Denver Moon
The Minds of Mars (Book One)
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $1.99
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Book One in the Denver Moon Series
Earth is dying. Luna is uninhabitable. Mars is our last chance.
Once considered humanity’s future home, Mars hasn’t worked out like anybody hoped. Plagued by crime and a terraforming project that's centuries from completion, Mars is a red hell.
Denver Moon, P.I., works the dark underbelly of Mars City. While investigating a series of violent crimes linked to red fever—a Martian disorder that turns its victims into bloodthirsty killers—Denver discovers a cryptic message left by Tatsuo Moon, Mars City co-founder and Denver's grandfather. The same grandfather who died two decades ago.
Twenty-year-old revelations force Denver on a quest for truth, but Tatsuo's former friend, Cole Hennessy, leader of the Church of Mars, has other plans and will stop at nothing to keep Denver from disclosing Tatsuo's secrets to the world.
Hell-bent on reclaiming her grandfather's legacy, Denver—along with her AI implant, Smith, companion android, Nigel, and shuttle pilot, Navya—set out on a quest to find the answers they hope will shed light on the church's true agenda, the origin of red fever, and the mysteries surrounding Tatsuo's tragic death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hammond and Hex owner Viola, known for stories about dark futures and people in extreme places, turn their talents to a near-future novella about a private investigator on Mars who stumbles onto a threat to all humankind. Denver Moon's life on Mars is gritty to begin with, and it gets increasingly dangerous after she receives a recorded warning from her grandfather. She thought he had been dead for 20 years, but the recording says he's alive somewhere out on the Martian surface. She discovers he carried potentially world-destroying knowledge that Mars's most powerful people want kept secret at all costs. This taut, action-packed mystery lures readers in with Denver's determination to find her grandfather which leads to her gathering unexpected allies and powerful enemies and then lands gut punches as Denver peels away each surprising and grim layer of misdirection. The unveiling of Mars's deepest mystery feels contrived, but that flaw is balanced by how brutal its effects are on Denver. Her world receives an effective bare-bones portrayal, and Hammond and Viola give her the depth and strength to be a page-turning match for every confrontation. This novella is recommended for all fans of speculative mysteries.
