Exit Black

By: Joe Pitkin

Narrated by: Carolina Hoyos

Air Force One meets The Martian—with a dash of Knives Out—in this action-packed sci-fi thriller.

Imperium is the most expensive structure ever created. Once an orbiting laboratory, it is now a space hotel for the fantastically wealthy. But as the station preps for its first group of space tourists, Dr. Chloe Bonilla, Imperium’s resident biophysicist, finds herself questioning whether babysitting a passel of space glampers is worth the distraction from her research.

A private rocket delivers a rogues’ gallery of the world’s elite to Imperium: eccentric billionaires, callow tech bros, a sponsored Instagram influencer, and a seemingly saintly philanthropist. However, posing among the staff are members of a global terrorist group who call themselves the Reckoners, hell bent on upending the economic inequality of twenty-first-century Earth—and they have a bone to pick with these scions of the 1 percent.

As the Reckoners take control of Imperium and demand an $8 billion ransom from their wealthy hostages, it’s up to Dr. Bonilla to save them, and fast. Or the captives will be forced to exit the station—and there’s only one way out.

©2024 Tower Way. Based on a concept by Scott Veltri and Brendan Deneen (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

Smart and exciting

If an audio book can be called a “page turner” this is it. The story is so exciting with unexpected twists and turns right up to the very end. I highly recommend this exciting, fun, and very smart book.

Strong female protagonist: Cloe

Felt like Diehard with a low-orbit space station serving as the Nakatomi Skyscraper, and a female Bruce Willis protagonist. Definitely enjoyed the way it was written though, and the female reader for a male author gave a great performance for what became Cloe's challenges.