Fast-flowing action and increasing tension make it hard to put this novel down, while well-timed reminders keep the reader in tune with various characters as the plot flits into and out of their lives. There’s a discredited scientist hiding out on the moon, a military man longing to spend more time with family, men and women on the brink of scientific discoveries and new relationships, and even touches of politics and terrorists. It’s a heady mix, but primarily it’s a “hard” science fiction tale, modeled on real science, and amply proving that science is both useful and fun.

In a world that’s about to be torn apart, how much do you tell the populace? How do you deal with a doomsday cult determined to make that destruction real? And how do you save a planet from a black hole!

The solution’s intriguing, the science is sufficiently convincing to have me checking Google over and again (and nicely supplemented by real facts in an afterword), and the settings are varied and well imagined, from the strangeness of a lunar base to almost normal scenes in Seattle and New York, to the jungles of Ecuador. Moderate future history (the story’s set not too far from today), believable inventions based on present day science, convincing political mis-alliances, and cool details of weapons, computer security, and space exploration, all provide the background for a tale that blends questions of why we care for each other with why we care for our planet. And care we must.

It’s a cool tale with multiple threats, clever science, neat future history and a fine cast of characters, highly recommended.

Disclosure: I was given an ecopy and I offer my honest review. ( )