Freefall

A First Contact Hard Sci-Fi Series (Earth's Last Gambit, Book 1)

By: Felix R. Savage

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

A mysterious alien ship is orbiting Europa.

A handful of astronauts must voyage to Jupiter to face the threat alone.

During a classified mission to the ISS, astronaut Jack Kildare picks up an eerie signal. An alien spaceship is orbiting distant, icy Europa. It looks derelict...but is it? As fear sweeps across Earth, NASA spearheads a frenzied effort to build a ship capable of traveling to Jupiter to confront the alien menace.

Technology intertwines with espionage and sabotage in a race against the clock. Fighting for his rightful place in the mission, Jack finds himself submerged in a world of secrets, international power games, and cold-blooded murder.

Earth needs a man like Jack...but someone doesn't want him going back to space - ever.

Can Jack defeat the saboteurs in time to save humanity? Or will the alien threat triumph?

Experience a scarily plausible first contact thriller blending hard science fiction and edge-of-your seat action. From New York Times best seller Felix R. Savage, it's perfect for fans of Gerald M. Kilby, Iain M. Banks, and Brandon Q. Morris.

©2021 Aethon Books (P)2021 Aethon Audio

"Ollie, do you believe in aliens?""

Jack Kildare was only the third astronaut ever to be dismissed from NASA. He'd been with them a long time, flying several missions before being one of the crew on the ill fated Atlantis shuttle which, struck by space debris, had to find temporary rescue with the International Space Station. And, no, that wasn't why he was fired.
Skyler Taft, a guitar playing graduate, was watching Jupiter through an infrared telescope when a brief anomaly occurred. He thought it would change his life. It didn't. So he left his job and was recruited by a specialist government agency.
Skyler and Jack are just two of the.many well drawn characters whose lives are destined to collide as Felix Savage's story unfolds. A true science fiction techno thriller, set in the present day and into the near future, it follows the progress of the building of a starship designed to travel to Jupiter's moons and the lives of the people involved with her, the politics surrounding the venture and a load of earthly chaos, sabotage and murder as well. Detailed and thoughtful, tense and exciting, this is no thrill a minute, blood and guts racy book, but holds the reader's attention throughout by it's very plausibility as well as the unexpected turns and the real people who walk it's pages.
Narration, by James Anderson Foster, is well preformed, his pleasing voice well paced and modulated, his voicings of the numerous protagonists gent!y delineated.

Well, amazingly, the Spirit of Destiny is finally launched. What happens now? I, for one, am anxiously awaiting the next book, Shiplord. Love this series.
Definitely recommended.

Not bad.

It's a little slow to get going but they're is a payoff at the end. The end was good enough that I have already gotten the next one.
I wanna see what happens.

Multiple Stories Crammed into One

The story starts out as a space mission. A group of astronauts go into space to complete a public mission as well as a private/classified mission. During the mission, Jack Kildare, hears very odd noises almost music like. He also takes pictures with a new camera. They get hit by what appears to be space dust and almost the worst thing possible happens.

Later during a hearing to discuss accident, he mentions part of the private mission by accident and gets fired from NASA. He ends up working with one of his former friends at a propulsion company. While Jack is enhancing his photos, he notices something odd in the pictures.

Skyler Taft works at an outpost that colleges, corporations and others rent time at to look into the far reaches of space. During one night, he finds something that is very odd around Europa. He calls his professor and they think they have a great discovery at hand.

Skyler gets recruited by a government organization who have analyzed everything to dive deeper. The organization later tries to steal the propulsion being worked on by Jack and his friend. Soon the public knows that there is an alien space vessel in bad shape hovering over Europa. It looks like it will be a race to get there first unless a compromise can be reached.

A good start!

I enjoyed the interplay and development of the characters in this book. The mix of moral and ethically challenging situations definitely kept me wanting to know what was happening next. On top of that is a bit of mystery left hanging at the end that makes me want to pick up the next book. With the primary characters having been built up the way they are it will be interesting to see how the rest of it will come together.
Yes, I would recommend this book, it’s got some interesting moving parts.

This is a great series

It's a little far fetched in what humans can do with so little time but man is it a good story. I could have done without the interagency squabbling but it does make for some good twists even though you know what's coming. It keeps you guessing what will happen in the next book, which I will make sure to pick up.

Looking forward to the next one

The book was good from beginning to end. The characters were fleshed out really well to the point that the end of the book, you were really invested. The last hour was really good with plenty of suspense.

Very enjoyable book 1.

I blasted through this book within 2 days. There was plenty of intrigue, international espionage, and some science. The pace was fast and glazed over the slow times to jump ahead to the action. I will be checking out more of the author's books.

Captivating right from the get go!

This is a marvelous story! Depicting a near-future scenario featuring a first contact event and it comes with plenty of political intrigue, giving this otherwise Scifi genre story, a thriller/mystery spin... and it had me captivated right to the very end! To say that I Absolutely LOVED It, is quite possibly an understatement!
I simply loved Jack Kildare, Skylar Taft and all the other characters Felix R Savage drew from his "imaginerium" while writing this book. He wrote fallible, realistic, human characters, and the dialogue was very natural and believable. The action and the political intrigue drive this plot all the way, and kept my action-lovin heart entranced and satiated, while the ship, Spirit of Destiny, spins out of earth's orbit!
James Anderson Foster's narration was on point, and enjoyable. 😊👍

Can't wait for the next one!

The book was pretty good from beginning to end. The characters were fleshed out really well by the end of the book, You get pretty well invested in them. The last hour or so kept you on the edge of your set with plenty of suspense.

What was the point?

An entire book based on a subject that doesn’t start till the end of the book.