Exiles

De: Mason Coile

Narrado por: Ashley Morton

A New York Times Book Review Favorite Book of 2025

A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of William—this time set on a remote outpost on Mars.

The human crew sent to prepare the first colony on Mars arrives to find the new base half-destroyed and the three robots sent to set it up in disarray—the machines have formed alliances, chosen their own names, and picked up some disturbing beliefs. Each must be interrogated. But one of them is missing.

In this barren, hostile landscape where even machines have nightmares, the astronauts will need to examine all the stories--especially their own--to get to the truth.

Exiles is a terrifying, taut, one-sitting read, and Mason Coile once again blends science fiction and psychological horror to engage some of humanity’s deepest questions.

The ending

Loved the places characters went in their heads to add details and scenery to an otherwise “locked in one room” story format! Brilliant.

Quick Reaction

I saw this book today in the NY Times; it was not sponsored or an ad. I only buy audiobooks now, but I have a lot of access to them outside of my Audible account. I'm super stingy using my now 15 credits. Just reading the description, a paragraph or so, and I bought it on Audible. It's sadly short, about 5 minutes; however, I am loving it right off. So, I could be wrong; in that case, I'll post an EDIT or POSTSCRIPT boldly to this review. I've made a mistake b4, but I'm not feeling that. I don't write many reviews on Audible because if you own the book from an outside source, you can't post a review or access the SUPERIOR player - This isn't right. I pay well over a hundred dollars a year for the access. The prices aren't great. But the ease and use of the site and player surpasses any of the 5 other app players I have, including Tunes, a close 2nd. If Audible wants credible reviews, then restrict reviews to members, but a flat ban is limiting other users' or potential users' info. Any suggestions for players with easy placeholding and/or bookholders, the latter being most important, will be great!

Exiles: A Thrilling Mars Mystery

The mystery is intriguing despite there only being 6 characters. The pacing is phenomenal. I really liked all the stuff going on with our main character, she was very interesting. The performance made it easy to visualize scenes so I really liked that aspect. It was a bit confusing in the final chapters but still satisfying! Hopefully this gets turned into a movie because I can imagine the story and visuals working just as well in that format! 4.7/5

Great ending and enjoyable twists

Great pacing that doesn’t ever feel rushed, a few twists and turns, great character development for such a short book, and an incredible ending make this sci fi thriller a real blast. Highly recommend and I will be looking at more of the author’s work after reading this!

A Locked-Room Mystery on Mars

I went into Exiles expecting space horror, and I got that. I also got a locked-room murder mystery. On Mars.

Three astronauts land on the Red Planet, only to find their shiny new base half wrecked and the robot crew acting like they’ve been binging philosophy podcasts instead of doing their jobs.

As a fan of locked-room mysteries, I loved a tight setting, and creeping sense that something, or someone, is out to get them. The robots, who now go by Shay, Wes, and Alex, have grown disturbingly human in their years alone. One is loyal, one is cautious, and one is… well, off wandering the Martian desert. There’s also a murder, a growing sense of paranoia, and lots of suspense.

I liked Dana, our narrator, who is tough, emotionally guarded, and relatable. Her POV gave the story bite and urgency. The mystery of who’s sabotaging the mission (alien? robot? someone on the crew?) kept me flipping pages fast. And the resolution was great, far from common cliches of the genre.

The pacing is brisk, the tension never lets up, and Coile really nails the claustrophobic “no way out” vibe. It’s a space horror thriller mixed with existential dread, and some neat touches about AI learning to be human.

Sometimes the plot twists piled up so quickly I felt like I needed a board and string to track them. And a few themes (sexism, colonization, identity) get raised only to be dropped once the story shifts gears. It’s not fatal, just noticeable.

Still, I had a blast. It’s fast, atmospheric, and immersive. If Mars really is this messy, I’m canceling my ticket.