Offworld by Robin Parrish -- Book Review

Offworld (Dangerous Times Collection Book #1) by Robin Parrish was an interesting story with an interesting catch (on the plot). Set slightly in the future, the premise of this book involves a crew returning from the first manned mission to Mars, only to find the planet uninhabited by man or animal.

I found this book to continue at a good pace.  I was never bored with the story-line, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down on several occasions.  There was good character development, causing me to get attached to more than one of the main characters. The suspense in the book built at a good pace.  Even when the premise was explained, about three quarters of the way through the book, there was an appropriate level of intrigue remaining to keep me turning the pages until the end.

I also appreciated the cleanliness of this book. So often, anymore, science fiction authors are tending to believe that nobody will read their books unless they are raw and filled with profanity and inappropriate situations. No doubt the future will be full of questionable morals on many peoples parts, but good literature doesn't have to have it every single time.

I noticed this book was listed among the Christian books on Amazon and on another book site.  I could see the author being a Christian, for the previously mentioned reasons, but to say this was a "Christian book" might be a bit of a stretch.  It presents God in a vague, easily acceptable by the masses, sort of way. The specifics of the person of Jesus, essential to any authentic presentation of true Christianity, were not presented in any way. That is fine for this book, but dropping thoughts of God into a book doesn't make it a "Christian" book.

This book is currently still free, so if you are looking for a decent fictional book to dig your claws into, then this one is absolutely worth the cost. Supposedly it is the first book in a series, but it doesn't leave you hanging or feeling the need to read the next book in the series. It was good enough that I would consider getting the other books, though.