Part of Alex Benedict, book 9
First published 2024
Alex Benedict and his archaeological team travel to a remote planet in the Orion Nebula where humanity made a shocking discovery. The explorer vessel Columbia found a small town populated by an unknown intelligent species. When a follow-up mission arrived months later to make first contact, the entire settlement had disappeared without explanation. Alex, Chase, and Gabe officially search for hidden artifacts the aliens might have left behind. Their real mission is far more dangerous: determine how an entire civilization vanished so quickly and why they chose to disappear. The investigation leads the team into increasingly perilous territory as they uncover answers that could reshape human understanding of alien intelligence. Each revelation raises the stakes for everyone aboard their ship. The truth behind the disappearance proves both terrifying and miraculous, forcing the crew to confront possibilities that challenge everything they believed about contact between species.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, archaeology, aliens
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, investigation
Setting: Orion Nebula, Remote Planet
Period: Futuristic
352 pages · Paperback · S&S/Saga Press