Departure 37

A Novel

De: Scott Carson

Narrado por: Mia Barron, Johnny Heller, Catherine Ho

Horror meets coming-of-age in this thrilling novel in which forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance, from a writer Stephen King has called “a master.”

On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: do not fly today.

There are a few concerning elements to the calls. None of the mothers remember making them—and some of the mothers are dead.

While the nation’s military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a sixteen-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home—a place she loathes. Her father’s dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster, and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn.

She’s about to get much more than that.

Her new home is ground zero for a story that begins at a remote naval base in Indiana during the winter of 1962, when a physicist named Martin Hazelton discovered something extraordinary—and deadly. All Hazelton wanted was time to seek an explanation, but pressure from both American and Russian actors forced him into a perilous race.

Moving between the two characters and timelines, Scott Carson deftly weaves Cold War espionage with contemporary terror in a story that explains why #1 New York Times bestseller Joe Hill has declared himself “a fan for life.”

©2025 Scott Carson (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Overall a good book by Carson

Carson delivers an engaging narrative, skillfully weaving together two timelines that, while occasionally disorienting, ultimately coalesce into a cohesive whole. The third act moves at a brisk pace—perhaps too brisk—leaving the resolution feeling somewhat underdeveloped, particularly in providing full closure for the principal characters. Though it may not stand among Carson’s finest works, it remains a commendable and absorbing read.

Very Good - Highly Recommend it.

Good mix of science fiction, complex characters, suspense. I listen to thousands of books this book is in the top 4% or so.

Compelling and thrilling

Extraordinary plot. As with all Koryta books, narrative is compelling and filled with thrills.