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Wormhole
An eighty year old cold case murder investigation that stretches across light years and risks the future of mankind's new home. A hard SF/crime crossover from two respected and well-liked names in SF.
2110. Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking, with much of the planet's equatorial regions turned to lifeless desert and populations displaced. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than a scant population of hundreds of citizens.
Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world.
European scientists, using discoveries made at CERN, have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel first of all.
A ship is sent to Mu Arae, earth-like planet discovered 10 years before. It is a journey that will take 80 years, the crew, who will eventually set up the wormhole on the planet, kept in suspended animation. But only a few years into the trip, catastrophe strikes and the ship blows up en route, killing all aboard.
2190, eighty years after the starship set out.
Gordon Kemp is a detective working in the cold case department in London. Usually he works on cases closed ten, twenty-five years earlier. Now, however, he has been assigned a murder investigation closed, unsolved, over eighty years ago. What he unearths will change history and threatens everything we know about what the powers that be have planned for Earth. The tragedy that befell the ship 80 years before is not what it seems and the past and the present are radically different to what everyone on Earth believes. We made the journey. Why has it been kept a secret?
File Under: Science Fiction [ Who wants to live forever? Old caps New Worlds Believe no one ]
2110. Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking, with much of the planet's equatorial regions turned to lifeless desert and populations displaced. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than a scant population of hundreds of citizens.
Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world.
European scientists, using discoveries made at CERN, have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel first of all.
A ship is sent to Mu Arae, earth-like planet discovered 10 years before. It is a journey that will take 80 years, the crew, who will eventually set up the wormhole on the planet, kept in suspended animation. But only a few years into the trip, catastrophe strikes and the ship blows up en route, killing all aboard.
2190, eighty years after the starship set out.
Gordon Kemp is a detective working in the cold case department in London. Usually he works on cases closed ten, twenty-five years earlier. Now, however, he has been assigned a murder investigation closed, unsolved, over eighty years ago. What he unearths will change history and threatens everything we know about what the powers that be have planned for Earth. The tragedy that befell the ship 80 years before is not what it seems and the past and the present are radically different to what everyone on Earth believes. We made the journey. Why has it been kept a secret?
File Under: Science Fiction [ Who wants to live forever? Old caps New Worlds Believe no one ]
381 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2022
46 people are currently reading
488 people want to read
About the author
Eric Brown
382 books187 followersEric Brown was a British science fiction author and Guardian critic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
April 21, 2024
This is primarily a mystery, but all the classic sci fi elements are there, too.
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Detective Kemp is ordered to solve an 80-year-old cold case that may be tied to an explorer spaceship that also launched 80 years ago but blew up soon after. Characters are good, pacing is good, and the mystery is fun.
Found some typos.
*Reader’s Choice Nominee Spring 2024*
Language: Occasional moderate language
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: Moderately graphic but infrequent
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
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Detective Kemp is ordered to solve an 80-year-old cold case that may be tied to an explorer spaceship that also launched 80 years ago but blew up soon after. Characters are good, pacing is good, and the mystery is fun.
Found some typos.
*Reader’s Choice Nominee Spring 2024*
Language: Occasional moderate language
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: Moderately graphic but infrequent
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other (Triggers):
January 2, 2023
This is a cracker of a book (I did read it over Christmas), combining excellent science fiction with a very cold, cold case murder mystery. Medical doctor Rima Cagnac is suspected of murdering her husband 80 years previously. Soon after the crime, she left on a sublight ship heading to another star in suspended animation - the first manned trip to another star system. Thanks to a distinct MacGuffin, this ship (which has just arrived at Mu Arae) carries the necessary technology to establish a wormhole connection to Earth - technology that has finally become workable after the subsequent 80 years. Cold case detective DI Gordon Kemp is sent through the wormhole to arrest Cagnac, while his boss, DI Danni Bellini looks into the matter back in London.
Keith Brooke and Eric Brown keep the plot bubbling nicely, with impressive twists and turns that ensure things are rarely how they first seemed. Kemp's worn-out character is nicely developed, as are some of those he meets on Mu Arae. It's a really satisfying book with a suitably tense ending.
For me, the Earth-based parts of the story are the best - in fact, arguably the whole thing could have been done without the Mu Arae sections, allowing more opportunity to fill out the Earth of 2189. Don't get me wrong, the Mu Arae bits are good, with an effective attempt at thinking beyond the typical Star Trek style alien lifeforms - but it felt distinctly more far fetched, and there would have been other ways to have a living suspect for a crime committed 80 years before. However, the two parts of the book do both work together, so this isn't a significant problem.
As a fan of both SF and British detective stories, this was an ideal title for me - and is effective from both viewpoints. One of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a while.
Keith Brooke and Eric Brown keep the plot bubbling nicely, with impressive twists and turns that ensure things are rarely how they first seemed. Kemp's worn-out character is nicely developed, as are some of those he meets on Mu Arae. It's a really satisfying book with a suitably tense ending.
For me, the Earth-based parts of the story are the best - in fact, arguably the whole thing could have been done without the Mu Arae sections, allowing more opportunity to fill out the Earth of 2189. Don't get me wrong, the Mu Arae bits are good, with an effective attempt at thinking beyond the typical Star Trek style alien lifeforms - but it felt distinctly more far fetched, and there would have been other ways to have a living suspect for a crime committed 80 years before. However, the two parts of the book do both work together, so this isn't a significant problem.
As a fan of both SF and British detective stories, this was an ideal title for me - and is effective from both viewpoints. One of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a while.
