Edge of Extinction

A scientific survey to determine whether a distant planet is suitable for colonization turns up unexpected results in Borg’s riveting debut. In the 2080s, Earth is rapidly becoming inhospitable for the overcrowded human population. Lifelong friends Amber Lytton, a behavioral ecologist, and Joel Carter, a paleozoologist, are tapped to join the second mission to survey Arcadia, a recently discovered planet with startling similarities to Earth. Borg interweaves scientific exposition with electric action scenes and satisfying plot twists as the team explores the planet and discovers what happened to the first team of scientists sent to Arcadia. Hair-raising encounters with dinosaurlike alien life forms and news from Earth that there’s a spy on the crew will have readers on tenterhooks. Borg crafts convincing characters and social conflict and offers a thoughtful examination of the mental frameworks by which humans shape assumptions when the team is confronted by evidence that they are not the only intelligent life on Arcadia. Exciting action, lively pacing, and a razor-sharp look at human fallibility make for a winning adventure. (Self-published)