Today’s team review is from Cathy, she blogs at http://betweenthelinesbookblog.com
Cathy has been reading Voyager by Carl Rackman
Since Bradley Barnes lost his wife in the 9/11 terror attacks he’s been part of a highly specialised FBI counter terrorism team. As the story opens the team are preparing to assist in a coordinated raid against a suspected source of domestic terrorism. The raid doesn’t go according to plan and there are several fatalities.
Meanwhile in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr Callie Woolf, Project Manager of the Voyager Interstellar Mission, and her team are becoming aware of issues on board Voyager 1, billions of miles away in deepest space. They are unsure whether security has been compromised or the irregularity is caused by something entirely different, but the images witnessed by the team as they download cause incredulity and disbelief. Whatever the origin, something untoward is going on and Callie is soon in fear for her life.
In London, airline pilot Matt Ramprakash, who is also a freelance agent for MI5, arrives at the airport for an impending flight to Newark, New Jersey. A regular, easy trip for Matt…until he receives a text. The instructions cause Matt more than moments of doubt and anxiety but he nevertheless he follows the directive from his handler.
Three seemingly unrelated incidents and groups of people destined to collide with deadly force and the atmosphere is tense. The author has created a vivid and compelling scenario.
Carl Rackman has done it again. His debut novel Irex is incredibly good and Voyager, although there couldn’t be more difference in content, is another winner and re-enforces the quality of the author’s writing. This is a fast paced and action packed story. The plot is complex and well thought through, with tension and suspense building as events unfold layer by layer. Well defined characters evolve throughout the narrative.
The story is told in the third person from differing perspectives, which works well, giving a rounded picture of the timeline and intensifying the pressure and intrigue. Add in murders, attempted murder, enhanced humans and plot twists and you have a cracking read. The premise is highly creative and convincing in today’s high tech and power-driven world and has obviously been very well researched, and includes fascinating insights into the workings of NASA and the national security agencies.
Book Description
Voyager One. A tiny probe hurtling through the void of outer space more than twelve billion miles from Earth, it is the remotest human object in existence. Callie Woolf, Voyager Project Manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is stunned when the probe unexpectedly downloads a series of increasingly disturbing images.
Within 24 hours, she is running for her life.
Brad Barnes, a conflicted FBI agent assigned to the case, soon uncovers a deadly plot that could change the balance of power on Earth and bring the United States to its knees. He must fight for survival in a race against time to defeat the conspirators, and confront a potentially explosive reality: that mankind may not be alone in the universe.
Voyager is an action-packed conspiracy thriller by Carl Rackman.
About the author
Hi! I’m Carl Rackman, a British former airline pilot turned author. I come from a naval military background and have held a lifelong interest in military history and seafaring.
I spent my working life travelling the world and this has given me a keen interest in other people and cultures. I’ve drawn on my many experiences for my writing.
I write suspense thrillers with a flair for evocative descriptions of locales and characters. I enjoy complex, absorbing storylines combined with rich, believable characters, so that’s the sort of fiction I write. I try to create immersive worlds for the reader to explore, and characters who are more than just vehicles for the story.
I hope you’ll enjoy my books and leave reviews. I try to personally thank reviewers if they’ve particularly enjoyed my books.
Rosie Amber 