Wormhole

The Rho Agenda, Book 3

By: Richard Phillips

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

When the Rho Project’s lead scientist, Dr. Donald Stephenson, is imprisoned for his crimes against humanity, the world dares to think the threat posed by the Rho Project’s alien technologies is finally over. The world is wrong. In Switzerland, scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider have discovered a new threat, a scientific anomaly capable of destroying the earth - and only Rho Project technology can stop it. In exchange for a full pardon, Dr. Stephenson agrees to create a wormhole that will send the anomaly into deep space.

But his promise masks the alien agenda that brought the Rho Ship to earth. Now a trio of accidentally altered humans must infiltrate Stephenson’s wormhole project and stop it, no matter the cost. The final battle has begun - and this is one battle mankind cannot afford to lose.

©2012 Richard Phillips (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Of Wormholes and Plot Holes

The three high school kids from The Second Ship and Immune are back, and they once again must foil the mad scientist hellbent on global domination (despite having already foiled him in Immune). More than that, they must save the world from a black hole and an alien invasion (though they cannot save the world from its own insanity, including nuclear bombs).

The watchword for Richard Phillips in the first installment of this trilogy was how well he put the science back in science fiction, having studied and worked as a physicist. The next entry was lighter on science and heavier on action, but still retained its credibility, despite banking on Area 51 conspiracies as its basis.

Wormhole remains strong on science and long on action. But its credibility is riddled by plot holes wide enough for space ships to fly through. I can't be too specific in order to avoid spoilers, but let me say that there is a major transference from one character to another that is never brought up again.

I would expect this to reappear in a future Rho Agenda book, except that Phillips says he has no plans for a direct successor to the series. Anyway, this plot twist is as central to this story as one can imagine, so it really needed more attention here. There are other situations which are left unattended, and other revelations that strain credulity, even as the two-hour denouement goes totally over the top and off the charts.

Still, a good science fiction thriller, a decent conclusion to this trilogy. One star deducted from the Story rating for the plot holes. I already have the audio version of the first of two completed entries in a second Rho Agenda trilogy, a prequel featuring Jack "Ripper" Gregory. He's a great character so I have high expectations.

Best of the series. Definitely my favorite!

Fantastic use of the characters and their abilities. Best story of the three books. I hope the series can continue.

Great story

Will keep reading more it's a great book and a wonderful series, keep up the good work

The whole series is great

Truly enjoyed the story, the way the author relayed facts then tied back to them later. No unnecessary characters but each one brought value to the series.

The Rho Agenda is the best series I've ever read!

I loved all three of these books. Richard Phillips is a master of weaving an exciting and suspenseful tale with multiple characters and subplots! I couldn't finish fast enough and at the same time hated to see it end.
MacLeod Andrews is a skillful narrator. One of the best.