January 7, 2026
En el Londres del siglo XXII, el inspector Gordon Kemp vive estancado en "la morgue", una unidad dedicada a casos sin resolver que la tecnología actual ha dejado atrás. Su vida da un vuelco cuando recibe una orden inusual de las altas esferas: resolver el asesinato de Sebastian White, un científico pionero en tecnología de suspensión criogénica, muerto ochenta años atrás.
Lo que parece una tarea arqueológica inútil cobra una relevancia inmediata cuando se revela que White fue asesinado justo antes de que la nave Strasbourg partiera en la primera misión interestelar hacia el sistema Mu Arae. Mientras Kemp investiga en una Tierra hiperconectada pero fría, la narrativa se traslada cincuenta años luz de distancia, a bordo de la Strasbourg, donde la tripulación acaba de despertar de un letargo de décadas para descubrir que el mundo que dejaron ya no existe: una nueva tecnología de agujeros de gusano permite ahora viajes instantáneos, haciendo que su sacrificio sea, en apariencia, redundante.
Kemp, acompañado por la inspectora Danni Bellini, deberá descubrir qué secreto ocultaba White que alguien estuvo dispuesto a proteger durante casi un siglo. La verdad vincula el pasado de la Tierra con el presente de un planeta alienígena llamado Carrasco, donde la supervivencia de la humanidad y el destino de una especie nativa penden de un hilo.
Al leer "Wormhole", te queda la sensación de que Brown y Brooke tenían entre manos una historia mucho mejor de lo que finalmente plasmaron en papel. El punto de partida es fantástico, esa mezcla de crimen antiguo y el drama de unos astronautas que llegan tarde a su destino porque la tecnología les ha adelantado por la derecha, pero el libro no termina de arrancar.
La investigación de Kemp se hace pesada por momentos y a la parte de ciencia ficción pura le falta esa chispa de asombro que esperas al descubrir un mundo nuevo. Al final, los personajes resultan algo planos y cuesta empatizar con sus dilemas. Es una novela que se deja leer, pero que se queda en tierra de nadie: ni llega a ser un thriller que te mantenga en vilo, ni una odisea espacial que te vuele la cabeza. Una pena, porque la idea daba para mucho más.
Lo que parece una tarea arqueológica inútil cobra una relevancia inmediata cuando se revela que White fue asesinado justo antes de que la nave Strasbourg partiera en la primera misión interestelar hacia el sistema Mu Arae. Mientras Kemp investiga en una Tierra hiperconectada pero fría, la narrativa se traslada cincuenta años luz de distancia, a bordo de la Strasbourg, donde la tripulación acaba de despertar de un letargo de décadas para descubrir que el mundo que dejaron ya no existe: una nueva tecnología de agujeros de gusano permite ahora viajes instantáneos, haciendo que su sacrificio sea, en apariencia, redundante.
Kemp, acompañado por la inspectora Danni Bellini, deberá descubrir qué secreto ocultaba White que alguien estuvo dispuesto a proteger durante casi un siglo. La verdad vincula el pasado de la Tierra con el presente de un planeta alienígena llamado Carrasco, donde la supervivencia de la humanidad y el destino de una especie nativa penden de un hilo.
Al leer "Wormhole", te queda la sensación de que Brown y Brooke tenían entre manos una historia mucho mejor de lo que finalmente plasmaron en papel. El punto de partida es fantástico, esa mezcla de crimen antiguo y el drama de unos astronautas que llegan tarde a su destino porque la tecnología les ha adelantado por la derecha, pero el libro no termina de arrancar.
La investigación de Kemp se hace pesada por momentos y a la parte de ciencia ficción pura le falta esa chispa de asombro que esperas al descubrir un mundo nuevo. Al final, los personajes resultan algo planos y cuesta empatizar con sus dilemas. Es una novela que se deja leer, pero que se queda en tierra de nadie: ni llega a ser un thriller que te mantenga en vilo, ni una odisea espacial que te vuele la cabeza. Una pena, porque la idea daba para mucho más.
June 19, 2023
Do I adore Sci Fi? You bet I do! Like Horror and Mystery, I've devoured SF since tiny childhood. Now I have two new favorite authors.
WORMHOLE is Hard SF, Technologically Futuristic, with SPACE TRAVEL! It's also Slow Burn Suspense [80-year-old Cold Case!!], some multiple Slow Burn gentle-build romance, and Slow building revelations about the Past (80-100+ years earlier) and their inextricable connections to the Present (2190). There's classism, elitism, conspiracy, and plenty of evidence for Lord Acton's claim that "Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely." (1887) This novel resounds Amen to that!
I totally enjoyed WORMHOLE and jumped right into another Eric Brown, PENUMBRA.
WORMHOLE is Hard SF, Technologically Futuristic, with SPACE TRAVEL! It's also Slow Burn Suspense [80-year-old Cold Case!!], some multiple Slow Burn gentle-build romance, and Slow building revelations about the Past (80-100+ years earlier) and their inextricable connections to the Present (2190). There's classism, elitism, conspiracy, and plenty of evidence for Lord Acton's claim that "Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely." (1887) This novel resounds Amen to that!
I totally enjoyed WORMHOLE and jumped right into another Eric Brown, PENUMBRA.
July 6, 2022
I do a lot of freelance copyediting/proofreading for a variety of publishers but I rarely list those books on Goodreads because I consider them to be work rather than reading, and also if I were to list them all I might be less favourable towards some titles which would be wholly unprofessional of me. Suffice to say, I've decided to only list books which I believe I would have sought out and enjoyed independently of 'work' (and I must admit, that number is increasing recently and I might have to amend the word 'rarely' from my stock intro above!).
