I love starting off the year right with a 5-star book.  S.A. Barnes’ new space horror novel, Cold Eternity, is her creepiest and best novel yet.

The protagonist is a somewhat naive government official on the run, trying to build a new life for herself while hiding from her former employers. She takes a secret job on an old ship to earn money…and has been warned that previous caretakers have lost their minds and seen spooky things.  Very The Shining in space.

I love how each of Barnes’ books has a basic “Flawed female protagonist takes a kind of suspicious job in a remote area of space, and shit gets weird” premise…but the shit getting weird is so different and unexpected each time.

Cold Eternity embraces Alien-style anti-corruption and anti-capitalist themes, which I always love in a sci-fi horror.  It also brings in some weird mythological aspects that I loved. It’s Barnes’ most complex novel, with her most interesting protagonist.

I’m also scared of any sound in my walls now, so thanks for that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy.