The tragic loss of the crew during re-entry of the Apollo 18 mission hits home as suddenly as an unknown group tries to kill one of the astronaut's sons. On the run from "The Organization, " the protagonists out to preserve a race to the moon secret and their own government that wants to leave their secrets buried, Commander Bob Cartwright's sons can't stop their work to uncover the conspiracy or they will die. This fast-paced tale will leave the reader wondering what else has been covered up. ( )

Interesting story regarding Apollo 18 and a gigantic cover up by the government. The story dragged a little at times, but was interesting enough to keep me reading. ( )

The sons of famed astronaut, Bob Cartwright, have always questioned the circumstances surrounding their fathers death. Leading the Apollo 18 mission, Cartwright noticed something out of the ordinary upon landing on the moon. "That shouldn't be here", were Bob's final words just prior to his connection with NASA being broken. However, when it was discovered the astronauts were returning from their mission, everything was assumed to have gone smoothly. Bobbing in the ocean, the rescue team reached the capsule only to discover the three men burned to a crisp. It appeared the heat shield had failed upon reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere as the crew suffered a gruesome end.

Now, after years of unrest, Cartwright's son Peter began his investigation. Shortly after compiling research, things take a turn for the worse. Peter has made a lot of people very nervous by digging up the past and along with his brothers, Matt and Nate, they're about to come into contact with The Organization.

Marty has a style of prose that's easily digestible. Of course, that's not a knock at the writing style or the author, if anything, that's one of the big reasons why I'm such a fan of Stephen King. Sea of Crises is the kind of book that can cause you to completely lose track of time. When I initially sat down and dove in to the story, when I finally put it down for the evening, I had read the entire first half of the book.

Steere created a pretty bad ass villain in that of Raen. Given the nature of The Organization and the fact that they generally stop at nothing when tasked with a mission, the man chasing the Cartwright boys truly inhabits that stance. There's a few scenes in particular where he shines and leaves the reader anticipating his eventual face off with the brothers.

A good chunk of Sea of Crises takes place on the surface of the moon through flashbacks. Steere could easily fall back into a rhythm of throwing technical jargon and space travel filler, he keeps the style he’s established from the first of the book throughout. The action moves swiftly and the story stays rooted in the realm possibility, which is great.

The only gripe I have with the novel was the romantic/love interest side plot that develops about two thirds of the way in. I'm not sure how much it was needed but in the end, it doesn't really take all that much away. The core story is still strong enough to stand on it's own.

Overall, Sea of Crises is a well written novel which develops an intriguing mystery that only gets better as the story moves along.

****

I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for a fair review.

Cross posted on Every Read Thing ( )

Sea of Crises is giving me a problem. See, I want to tell you all about the novel so you’ll rush out and buy it and enjoy it as much as I did, BUT, I don’t want to give anything away! Usually I enjoy pointing out errors, slow spots, maybe the odd character development that...well, doesn’t, but I couldn't find any. Nada. I looked – believe me! Okay, I’ll say this; for a brief second, I thought I was reading a re-make of Capricorn One – you know; the movie where they didn’t really go off into space after all and there’s this cover up going on?

Well, Marty Steere gets you past that in a hurry, and what follows is a spellbinding adventure with an ending you will not believe. Believe me.

The writing is great - spelling and punctuation is wonderful – the prose is... oh just go buy the book! You will NOT regret it. Now to go find something to review that I can actually pick on :).

www.daniellittle.com ( )

I just finished reading this last night. When I first got the book (Thanks Marty, for the signed copy!) I didn't know what to expect. I started it a few days ago. The first few pages were a bit wordy in their descriptions and I wasn't sure. I kept going tho, and am glad I did. The descriptions helped a lot. Once I got going, i didn't want to put it down. I read until 5 this morning because it was so good and I wanted to get see what happened in the end.
This book is about Apollo 18 and what happened - in Marty's view. What a great story. Lots of info on things. and it flowed perfectly!
If you haven't read this yet, go buy a copy now! You will be glad you did. ( )