A lethal virus is awoken on an abandoned spaceship in this incredibly fast-paced, claustrophobic thriller.
They thought the ship would be their salvation.
Zahra knew every detail of the plan. House of Wisdom, a massive exploration vessel, had been abandoned by the government of Earth a decade earlier, when a deadly virus broke out and killed everyone on board in a matter of hours. But now it could belong to her people if they were bold enough to take it. All they needed to do was kidnap Jaswinder Bhattacharya—the sole survivor of the tragedy, and the last person whose genetic signature would allow entry to the spaceship.
But what Zahra and her crew could not know was what waited for them on the ship—a terrifying secret buried by the government. A threat to all of humanity that lay sleeping alongside the orbiting dead.
And then they woke it up.
Title: Salvation Day | Author: Kali Wallace | Publisher: Berkley | Pub. Date: 2019-July-9 | ISBN13: 9781984803696 | Pages: 320 | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Source: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for review consideration.
Salvation Day Review
Sci-Fi Horror? Oh yes, please! It’s also written by a woman? Just gimme, now! When one of my fellow reviewers turned me on to Salvation Day, I requested it from Netgalley pretty much immediately. I’m always on the lookout for some sci-fi horror and this looked like it would fit the bill.
Unfortunately, for just over half the book, Salvation Day and I did not get along. It isn’t that the book is badly written – because it’s not – but I didn’t like the most of the characters introduced early on, I had problems with the whole obvious ‘family’ thing, et cetera. I had pretty much given up hope on liking the book at all when things finally started to turn around. However, when it takes half of the book to hook you, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about the rest of the read.
Ultimately, Salvation Day was a decent read. There’s plenty of action basically from the get-go, characters to root for, characters to hate, and there is -indeed- the promised science-fiction horror element. If you’re the box-checker type, you’ll also want to note that there are LGBTQ+ characters, a desperate race against time, and a dramatic finale including a reluctant hero.
Unfortunately, it just feels like it’s missing that spark of magic that turns it from something technically fine to a true pleasurable reading experience.
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Lilyn G is the founder of Sci-Fi & Scary, and leader of the Coolthulhu Crew. She does book and film reviews for both genres the site focuses on. Her tastes run towards creature features, hard science fiction, and lots and lots of action. She also has a soft spot for middle-grade fiction that rears its head frequently.
Though no longer involved with Ladies of Horror Fiction due to other responsibilities and a too-full plate, she was one of the original 4 co-founders.
Feel free to chat her up on Twitter as long as you aren’t hitting her up to review your book.
This was a good review! I definitely had some of the same thoughts when reading. I really enjoyed the plot, not as much with the characters.
I think it would make a better movie than a book.
Oh, yeah I hadn’t thought about that. I could see this doing better played out on the screen for sure.