Latent Flaw

Xenophobia Series, Book 2

By: Andreas Karpf

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Latent Flaw, the highly anticipated sequel to Prelude to Extinction has arrived. It has been three years since the crew of the Magellan returned, and Earth may now be a target.

A crescent moon set against a jeweled field of stars gracefully slid into view. The thin arc of its crater-filled landscape drew Jack’s mind in. His eyes followed the long, inky shadows cast by jagged crater walls as they cut sharply into the pockmarked ashen terrain.

Deeper within the jet-black lunar night-side were the lonely peaks of a smattering of mountain tops, catching a few last rays of sunlight. All Jack felt was a desire to escape; to be down there exploring...perhaps uncovering some new detail in the history of Earth’s nearest neighbor. Anything to avoid the chaos that was now poised to engulf him. But there was no choice; something was actively sabotaging their work and threatening the entire alien archive program. The recent attacks were anything but random and growing more bold.

They knew he was on to them. A rogue signal now pointed to the frigid, dusty realm of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

The question is: can they stop him before he finds them?

©2022 Andreas Karpf (P)2022 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

"A fast-paced...spacefaring tale. The high level of excitement makes for a diverting read, particularly for fans of the previous installment." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Superior hard SF sequel...The second sweeping installment in Karpf's Xenophobia series continues the dazzling, thoughtful adventures of [Prelude to Extinction]...Readers of serious science fiction will love it. (Booklife by Publisher's Weekly)

Great story line

The characters, their hardships keep you rooting for them. Can’t wait to listen for the 3rd book and find out what is next.

Just as good As Book 1

great story, great characters, doesnt fail to impress. I really enjoyed it. The characters are really fleshed out, I love how the Author makes you really see the technology and possibilities.

Painfully repetitive dialogue

In this 2nd book of the series, the story wasn't as diverting, and the repetitive, unimaginative dialogue carried over from the 1st book, and became painful to listen to. I'm going to summarize:
"Jaaack!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" (x20)
"Are you out of your mind?!" (x20)
"Jaaaaack!"
He shot back, she shot back, he shot back, she shot back (x50).
"What the hell is going on?" (x20)
"Think about it." (x20)
"Jaaaaaaaack!" (I lost count)
Rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat. I didn't actually count each repetition, but my eyes rolled so far back half way through that I could see my brain, and it wasn't happy.
The story is fairly interesting, but derivative. The characters are flat (Dan, Nadya), have no growth (Jack, Kurt), and the author puts 5 characters in rooms together, but can only ever really focus on 3 at a time, leaving me to wonder what happened to the rest of them: just sitting there quiet, I guess, during space battles. The cuts between narrators Jack and Kurt are wildly random, and head scratching. I really can't recommend this. If you read the first book, cut your losses.

Adventurous sci fi, cerebral

I am hoping the author is soon to publish book 3. As it is, the wait will be difficult.

Better narration!!

Much better narration for this book! Soundtrack was at a much more normal speed. Looking forward to the next book…