Detour

At the outset of this messy sci-fi thriller from debut author Rake, creator of the Netflix series Manifest, and Hart (Dark Space), D.C. cop Ryan Crane saves the life of John Ward, the billionaire behind an upcoming two-year mission to Saturn’s moon Titan and a third-party U.S. presidential candidate. Ward plunks $15 million into Crane’s bank account to sign him on to the mission, which is under attack from the press and NASA. The mismatched six-person crew, a New Jersey graffiti artist among them, face perils in space­—including the discovery that someone has tampered with their spacecraft’s operating system—but even greater danger when they make an early return to Earth, only to find everything slightly different. As they piece together what’s changed and why, and work to get back to their own timeline, they’re hindered by Ward’s sinister assistant, who hires a goon squad to sequester them. It’s a strong premise, but the plot gets bogged down by too many characters and their trope-heavy backstories. As a result, readers will struggle to sort through the tangled web of conspiracy surrounding Ward, the Dark Web, and a renegade NASA scientist on the way to an underbaked climax. This squanders its potential. (Jan.)