Publishers Weekly
★ 03/04/2024
Manibo (The Sleepless) ingeniously melds genres in this suspenseful sci-fi mystery set in 2089. The opening chapter offers a tantalizing hook: Henry Gallagher wakes up to find himself tumbling in space, barely able to spot his previous location, Space Habitat Altaire, and unsure of how he got there. After initially calming himself with the thought that the Altaire’s orbit will eventually bring it near enough for him to reach, Gallagher panics when he realizes his space suit is out of propellant, leading him to suspect that someone deliberately tossed him off the space station. Just as his entire body is consumed with a burning pain, Manibo flashes back to Gallagher’s arrival on the Altaire for his 25th high school reunion, introducing classmates, such as Tom Lazaro III, an American ambassador, whom readers will immediately view as suspects. The whodunit plot is enhanced by careful and plausible worldbuilding that digs into the intricacies of an era when the UN’s Mars Settlement Agency is mere months away from accepting applications for civilian settlers. As in the best mysteries, Manibo never allows his plot twists to come at the expense of character development. Jack McDevitt fans will be especially pleased. (May)
From the Publisher
Praise for Escape Velocity
“Manibo is that rare writer who can put a reader out among the stars but keep the focus on human trauma and scandal. . . . Scintillating.” —Meg Elison, winner of the Hugo, Locus, and Philip K. Dick Awards
“A high-stakes sci-fi mystery—Foundation if it were written by Agatha Christie—Escape Velocity is an energetic and unforgettable page-turner, deftly honoring the genres it blends together while feeling vibrant and strikingly relevant. Perfect for fans of noir and thoughtful speculative fiction.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity
“A murder mystery by way of Karl Marx, Escape Velocity is a spicy thriller about what we all secretly wish would happen to billionaires in space. Victor Manibo has given us a delightful, disturbing gift. I really loved this novel and its exquisitely-drawn cast of villains.” —Annalee Newitz, Lambda Award–winning author of Autonomous
“Victor Manibo excels at the kind of extrapolation that makes near-future science fiction so interesting. . . . What can money and clout buy, and what can’t be bought? With intrigue, murder, and machinations aplenty, Manibo never lets his characters or his readers off the hook.” —Sarah Pinsker, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of A Song For A New Day and Lost Places
“Searing social commentary, expert worldbuilding, and unforgettable characters . . . Victor Manibo remains one of the most exciting new voices working in fiction today.” —Rob Hart, author of Assassins Anonymous and The Warehouse
"Dancing effortlessly between present and past mysteries, Escape Velocity serves up opulent privilege with deadly secrets. A must-read." —Mur Lafferty, Hugo Award winner and author of Station Eternity
Library Journal
03/01/2024
Ava, Laz, Henry, and Sloane all have their own agendas for their 25th reunion, as do their former classmates. The Rochford Institute is an elite academy that prepares students for running their planet, whether that planet the dying Earth or the new Mars colony. When the rest of the alumni arrive at the Space Habitat Altaire, a luxury resort in low Earth orbit, most of them are hoping to earn points toward their Mars application, but the four friends are looking for more. Ava searches for the truth about her brother's murder during their senior year, Laz hopes to win Ava's affection after years of pining, Henry is looking to subvert the Mars application process altogether, and Sloane is trying to regain his reputation after his father's arrest and bankruptcy. And as the ultra-rich work toward their goals, the barely noticed employees of the Altaire have their own scheme that may trump all other machinations. VERDICT Manibo (The Sleepless) pens a novel full of twists and turns, with broad appeal. Sci-fi, dystopian, and mystery fans will all find something to enjoy, while the posh setting and elite players give an unexpected air of palace intrigue that could rival Game of Thrones.—Portia Kapraun
Kirkus Reviews
2024-04-05
A space cruise takes a dangerous turn as a handful of old school chums reunite after 25 years apart.
Hobnobbing is the name of the game aboard the Prestige-Class Space Habitat Altaire, but the stakes are higher for some people than for others. Husbands Henry and Nick Gallagher yearn for life in the brand-new civilian colonies on Mars but need to earn more MERIT points—a sociopolitical currency of sorts—than their straight peers to get their hands on a piece of the pie; being wealthy and attractive can’t help them overcome the “gay penalty,” which punishes infertile couples with lower MERIT scores. Mirroring the men’s plight, the Altaire’s majority-Filipino staff find themselves catering to people who, though undeserving of their status, enjoy a higher caliber of living solely by virtue of their birth. The cast list soon swells, with a broad conglomerate of wealthy characters rehashing a friend’s death some 25 years on. Unfortunately, the novel swiftly begins to lose focus, making it impossible to distinguish between important characters and extraneous ones. Whose story is this, really, and why does that question grow increasingly difficult to answer? While this collection of red herrings might have made for an intriguing premise, Manibo jumps from one character to the next too quickly for the reader to forge any sort of lasting interest in them. The dialogue is sometimes stilted, and the exposition almost always reads like a dry recitation of events, further dampening what might have been an exciting tale of near-space intrigue.
A forgettable novel of high-stakes interpersonal conflicts.
