Persephone

A voyage to Mars becomes a descent into paranoia and possible madness in this science-fiction thriller. Daniel Richland never wanted to be an astronaut, but his wife, Sarah, commanded an earlier mission to colonize the Red Planet, and now he is flying with five others to deliver supplies and reunite with her. As chief medical officer, he guides the crew through a deadly solar flare. Then he glimpses something outside the window that shakes his grip on reality: a twin of the Persephone, the very ship Sarah commanded. When a crewmate sees it too, everything comes into question, including the true purpose of the mission, the billionaire who bankrolled it, and the sanity of everyone aboard. The ship’s AIs detect nothing wrong, and on every video call, Sarah assures Daniel she is anxiously waiting for him to arrive. But space is unforgiving. Can the six astronauts set aside their suspicions before they destroy themselves? The authors deliver a locked-room mystery among the stars, packed with twists that will blindside even the savviest reader. And that ending! It’s as if Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary and Rob Hart and Jeff Rake’s Detour had a child.—Jeff Ayers