Zero-G

Although Alton Gansky has penned many suspense novels (such as FINDER'S FEE), in ZERO-G he hits his stride with his best page-turner story to date. The story starts strong, placing the reader in the middle of a tragedy in the making. After surviving the terrifying debacle (which keeps readers glued), Commander Benjamin Tucker, or "Tuck" as he's known, becomes haunted by memories of his space mission gone wrong. Plagued by nightmares and grounded by NASA, he's separated from the thing he's most passionate about. Tuck is angry with his superiors, and most importantly to Gansky's story, Tuck is bitter about God. What prompted the tragedy in space lays the groundwork for the rest of the story. Tuck is wooed away from NASA by Ted Roos, a hotshot video game mogul who is pouring large amounts of his cash and others into SpaceVentures, a company that is set to provide private space travel. Gansky creates a nice tension between Tuck and his family, who desperately want to support his dreams but who are still traumatized by his close call on the last space mission. He also shows well how some men and women are captivated by space travel or the idea of space travel, and nothing else satisfies. Tuck becomes commander of the first tourist space flight, and everything looks rosy. But lurking in the background is the man responsible for the loss of Tuck's old crew, an Italian father determined to seek revenge, and Lance Campbell, a crewman with a grudge. Nothing is too obvious, and figuring out who is after whom will keep readers interested until the final pages. The rich and famous soon sign on to be the first space tourists: Theodore Burke, Secretary of State; Ginny Lin, a popular starlet; Daki Abe, a Japanese businessman and multimillionaire; and James Donnelly, a top-notch journalist who is covering it all for the press. Careening through space in command of the Legacy on her first space voyage, Tuck once again must face a tragedy in the making --- and determine if he is willing to sacrifice his own family for the greater good. Readers who want a clear outline of the plan of salvation will find that Gansky has worked it into the plot in the form of conversations between Tuck and his father, the likable Ben. Some may find these conversations a bit heavy-handed. Regardless, if anything could send a strong Christian into a tailspin of bitterness and indecision about his faith, it's clear that Tuck's circumstances would be plenty, so Gansky makes it believable. A few times it goes over the top, as in one scene where Tuck reaches out in the dark to "touch the face of God" (from the moving poem about the Columbia disaster in 1986). Gansky does a wonderful job showing the depravity and injustice of evil and its effects without resorting to gratuitous violence or a big body count. The ability to do this is tough in faith fiction, and he strikes just the right tone. As well as providing page-turning suspense, Gansky uses his story to examine the problem

Alton Gansky's book "Zero-G" is an excellent novel. It involves a disaster about the space shuttle and the subsequent ramifications of that accident. I do not want to give plot details away, but let me say the characters are well developed, and realistic. The plot is well written and takes unexpected turns. The dialogue makes the characters even better. The one slight draw back I have with "Zero-G" is that there are many deaths. They are not detailed in an inappropriate manner, but many people do die as the story unfolds

Alton Gansky has never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat, and he did it again with Zero-G. This revolves around the first attempts at commercial space travel, and, more personally, the astronaut who will fly the first scheduled flight, along with his family and a host of characters, including a couple of ememies he is unaware of, who don't want this to succeed. The freaky thing is, right after I read the book, I saw in the news that the owner of Virgin Airlines is now delving into commercial space travel...oh oh...

Alton Gansky covers a lot of different territories in his novels. In this novel he is writing about Benjamin Tucker, a NASA Astronaut, who is involved in a tragedy in space. He is thought of as a hero for his work during the tragedy but is left scarred. He leaves NASA to join a private group interested in sending the first commercial flights into space. Others hold grudges and unforeseen people are against Tucker. All of this causes Him to question his faith in God. A great novel that is worth the read.

For years, Alton Gansky has served up dollops of suspense, mystery, and even some supernatural thrills. With "Zero-G" he offers a book that ranks with some of his best. Benjamin Tucker, a NASA astronaut, suffers through a tragedy on a shuttle mission. He returns as a hero, but he is still plagued by grief and doubts, all of which he bottles up. His family fears for his involvement in any future assignments, yet Tuck can't resist the draw of a new private enterprise, aimed at taking citizens on commercial flights toward the stars. It's a chance to renew himself and take a different branch in his career, while playing off his status as a respected American icon. The only problem is that his family has concerns, and others have ulterior--and deadly--motives. Like two of my other favorite CBA sci-fi novels, Ingermanson's "Oxygen" and Johnson's "Ice", this book is fast-paced, yet never forgets to care about its characters. The details are never too much, providing just enough believable and intriguing backdrop for a suspenseful tale. The villains aren't given much time, but they do have credible motives. Although a few of the final components seem to wrap up a bit quickly and tidily, it all fits within this market's expectations and will please Gansky's growing fan base. In conclusion, Tuck is challenged to consider how far his faith will go in the face of death. There's nice usage of a famous poem to parallel his spiritual journey. With Gansky's continued prolific output, we can all look forward to many more imaginative stories from one of the most consistent in the industry.