It’s been a while since I read a good SF thriller and Ghost Station fits the bill. I loved this mix of unreliable narrator, past secrets, and crew dynamics. Keep reading this book review of Ghost Station for my full thoughts.
Summary
Space exploration can be lonely and isolating.
Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—a space-based condition most famous for a case that resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. When she’s assigned to a small exploration crew, she’s eager to make a difference. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.
While Ophelia focuses on her new role, her crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizer’s hasty departure than opening up to her.
That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something more sinister?
Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by… and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Ghost Station is thrilling. Barnes takes the time to lay this foundation of character work and (dis)trust before we get into the meat of the story. I loved the crew dynamics, unreliable narrators, and the secrets. Ophelia is immediately an Outsider. Her job is to, in the crew’s sentiments, dissect their thoughts and help feed into this narrative of being ‘unfit’ for their jobs. But within Ghost Station we realize Ophelia’s layers, the ways in which she has her own dark secrets, and the crew isn’t telling the full story. We fall into this story which blends external danger, external betrayal, and external mystery with the internal.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
Zura Johnson does a phenomenal job narrating the book and giving it a hint of unreliability. Is it in the inflection, the pauses, the silences? Ghost Station plays with the ghosts we are fighting and the forces around us. I am so glad I finally got to Ghost Station. It was the perfect audiobook to listen to and I wasn’t too scared to go to sleep which is a win! Find Ghost Station on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.