This is certainly the case with "Wormhole". I've previously read both Brooke and Brown separately, but never in collaboration, and I have to say the writing here is seamless, you can't see the join. An SF/detective hybrid, this novel is packed tightly with some brilliant ideas spun through excellent characterisation set at just the right pace to evolve and engage. There are a couple of jaw-dropping surprises which – although I didn’t see them coming – fit naturally into the narrative. Additionally - considering the well-trodden tropes of both genres - the novel covers a lot of 'old' ground in an original way. It was a joy to be immersed in it. I won't run through the plot, it's best to discover it yourselves.
Summing up, this is an absolute cracker of a story that instilled in me the excitement of reading Golden Age SF and I urge you to read it once it becomes available for purchase.
This is certainly the case with "Wormhole". I've previously read both Brooke and Brown separately, but never in collaboration, and I have to say the writing here is seamless, you can't see the join. An SF/detective hybrid, this novel is packed tightly with some brilliant ideas spun through excellent characterisation set at just the right pace to evolve and engage. There are a couple of jaw-dropping surprises which – although I didn’t see them coming – fit naturally into the narrative. Additionally - considering the well-trodden tropes of both genres - the novel covers a lot of 'old' ground in an original way. It was a joy to be immersed in it. I won't run through the plot, it's best to discover it yourselves.
Summing up, this is an absolute cracker of a story that instilled in me the excitement of reading Golden Age SF and I urge you to read it once it becomes available for purchase.
November 30, 2022
Wormhole is a unique mash up of police procedural and hard sci fi. Cold case detective Gordon Kemp is assigned to investigate an 80-year-old mystery that leads him through wormholes, far worlds, and scientific exploration to find out what happened. Though at times I felt some plot items could have been elaborated on a bit more, this was a fun and entertaining read. Really hoping this author duo writes more in the future! Thank you go NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book! #AngryRobot #Wormhole
April 30, 2024
This was really interesting, a cold case murder mystery in a sci-fi setting.
The sci-fi part was low key as far as techno babble goes. The technology is pretty easy to understand. The alien planet is interesting.
The mystery part ramped up pretty good so that I didn’t want to put it down for the final third, at least. Although I did have to put it down 🙂
I liked the characters and the writing.
Content: scattered hard profanity; atrocities, violence, mild in detail
The sci-fi part was low key as far as techno babble goes. The technology is pretty easy to understand. The alien planet is interesting.
The mystery part ramped up pretty good so that I didn’t want to put it down for the final third, at least. Although I did have to put it down 🙂
I liked the characters and the writing.
Content: scattered hard profanity; atrocities, violence, mild in detail
December 2, 2022
Wormhole is the new sci-fi proposal by Eric Brown and Keith Brooke, mixing in the same pack an excellent amount of police plot, all of these set in a relatively near future, allowing them to make an insane amount of speculative worldbuilding. Even being set in the future, you could guess how this hypothetical Earth has evolved since our time.
The story can be divided into two parts/times. In the first one, we are going to be following Kemp and Dani, two members of the police which are specialized in cold cases, cases that happened years ago, usually ten or twenty years. Even accustomed to this period of time, they get surprised once they get assigned to solve a case that happened eighty years ago. And why is this case really important? Because the main suspect is traveling to Mua Arae II, in suspension, and it will be reanimated soon.
The excuse to introduce the hard sci-fi elements is here, as we soon get to know that the Strasbourg has ended its travel to this planet, and thanks to really advanced technology, a wormhole between Mu Arae II and the Earth gets established, allowing Kemp to travel from London to the base where the crew members are staying while they continue researching the planet. As a secondary sub-plot to our main story, the exploration of this new planet isn't really going as smoothly as the crew could think, and an epidemic gets started among them. Rita Cagnac gets lost in the process of getting to the base where Kemp is staying, adding more spice to it.
With Wormhole, we have an intriguing story in which the characters take the narrative weight. While the main plot revolves around Kemp, his investigation, and his evolution as a character, we can also see some spots showing that maybe the official version of what happened to the Strasbourg may be hiding awful truths and obscure intentions.
Worldbuilding is made in a really interesting way, as Mu Arae II becomes an excuse to show how an alien planet could be, and how it can become dangerous just by probabilities to the humans involved in its exploration. The futurist world shown on the Earth is probably one of the best approaches I've seen to this theme, avoiding extreme inventions, going for a more continuist line, but allowing a certain space to innovations like wormhole technology and AIs.
Wormhole is a great novel by two experimented sci-fi writers and it shows. It is hooking from the first page, and soon gets you to think that maybe you are not being shown all the truth; combined with memorable characters as the Kemp and Dani duo makes this an excellent book, easily enjoyed by sci-fi fans.
The story can be divided into two parts/times. In the first one, we are going to be following Kemp and Dani, two members of the police which are specialized in cold cases, cases that happened years ago, usually ten or twenty years. Even accustomed to this period of time, they get surprised once they get assigned to solve a case that happened eighty years ago. And why is this case really important? Because the main suspect is traveling to Mua Arae II, in suspension, and it will be reanimated soon.
The excuse to introduce the hard sci-fi elements is here, as we soon get to know that the Strasbourg has ended its travel to this planet, and thanks to really advanced technology, a wormhole between Mu Arae II and the Earth gets established, allowing Kemp to travel from London to the base where the crew members are staying while they continue researching the planet. As a secondary sub-plot to our main story, the exploration of this new planet isn't really going as smoothly as the crew could think, and an epidemic gets started among them. Rita Cagnac gets lost in the process of getting to the base where Kemp is staying, adding more spice to it.
With Wormhole, we have an intriguing story in which the characters take the narrative weight. While the main plot revolves around Kemp, his investigation, and his evolution as a character, we can also see some spots showing that maybe the official version of what happened to the Strasbourg may be hiding awful truths and obscure intentions.
