The Last Astronaut

Starred review from May 27, 2019
Wellington’s terrifying exploration of near-future alien contact layers a shocking “what if” on the bones of current science and space exploration. Presented as a 2057 publication, the novel documents the encounter between the crew of the Orion 7, led by Cmdr. Sally Jansen, and the object dubbed 2I/2044 D1. Following the tragic events of the abortive 2034 Orion 6 Mars mission and the shuttering of the American space program, Jansen is largely retired. Then astrophysicist Sunny Stevens, a deep space researcher for a private corporation, makes the hugely significant discovery of 2I/2044 D1, an object that has altered course in an unnatural way and will come into alignment with Earth’s orbit in six months. He brings this knowledge to the remnants of NASA, and Jansen is called back into action as the most eminently qualified leader, despite her remaining guilt and trauma from Orion 6. Gritting her teeth, she gathers her crew and sets out to see what intelligence is driving 2I/2044 D1 and what it portends for Earth. Within its lightless depths, the crew encounter bizarre and nightmarish creatures, and the tension and body count ratchet up. Wellington (The Cyclops Initiative) creates a gripping story that reveals its horrors one inexorable, plausible detail at a time. Readers will be riveted—and will want to keep all the lights on.

June 1, 2019
A suspenseful, fast-paced story of first contact with an alien object that could destroy all life on Earth. Sally Jansen was supposed to be the first woman to walk on Mars. But the 2034 Orion disaster put an end not just to the Mars mission, but to Jansen's career and any future crewed NASA missions along with it. Still, when a mysterious object shows up in the solar system and starts slowing down, everyone from NASA to its private-sector competitor, KSpace, knows exactly what that means: This thing is alien. And it's headed straight for Earth. NASA's got just four months to put together a team to go and make contact with this alien object (before KSpace gets there, if possible) and try to find out what it wants. And that means Jansen's getting back in Orion for one more mission. With the fate of the human race hanging in the balance, the stakes couldn't be higher, but each member of the Orion team has their own personal agenda, as well--particularly Jansen, who's determined that this mission won't end the way her last one did. Once they get inside the alien craft, the story moves seamlessly into dark, psychological horror as the crew struggles to survive and make sense of the incomprehensible dangers they find. A race against time to save humankind, a veteran astronaut trying to make things right, and an utterly strange and genuinely horrifying alien world to explore--this story's got everything.

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July 1, 2019
This fast-paced near-future tale of discovery and mystery relates the events of the Orion 7 mission, as told two years after the mission ended. In 2034, a tragic accident ended the Orion 6 mission to Mars, Mission Commander Sally Jensen's career, and the manned space program. Twenty years later, Dr. Sunny Stevens, an astrophysicist from the KSpace corporation, walks into NASA with a momentous discovery: 2I, an artifact from outside the solar system, is headed toward Earth. Jensen, the last astronaut available, is recruited to lead the Orion 7 mission to make contact with 2I and discover its purpose. On the way, the exploratory mission turns into a race with KSpace, also trying to make contact. This is a tense tale of redemption, as the team from Orion 7 races to make peaceful contact and to protect the human race, that reads like a darker, more horrific version of Andy Weir's The Martian (2014).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)