Roundabout

What should have been a triumphant homecoming turns into a waking nightmare for the astronauts returning from Titan, Saturn’s distant moon. From the moment they touch down on Earth, something feels wrong. The people they love are behaving like strangers, and in one gut-punch of a detail, an astronaut discovers his son—whom he thought needed a wheelchair full-time—walking around. Meanwhile, John Ward, the billionaire who bankrolled the mission, has somehow become President, and he’s branding the entire crew traitors. With no one left to trust but one another, the astronauts—bonded by two grueling years in a cramped capsule—go on the run. As they dig for answers from the shadows, a chilling realization sets in: this isn’t the Earth they left behind. It’s a parallel world entirely. Now they’re racing against time, hunting for someone who can send them home, if they can survive long enough. Rake and Hart’s follow-up to Detour is a white-knuckle thriller that takes hard left turns you won’t see coming. Fans of the first book will pick up on some added depth, but newcomers won’t be lost. A third installment is already on the way.—Jeff Ayers