note.

Frankly, the biggest weakness to this book is the Christian aspect of things.  Mr. Parrish has been attacked by a few because for a Christian book, there is decidedly less Christian stuff than you would normally find; you know, prayer, discussions about God, that kind of stuff.  Since his previous trilogy was more allegory than normal Christian fiction, this didn't come as a surprise.  However, his attempts late in the book to throw in a Christian theme felt forced to me.  I get what he was trying to do, and I agree with what he was saying, but I felt that one page was preachier than stuff I've found in more mainstream Christian novels.

Any negative I have mentioned was truly minor for me.  I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see just where everyone had gone.  This was an entertaining ride from start to finish.  Now that I've read Offworld, I can't wait to see where Robin Parrish takes us next.