Worldbuilding is made in a really interesting way, as Mu Arae II becomes an excuse to show how an alien planet could be, and how it can become dangerous just by probabilities to the humans involved in its exploration. The futurist world shown on the Earth is probably one of the best approaches I've seen to this theme, avoiding extreme inventions, going for a more continuist line, but allowing a certain space to innovations like wormhole technology and AIs.
Wormhole is a great novel by two experimented sci-fi writers and it shows. It is hooking from the first page, and soon gets you to think that maybe you are not being shown all the truth; combined with memorable characters as the Kemp and Dani duo makes this an excellent book, easily enjoyed by sci-fi fans.
September 21, 2024
A cold case in the future sends a middle-aged detective and his younger superior on an investigative adventure that will reveal secrets from eighty years in the past that have consequences for the present. Both authors and narrator were all new to me, but I couldn’t pass up this sci-fi thriller after reading the blurb.
Wormhole is a standalone cold case police procedural mixed with a sci-fi thriller set on the earth of the future and a planet with colonization potential. Eighty years before, a science exploration ship carrying the science and ship crew in suspended animation set to arrive at Mu Arae experiences a catastrophic fire and is destroyed, but just days before one if its members was involved in a murder investigation regarding her husband.
Now, events have taken a turn, and a tired, washed up police detective gets sent through a wonder of tech, a wormhole, to go to the planet under secret orders regarding an 80 year old case remaining unsolved. Meanwhile, his boss and partner is back on earth defying their superior who shut down her part of the investigation and pulling up disturbing evidence that was either suppressed or not followed up on properly. They’re up against a cover up at the very least and someone doesn’t want the case reopened, but wants a quick scapegoat pinned with the crime.
Meanwhile, on the planet, Detective Gordon Kemp discovers that his orders are even more suspect than he originally thought. Too many anomalies and little is as it was portrayed. His orders were clear, but he does some lateral thinking and is determined to get at the truth even if his career and life are on the line.
I really love when a sci-fi is given a lot of depth to the establishment of the setting and backdrop and science. This futuristic earth fit well with what one would imagine for our future geopolitically, socially, culturally, and environmentally with the setting being mostly London and the British Isles for earth. But, wow, did they do fab at the sci-fi tech of space travel, wormhole, and alien planet exploration. Much thought went into how it would be done and what would always have to be considered even down to exposure and different evolutionary process even if the planet has a similar enough environment and atmosphere to be considered for colonization. And, the adventure of a planet’s mysteries and the intrigue from the situation Gordon is investigating made this a heart-thumping thriller, too.
There are multiple points of view. Gordon Kemp, his partner Dani, a scientist Rima, and a few others which helped see the situation from a cop as well as scientific perspective that I really loved. The characters were developed well and relationships were given due attention. I was deeply vested in this story and sobbed my eyes out at one point when the villains were particularly villainous.
Eric Michael Summerer was a new voice to me, but I easily took to his way of narrating. The story gets off to a slower start with the need to introduce this futuristic world, the characters, and the situation before steadily picking up the pace and the suspense action. He carried it well and then drew me in completely with voicing all the characters and the narration so that a good story was made even better.
Wormhole was a fabulous surprise and all I hoped it would be when I got a look at the blurb. A superb sci-fi and easily one of my favorite listens for the year. Those who like police procedural mystery, intrigue, and sci-fi thrillers really need to get this in the listening queue.
I rec'd an audio digital from Tantor Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Books of My Heart on 9.18.24.
Wormhole is a standalone cold case police procedural mixed with a sci-fi thriller set on the earth of the future and a planet with colonization potential. Eighty years before, a science exploration ship carrying the science and ship crew in suspended animation set to arrive at Mu Arae experiences a catastrophic fire and is destroyed, but just days before one if its members was involved in a murder investigation regarding her husband.
Now, events have taken a turn, and a tired, washed up police detective gets sent through a wonder of tech, a wormhole, to go to the planet under secret orders regarding an 80 year old case remaining unsolved. Meanwhile, his boss and partner is back on earth defying their superior who shut down her part of the investigation and pulling up disturbing evidence that was either suppressed or not followed up on properly. They’re up against a cover up at the very least and someone doesn’t want the case reopened, but wants a quick scapegoat pinned with the crime.
Meanwhile, on the planet, Detective Gordon Kemp discovers that his orders are even more suspect than he originally thought. Too many anomalies and little is as it was portrayed. His orders were clear, but he does some lateral thinking and is determined to get at the truth even if his career and life are on the line.
I really love when a sci-fi is given a lot of depth to the establishment of the setting and backdrop and science. This futuristic earth fit well with what one would imagine for our future geopolitically, socially, culturally, and environmentally with the setting being mostly London and the British Isles for earth. But, wow, did they do fab at the sci-fi tech of space travel, wormhole, and alien planet exploration. Much thought went into how it would be done and what would always have to be considered even down to exposure and different evolutionary process even if the planet has a similar enough environment and atmosphere to be considered for colonization. And, the adventure of a planet’s mysteries and the intrigue from the situation Gordon is investigating made this a heart-thumping thriller, too.
There are multiple points of view. Gordon Kemp, his partner Dani, a scientist Rima, and a few others which helped see the situation from a cop as well as scientific perspective that I really loved. The characters were developed well and relationships were given due attention. I was deeply vested in this story and sobbed my eyes out at one point when the villains were particularly villainous.
Eric Michael Summerer was a new voice to me, but I easily took to his way of narrating. The story gets off to a slower start with the need to introduce this futuristic world, the characters, and the situation before steadily picking up the pace and the suspense action. He carried it well and then drew me in completely with voicing all the characters and the narration so that a good story was made even better.
