Zero, by J.S. Collyer, Reviewed.

Wow! This book moves at a great pace, and rarely lets up. This is a space adventure, a fast-moving action piece with little time to spend on explanation of the setting. However, the author cleverly integrates plenty of clues within the action so that the reader is able to envisage the world she has created here. And it is a world of undesirables, military types, skilled and able technicians, heroes and villains in many guises.

This is a story that gamers in particular will love. The reader experiences the action as the story progresses. And those who love their scifi films with plenty of combat will find this a very satisfying read.

It’s a page-turner, but it’s also a book with plenty of twists and turns. Who can be trusted? Who is telling the truth? Who are the real heroes, here? The characters - and those who know my reviews will be aware this is of real concern to me - are well drawn. The danger of stereotyping has been avoided by giving the people who populate this work individual quirks and sometimes unusual motivations. The mix makes for an engaging and absorbing story.

I read this under less than ideal circumstances, with many breaks due to things over which I had no control. But I never lost the thread and was always able to pick up where I left off. It would have been an even better read in one sitting, but at 364 action-packed pages, this was never an option for me.

If you like your space adventures full of hard men, and women, with plenty of physical conflict and dark humour, and with an undercurrent of subtly applied moral comment thrown in, you’ll enjoy this tale. I did, and I heartily recommend it.