Dead Silence

Product Information

He holds up a folded piece of paper—real paper, which means it came from the highest levels of Verux. I hate open ending which for some reason are super common with the genre but this one was satisfying. The vibe I was getting reminded me very much of Event Horizon—creepy, atmospheric, and tense as all hell. A. Barnes being chatted about on Twitter and Goodreads, I couldn’t help but have my interest piqued.

A Best Book of 2022 by the New York Public Library • One of the Best SFF Books of 2022 (Gizmodo) • One of the Best SF Mysteries of 2022 (CrimeReads) • A GoodReads Choice Award finalist for Best Science Fiction! What they find at the other end of the signal is a shock: the Aurora, a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago.Kade was also intrigued by the idea of setting the novel in two different points in time, both before and after the character Claire was rescued, as she liked the idea that authorities would see her as an unreliable narrator due to the existence of conflicting evidence. Barnes ably conjures the kind of haunting setting and atmosphere required for this Event Horizon-esque novel… Recommended for fans of claustrophobic space horror. They manage to gain the full salvage pay for the Aurora from Verux, as part of a PR move to improve their now damaged image. If you ever feel up to giving it a try, I hope you enjoy it, but definitely don’t push yourself into anything you aren’t comfortable with! If you fancy a bad trip into the realms of nightmare-drenched science fiction horror, then Dead Silence, the debut from SA Barnes, is your dream ticket, and I guarantee you will not be seeking any refunds on the journey.

Where I struggled with the book was in the character department, especially the main character of Claire Kovalik. Can’t think of anything off the top of my head right now, but If you browse my horror shelf on Goodreads, maybe something will pop up! And if you throw in “Alien” and “Aliens” into this mix, you pretty much have “Dead Silence”, which makes it a familiar but engaging space horror novel. Barnes plays nicely on human fears of both madness and of ghosts, carefully blurring the line between science fiction and horror… Those with a taste for blending genres will enjoy this combo. now act like a teenage girl, then woman up be brave, conquer all, until she needs a hug, but don't touch her, unless she wants you too, but run away once you do.

it's a locked-room mystery set in a haunted house in outer space, and it's intense, wonderful, surprising, disorienting—there are so many different levels of unreliability to this thing and it is an absolute thrill trying to excavate the truth from claire's slippery heap of memories distorted by hallucination, damage, amnesia, lies, self-preservation, and trauma, and even though i waited a long time to sing its praises, i am singing them as loudly as i can to make up for it. My head is throbbing again, a white-hot line of pain from the back of my skull down to the right side of my jaw, and a dead man is signaling me from across the common room.

Something described as “Titanic” meets “The Shining” is bound to be a unique combination, so I tossed my Sci Fi apprehension aside and took a chance! If you’re a horror reader this one will probably feel super mild to you and be more of a mystery book than a horror.

The sci-fi aspects felt space-light and easy to absorb, for those who might be intimidated by spaceships.