Wormhole was a fabulous surprise and all I hoped it would be when I got a look at the blurb. A superb sci-fi and easily one of my favorite listens for the year. Those who like police procedural mystery, intrigue, and sci-fi thrillers really need to get this in the listening queue.
I rec'd an audio digital from Tantor Audio to listen to in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Books of My Heart on 9.18.24.
November 26, 2022
Okay, first all, this book? INCREDIBLE. I need to go and read both author’s backlogs ASAP. The world building in this one is absolutely amazing, add in an intriguing plot that is as beautiful as the blending of crime and sci-fi and I was hooked from the first few chapters. This is one of those books that when you get to the end you’re looking through the acknowledgement pages praying you’ll find some hidden chapters somewhere because you don’t want it to end.
If you love Sci-Fi books then you definitely want to pick up a copy of this bad boy.
Thank you to Angry Robot for sending me a copy of this one and having me on the blog tour.
If you love Sci-Fi books then you definitely want to pick up a copy of this bad boy.
Thank you to Angry Robot for sending me a copy of this one and having me on the blog tour.
April 15, 2024
Okay, I actually finished this a while ago, but I just haven't gotten around to reviews. So what? Anyways I finished it. It's a decent science fiction mystery -- Mystery! In! Space! Though it's incredibly busy. There are a ton of angles going on that get thrown in throughout the book. Most of these threads and plot points get tidied up at the end, but it still feels like there's too much going on and too quickly, all to be abruptly taken care of in the end.
The characters in the book are strongly written and I did enjoy following things as it gets more complicated.
I will say the cover blurb is totally misleading, as just about all of it is addressed in the first few chapters of the book and then the real story emerges. Certainly not the worst misdirection I've ever gotten from a cover blurb, so no points lost for that for sure.
The characters in the book are strongly written and I did enjoy following things as it gets more complicated.
I will say the cover blurb is totally misleading, as just about all of it is addressed in the first few chapters of the book and then the real story emerges. Certainly not the worst misdirection I've ever gotten from a cover blurb, so no points lost for that for sure.
December 1, 2022
Wormhole by Keith Brooke and Eric Brown
Wormhole is detective story based on a murder investigation of 80 year old cold case of a scientist. It is a perfect blend of science fiction, politics and murder mystery. World building adds extra star to the story. Set in future, it is neither slow paced nor fast paced. It was perfectly balanced. Our main characters Kemp and Bellini were brilliant. Character development was so good.
There were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming however I think they added to story perfectly.
Wormhole is detective story based on a murder investigation of 80 year old cold case of a scientist. It is a perfect blend of science fiction, politics and murder mystery. World building adds extra star to the story. Set in future, it is neither slow paced nor fast paced. It was perfectly balanced. Our main characters Kemp and Bellini were brilliant. Character development was so good.
There were some twists and turns that I didn't see coming however I think they added to story perfectly.
January 23, 2023
The blurb for this book set almost 200 years in the future looked right up my alley as it combined a detective mystery with an outer space adventure. 80 years ago, a starship left earth for a distant solar system with all passengers in suspended animation and having just now arrived , they have opened a wormhole back to earth for almost instantaneous travel. But shortly after they left earth so long ago, it was discovered that one of the passengers was a murder suspect, so 80 years on, a detective is sent through that wormhole to the new world to bring the suspect to justice. But of course, not everything is as it seems.
Read
January 22, 2024Nope. Couldn’t get into it and swearing started right away.
October 19, 2025
3.5 stars
February 7, 2023
Wormhole is one of the most authentic sci-fi police procedurals out there. It’s a crime thriller — no doubt about it. But it also happens to be the story of first contact on an alien planet. And if that’s a combination that intrigues you, then strap in for a real treat.
I love detective stories. And I love sci-fi. Putting those two things together worked brilliantly for Mulder and Scully. But Wormhole comes across as more like Agatha Christie than The X Files. Think ‘Poirot in space,’ and you’ll get an idea of the vibe of this book. It’s an old-school murder-mystery that’ll appeal to fans of the more traditional breed of detective stories.
The mystery itself is compelling, playing out across worlds, and secrets are cleverly revealed in a neatly structured plot. The advanced technology of a far-future feels realistic, but also remains relatable, so it’s not beyond the reader to hazard guesses as to who might be behind a murder that happened eighty years ago, and how they might have done it. This version of a future-London feels real, and fifty lightyears away, the new world where the prime suspect arrives is otherworldly and wild enough to be truly alien.
Investigating the crime is a curmudgeonly detective who’d get on well with Inspector Morse as they swapped stories over a pint of ale. He’s weary, old-souled, and stuck in the cold-case department. His partner is abundantly capable, and she’s the perfect ying to his yang. She’s young, ambitious, driven. They make the perfect duo.
And the crime itself? The crux of the book is that a colony vessel emerges at a new world called Carrasco eighty years after it first set out from Earth. The scientists it transported are woken from stasis, but one of those scientists is believed to have murdered their husband before they departed. A wormhole is being created between Earth and this new, untouched planet. So a detective is tasked with travelling through the wormhole and bringing the scientist to justice. Although, not everything is as it seems. I mean, it wouldn’t make a very good mystery if there weren’t a few twists along the way, would it?
One of the book’s main strengths is how the plot weaves back and forth between the colony on Carrasco and London. The two settings complement each other, and keep things flowing nicely. The way events develop on the alien world surprised me, going much deeper than I expected. The first contact elements of the story are solid, and speculative in the best kinds of ways. The ugliness of greed, the duality of human nature, humanity’s relationship with actual nature, and the prejudice of assumption — all these themes get explored in surprising clarity, and that’s just for starters. This is so much more than a simple whodunnit. It’s more like a ‘who-are-we-if we’ve-dunnit,’ and it gives the reader much more to think about than just who the culprit might be.
