Book Review – Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
The first 100 pages or so set up the main character, Ophelia Bray, and the strained relationship with her wealthy family. She leaves it all behind to embark on a mission to investigate an alien planet. Her goal is to study an ailment known as ERS, while she continues her work as a therapist to the small crew on the ship.
Things bog down rather quickly, as Bray comes off as someone ill-equipped for her profession, as her head is filled with self-doubt and self-loathing, both of which are repeated ad nauseum, to the point that you end up not caring for the woman who is central to the entire story.
The whole ERS detail, which could have been interesting, fizzles away as we begin to find out that not all is as it seems on the abandoned planet with mysterious towering structures. By the time I reached this point, I was rooting for all the the people involved in the mission to perish.
I will say that Barnes is a very good writer, and I will almost certainly give her another shot. For me, Ghost Station was too slowly paced for my tastes, and did not deliver much in the way of horror or redeeming characters. Save for a few tense set pieces, this book fell flat for me.
3 Stars Out Of 5