Mariner Valley

By: James Crawford

Narrated by: Lyle Blaker

Combining the very best elements of hard science fiction with a suspenseful, action filled manhunt, this novel is an exotic adventure set in a future colonial Mars. Following a trail of destruction across the remote outposts of the Martian wastelands, police vigilantes are eager to exact revenge on a gang of hardened criminals who are desperate to flee justice or fight to the death if cornered. Explore an alien world of breathtaking beauty where death is only a mistake away and love may be found in the most unexpected places.

©2012 James Crawford (P)2023 James Crawford

Character development. Suspense. Living on Mars. Good versus evil.

Mariner valley was a fantastic book full of action, suspense, and a dash of romance. Between the authors ability to immerse the reader into the harsh realities of living on Mars, and the dramatic build up of a long and dangerous pursuit, this epic kept me turning pages. Will read anything this author writes.

"Cop haunted by his past pursues a murderous gang on the Martian frontier. ..."

"Delaying his departure, a cop who's struggled to toe the line between justice and vigilantism is persuaded to run a manhunt for the men who raped and killed the local administrator's teenage daughter".

Is how I'd write the blurb for this novel. I'm giving it 5 stars because honestly, I'd feel bad to rate a novel by an upstart author as anything less given the importance of reviews these days.

But for someone who gave this novel a chance due to loving the Mars Trilogy by KSR, I think the "hard science fiction" in the blurb is entirely unwarranted and inaccurate.

This novel can stand on its own merits, but aside from some small technology-specific details (e.g. an entire habitat's population being killed by depressurization) there's really nothing here sciencce-wise aside the incidental setting that could just as well be an old-school story of a manhunt on horseback on the western frontier.