Overall, this is a likeable, solid police drama that dips its toe in a speculative future before swimming deeper into alien waters. If you’re in the zone for a classic detective story, but you also want a decent dose of sci-fi, then a trip through this particular Wormhole is definitely worth taking.
I love detective stories. And I love sci-fi. Putting those two things together worked brilliantly for Mulder and Scully. But Wormhole comes across as more like Agatha Christie than The X Files. Think ‘Poirot in space,’ and you’ll get an idea of the vibe of this book. It’s an old-school murder-mystery that’ll appeal to fans of the more traditional breed of detective stories.
The mystery itself is compelling, playing out across worlds, and secrets are cleverly revealed in a neatly structured plot. The advanced technology of a far-future feels realistic, but also remains relatable, so it’s not beyond the reader to hazard guesses as to who might be behind a murder that happened eighty years ago, and how they might have done it. This version of a future-London feels real, and fifty lightyears away, the new world where the prime suspect arrives is otherworldly and wild enough to be truly alien.
Investigating the crime is a curmudgeonly detective who’d get on well with Inspector Morse as they swapped stories over a pint of ale. He’s weary, old-souled, and stuck in the cold-case department. His partner is abundantly capable, and she’s the perfect ying to his yang. She’s young, ambitious, driven. They make the perfect duo.
And the crime itself? The crux of the book is that a colony vessel emerges at a new world called Carrasco eighty years after it first set out from Earth. The scientists it transported are woken from stasis, but one of those scientists is believed to have murdered their husband before they departed. A wormhole is being created between Earth and this new, untouched planet. So a detective is tasked with travelling through the wormhole and bringing the scientist to justice. Although, not everything is as it seems. I mean, it wouldn’t make a very good mystery if there weren’t a few twists along the way, would it?
One of the book’s main strengths is how the plot weaves back and forth between the colony on Carrasco and London. The two settings complement each other, and keep things flowing nicely. The way events develop on the alien world surprised me, going much deeper than I expected. The first contact elements of the story are solid, and speculative in the best kinds of ways. The ugliness of greed, the duality of human nature, humanity’s relationship with actual nature, and the prejudice of assumption — all these themes get explored in surprising clarity, and that’s just for starters. This is so much more than a simple whodunnit. It’s more like a ‘who-are-we-if we’ve-dunnit,’ and it gives the reader much more to think about than just who the culprit might be.
Overall, this is a likeable, solid police drama that dips its toe in a speculative future before swimming deeper into alien waters. If you’re in the zone for a classic detective story, but you also want a decent dose of sci-fi, then a trip through this particular Wormhole is definitely worth taking.
June 12, 2025
Excellent. I hope for more adventures for this cast of characters.
June 24, 2023
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Book Review: Wormhole – Keith Brooke and Eric Brown
Brooke & Brown (2022)
Blurb
Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking, with much of the planet’s equatorial regions turned to lifeless desert and populations displaced. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than a scant population of hundreds of citizens. Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world. European scientists, using discoveries made at CERN, have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel first of all. A ship is sent to Mu Arae, earth-like planet discovered 10 years before. It is a journey that will take 80 years, the crew, who will eventually set up the wormhole on the planet, kept in suspended animation. But only a few years into the trip, catastrophe strikes and the ship blows up en route, killing all aboard. 2190, eighty years after the starship set out. Gordon Kemp is a detective working in the cold case department in London. Usually he works on cases closed ten, twenty-five years earlier. Now, however, he has been assigned a murder investigation closed, unsolved, over eighty years ago. What he unearths will change history and threatens everything we know about what the powers that be have planned for Earth. The tragedy that befell the ship 80 years before is not what it seems and the past and the present are radically different to what everyone on Earth believes. We made the journey. Why has it been kept a secret?
Angry Robot (n,d)
A Thankyou
I would just like to thank Angry Robot, for sending me a review copy of the book. You can order the book here: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor...
Ratings
This has a 3.85, but only 127 ratings. (Goodreads, n,d). A 4 out of 5 with 36 ratings, (Amazon, n,d). So this book has not been highly reviewed, hopefully here at R&R we can help with that.
Too many spinning plates
A lot happens in Wormhole. As the title says, there is a wormhole and like the blurb says, a cold case. But so much more happens. You’re pelted with things until you need an umbrella just to breathe. I’m seeing this in more books that I read, there are too many things going on. Why? What’s wrong with a Wormhole and a murder? Why does there have to be a conspiracy, a Chinese/conservative takeover of Britain, ecological disaster…. on and on it goes. I would have preferred if the book dealt with the wormhole and the murder AND then in other books address all the other ideas. I am not saying these ideas were bad, some were better than others, but those ideas could have been others books, other short stories, better stories. This felt jam packed with too much. If you just wanted a murder and a wormhole, that is not what this book is. It’s much more than that, with all these other things thrown in and if you like that, great, get the book ordered. I personally felt it was a shame.
These writers are not bad, I have never read any of their other work and if anybody would like to send R&R copies, please get in touch, but I was overwhelmed. A murder mystery should keep you interested, should have a great pace and you should never want to put the book down. The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, The Barbarous Coast, Ross Macdonald…. Wormhole lacked pace. You have no empathy for the suspect, or victims, because the whole premise is, it’s distant. I felt like the characters were stitched together tropes, even throwing things out there with Bellini, the female detective, just to make her the one which stays on Earth.
