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Did aliens or our own government bring down the space shuttle? This “fictional” book may have the answers.

If you’re a fan of hardcore science fiction, and I’m not talking Star Wars or Star Trek, but a story that looks at space travel and the science in a realistic sense wrapped around a mysterious and fantastic plot then do I have the book for you. Stephanie Osborn’s Burnout: The Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 is about as realistic as you can get when it comes to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and dialogue used at NASA and mission control. Maybe because Osborn was a payload flight controller and has worked for NASA and within the space program for over 20 years. She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and is “fluent” in several more, including Geology and Anatomy, so science is right up her con trail.

The story was begun after the space shuttle Challenger explosion, shortly after liftoff, but before the space shuttle Columbia burned up on reentry. Osborn explains this in the back of the book and explains why it took her so long to finish writing Burnout. Oddly enough, the Columbia disaster was very similar in aspect to how STS-281, the shuttle in Osborn’s story, comes plummeting back to earth in a horrific event that begins chapter one of this conspiracy story. (Osborn, by the way, claims not to be a conspiracy theorist. This is simply fiction.)

Quickly, the disaster leads to an investigation that has “Crash” Murphy, a former pilot whose best buddy was at the controls of the doomed STS-281, running for his life and eventually meeting up with astronomer Mike Anders, an Aussie working undercover for his government. Together, the two men must try and figure out what caused the crash and why the secret is getting everyone around them killed. Could it be an attempt to keep the truth of alien life hidden from the general public?

Their journey leads them across the western U.S. as they make their way to Area 51, of all places. With a little help from the real conspiracy theorists and M.U.F.O.N. types the two break into the restricted area in search for clues, trying to discover if the coverup is from the United States, Australia or the United Nations. Where their trip leads them is beyond their wildest dreams, not to mention that it has them each meeting up with an old “friend,” neither who are happy to see his former teammate.

The action is well-paced, the science makes sense and the jargon is dead on. As a matter of fact there is a seven-page glossary in the back of the book that I kept a bookmark located so I could flip back and forth for the first 100 pages or so to keep up with all of the acronyms. A bit distracting but not overly so.

There are a couple of incidents in the 300-hundred-plus page novel that I felt were left open and unfinished. I shot Osborn a series of questions which will possibly see the light of day at some point, but as I suspected, the unexplained events are left open for a sequel. So the answers won’t be given at this time because it would give away major portions of the plot.

There is also one death in the book that actually ticked me off so much that when I finished reading the novel at 3:30 in the morning I was tempted to jump online and shoot Osborn an e-mail to chew her out for killing my favorite character in the story, which is a good sign showing that Osborn has the ability to write a compelling story with characters the reader actually like and get to know. Osborn replied that her parents were upset that she killed that same character and they gave her a “…royal chewing on that.” which is pretty funny.

I’d say Osborn’s debut novel, Burnout, is a must for hard SF fans, conspiracy theorists, Area-51 fans, anyone who simply likes a good murder and chase story and those paranoid types who think the government is always watching and after you. You know I’m talking to you… sitting right there and reading this while looking out your window every time you hear a bump or scratching sound. I see you looking. Sneak out, now, while they are changing shifts and go buy this book for clues on how to remodel the inside of your house to keep them from listening in on your conversations.

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