cover image Event Horizon: #1

Event Horizon: #1

Jack McKinney. Del Rey Books, $4.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-345-37053-2

With two series to his credit (Robotech and Sentinels), McKinney's latest may be a botched shot at scoring a hat trick. America in the 21st century is a land of electric cars and massive civilian conservation corps, where everyone flocks to giant theme parks like Gaian DaiseyLand for a good time. Unknown to the Earth-bound, the rest of the universe's residents enjoy traveling at the speed of light from one planet to the other via companies like the Black Hole Travel Agency. Through a case of mistaken identity Lucky Junknowitz is whisked away by the agency into an elaborate space opera. Paired with Sheena, a sexy travel-agency guide, Junknowitz at first resists his captors; eventually, he decides to fool the bad guys into believing he is indeed Professor Vanderloopp. 251 and thereby learn their secret plans. Though McKinney leapfrogs the plot across the galaxy and parades a wide variety of characters, there is no dramatic tension to pull the reader along, and a silly sense of humor undercuts any engaging vision of an ecologically reclaimed Earth. The plot is left in an unresolved muddle, presumably for the sequel. (June)