Two writers
I have read a lot. I like this quote from JK Rowling, ““If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” (Goodreads, n,d) It says reading is about your opinion, but also highlights the sheer volume of books out there. There is something for everyone. This book will be someone’s favourite book. But why do I bring this up? Ask yourself this, out of all the famous novels you have ever heard of, how many are written by two authors? You have Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, both legends in the field, you have the Strugatsky Brothers…..okay, who else? Well, I can’t tell you. After an online search, I did find plenty of books with two authors, but turn to your: bookshelf, ebook or book pile. Count how many of your books have two authors…How many did you find? You would surprise me if you counted more than 5. If you did count more than five, feel free to email R&R and we’ll send you some brownie points in spirit. Point is, all the classics and masterworks I know of, are not written by two people. Writing is hard enough as it is. Translating your imagination into words is a difficult process, and although there are innumerable people behind the scenes (editors, agents, writers groups, family, friends) one person sits behind a canvas and writes. When two people do it….there’s a reason why the phrase, “Too many chefs…” exists. So maybe this is a reason why so many tropes, ideas and themes were thrown into Wormhole, just like seasoning, ideas sprinkled into the soup one, after the other, until I was overwhelmed with content. If that sounds good to you, then this is the book for you. For me? I’m fine with a murder, or a wormhole. Both of them together, that’s fine also. But when you throw so much at me I’m drenched under ideas, that’s when I switched off. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t list every single thing that happens here, but just bear it in mind, it’s a lot. Please feel free to change my mind on co-written work. Pop us an email or leave a comment below if you want to send me your work. I would love it if you could change my mind. And if I ever find a good co-written book, you’ll be the first to know.
Would I Recommend?
R&R is all about relaxation. With Wormhole, I was more frustrated than relaxed. A great premise, great idea and the alien world? It was a good alien world. I hope these writers, or whichever took the lead on the alien world, writes more about other planets. But I just feel frustrated. Why could we not have the cold case/the wormhole/the alien world. Either in other books, or short stories. Too much went on in Wormhole, some of it good, bad, other parts were mediocre. Like this sign, it was overloaded. 127 reviews on Goodreads, 3.85, 36 reviews on amazon, 4. Here at R&R, if you want a good Science Fiction detective story, read The Demolished Man Alfred Bester.
References
Goodreads, (n,d). Wormhole. Accessed via: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
Amazon. Wormhole Kindle Edition. Accessed via: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wormhole-Eri...
Angry Robot. (n,d). Wormhole. Accessed via: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor...
Goodreads (n,d) Quote by J.K Rowling. Accessed via: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4835...
Book Review: Wormhole – Keith Brooke and Eric Brown
Brooke & Brown (2022)
Blurb
Earth is suffering major resource shortages, and the impact of climate change is peaking, with much of the planet’s equatorial regions turned to lifeless desert and populations displaced. Colonies have been established on Mars and the Moon, but these cannot hope to sustain any more than a scant population of hundreds of citizens. Attention has turned to the need to discover an extra-solar colony world. European scientists, using discoveries made at CERN, have identified the means of creating a wormhole in the space-time continuum, which would allow interstellar travel. However, to do so they must first physically transport one end of the wormhole to where they want it to be, so setting up a wormhole will always rely on physical travel first of all. A ship is sent to Mu Arae, earth-like planet discovered 10 years before. It is a journey that will take 80 years, the crew, who will eventually set up the wormhole on the planet, kept in suspended animation. But only a few years into the trip, catastrophe strikes and the ship blows up en route, killing all aboard. 2190, eighty years after the starship set out. Gordon Kemp is a detective working in the cold case department in London. Usually he works on cases closed ten, twenty-five years earlier. Now, however, he has been assigned a murder investigation closed, unsolved, over eighty years ago. What he unearths will change history and threatens everything we know about what the powers that be have planned for Earth. The tragedy that befell the ship 80 years before is not what it seems and the past and the present are radically different to what everyone on Earth believes. We made the journey. Why has it been kept a secret?
Angry Robot (n,d)
A Thankyou
I would just like to thank Angry Robot, for sending me a review copy of the book. You can order the book here: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor...
Ratings
This has a 3.85, but only 127 ratings. (Goodreads, n,d). A 4 out of 5 with 36 ratings, (Amazon, n,d). So this book has not been highly reviewed, hopefully here at R&R we can help with that.
Too many spinning plates
A lot happens in Wormhole. As the title says, there is a wormhole and like the blurb says, a cold case. But so much more happens. You’re pelted with things until you need an umbrella just to breathe. I’m seeing this in more books that I read, there are too many things going on. Why? What’s wrong with a Wormhole and a murder? Why does there have to be a conspiracy, a Chinese/conservative takeover of Britain, ecological disaster…. on and on it goes. I would have preferred if the book dealt with the wormhole and the murder AND then in other books address all the other ideas. I am not saying these ideas were bad, some were better than others, but those ideas could have been others books, other short stories, better stories. This felt jam packed with too much. If you just wanted a murder and a wormhole, that is not what this book is. It’s much more than that, with all these other things thrown in and if you like that, great, get the book ordered. I personally felt it was a shame.
These writers are not bad, I have never read any of their other work and if anybody would like to send R&R copies, please get in touch, but I was overwhelmed. A murder mystery should keep you interested, should have a great pace and you should never want to put the book down. The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler, The Barbarous Coast, Ross Macdonald…. Wormhole lacked pace. You have no empathy for the suspect, or victims, because the whole premise is, it’s distant. I felt like the characters were stitched together tropes, even throwing things out there with Bellini, the female detective, just to make her the one which stays on Earth.
