Although Dead Silence is not an action novel and is significantly more psychological, Claire did remind me of Ellen Ripley from the Aliens franchise, who famously returns to the last place in the galaxy she wanted to visit. Claire is not exactly ‘hero’ material, but she has many admirable qualities and the author does a fine job of presenting her contradictions and bringing her personal plight to life. When the story opens it is revealed that she is days away from being made unemployed and, believing she has no future, is both an emotional wreck and contemplating suicide.
Claire is the captain of a small maintenance repair ship which travels the outer boundaries of known space, where she has spent her entire adult life, with rotating Firefly style motley crews. Interestingly, the blurb sells the book as “ Titanic meets The Shining”, which is a decent pitch, but I have seen others bill call it “ Ghost Ship meets Event Horizon”, which is also a cool and catchy hook.ĭead Silence is convincingly carried and narrated by central character Claire Kovalik, who is damaged, unpredictable and blessed with a fascinating childhood backstory which gradually unpeels as the plot moves on. The sense of isolation on this lost ship is so complete with echoes of its violent past you can almost taste it in the back of the throat. Alternatively, in reading some of these startlingly original and eerie sequences, readers will be relieved they have both feet firmly planted on the ground rather than aimlessly drifting through uncharted space on the ghost ship ‘Aurora’. 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.
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