Two writers
I have read a lot. I like this quote from JK Rowling, ““If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” (Goodreads, n,d) It says reading is about your opinion, but also highlights the sheer volume of books out there. There is something for everyone. This book will be someone’s favourite book. But why do I bring this up? Ask yourself this, out of all the famous novels you have ever heard of, how many are written by two authors? You have Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, both legends in the field, you have the Strugatsky Brothers…..okay, who else? Well, I can’t tell you. After an online search, I did find plenty of books with two authors, but turn to your: bookshelf, ebook or book pile. Count how many of your books have two authors…How many did you find? You would surprise me if you counted more than 5. If you did count more than five, feel free to email R&R and we’ll send you some brownie points in spirit. Point is, all the classics and masterworks I know of, are not written by two people. Writing is hard enough as it is. Translating your imagination into words is a difficult process, and although there are innumerable people behind the scenes (editors, agents, writers groups, family, friends) one person sits behind a canvas and writes. When two people do it….there’s a reason why the phrase, “Too many chefs…” exists. So maybe this is a reason why so many tropes, ideas and themes were thrown into Wormhole, just like seasoning, ideas sprinkled into the soup one, after the other, until I was overwhelmed with content. If that sounds good to you, then this is the book for you. For me? I’m fine with a murder, or a wormhole. Both of them together, that’s fine also. But when you throw so much at me I’m drenched under ideas, that’s when I switched off. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t list every single thing that happens here, but just bear it in mind, it’s a lot. Please feel free to change my mind on co-written work. Pop us an email or leave a comment below if you want to send me your work. I would love it if you could change my mind. And if I ever find a good co-written book, you’ll be the first to know.
Would I Recommend?
R&R is all about relaxation. With Wormhole, I was more frustrated than relaxed. A great premise, great idea and the alien world? It was a good alien world. I hope these writers, or whichever took the lead on the alien world, writes more about other planets. But I just feel frustrated. Why could we not have the cold case/the wormhole/the alien world. Either in other books, or short stories. Too much went on in Wormhole, some of it good, bad, other parts were mediocre. Like this sign, it was overloaded. 127 reviews on Goodreads, 3.85, 36 reviews on amazon, 4. Here at R&R, if you want a good Science Fiction detective story, read The Demolished Man Alfred Bester.
References
Goodreads, (n,d). Wormhole. Accessed via: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
Amazon. Wormhole Kindle Edition. Accessed via: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wormhole-Eri...
Angry Robot. (n,d). Wormhole. Accessed via: https://angryrobotbooks.com/books/wor...
Goodreads (n,d) Quote by J.K Rowling. Accessed via: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/4835...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2022
In 2190, Gordon Kemp is a world-weary, dead-end London inspector stuck working cold cases. His latest case is the murder of an eminent research scientist from eighty years ago, whose top suspect fled on a spaceship that everyone believes exploded in space. Instead, that spaceship has just landed safely on Carrasco, the first extra-solar planet to be explored by mankind, and the suspect Rima Cagnac is alive and well. Kemp’s orders are to travel through a wormhole that connects their two worlds and arrest her, but everything about this clandestine case portends an interstellar storm with far-reaching consequences.
The methodical pacing slowly amps up the suspense in this compelling genre blend of hard science fiction and murder mystery. The wonder of discovery is paired with the horrors of greed, corruption, war crimes, invasion, and climate change. Kemp teams up with a diverse and relatable cast of characters, who struggle with feelings of being obsolete and trapped as they’re immersed in a mess of major cover-ups. The creepier aspects will appeal to fans of Jeff VanderMeer, and the innovative aspects are perfect for fans of Peter F. Hamilton.
(This review was originally written for Library Journal magazine.)
The methodical pacing slowly amps up the suspense in this compelling genre blend of hard science fiction and murder mystery. The wonder of discovery is paired with the horrors of greed, corruption, war crimes, invasion, and climate change. Kemp teams up with a diverse and relatable cast of characters, who struggle with feelings of being obsolete and trapped as they’re immersed in a mess of major cover-ups. The creepier aspects will appeal to fans of Jeff VanderMeer, and the innovative aspects are perfect for fans of Peter F. Hamilton.
(This review was originally written for Library Journal magazine.)
April 24, 2023
Like other commenters, I was taken with the premise of a murder mystery set in the future with a plot based on hard science fiction, i.e. interstellar travel. I was also lulled by the relatively good reviews with an average approaching 4 stars. Unfortunately, I found the actual execution of the hybrid whodunit to be quite disappointing. The story started out reasonably well, but the many plot contrivances and pedestrian dialogue soon began to wear. I recognize that much fiction requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, and especially so for science fiction. But Wormhole is just riddled with geopolitical and technical features that may propel the plot to its predetermined outcome, but for me this was a "wormhole too far".
Stop reading here if you intend to read the book, lest you learn some details that may detract from your enjoyment. First off, the notion of a conspiracy involving wormholes and cryogenic suspension that plays out over a period of 80 years and is not detected by anyone is hard to swallow, especially considering the political intrigues between an ascendent China and a morbid Europe that are alluded to in the setup. As readers are all familiar with the incredible rate of technological advance that our world has experienced in the roughly 80 years since the end of WW II, the technological premise that this story relies on is inherently ridiculous. On a more micro level, the reader is asked to imagine that a starship crew could be thrown together so haphazardly to include members who disregard contamination protocols on another planet. The characters just didn't feel like they belonged where they were. I did consider quitting halfway thru, but decided to finish it, only to come to what felt like a very hurried conclusion that was not only implausible, but cheesy and kind of sappy in a happily ever after kind of way. Clearly I am in the minority among readers, given a sampling of the other mostly 4 and 5 star reviews.
Stop reading here if you intend to read the book, lest you learn some details that may detract from your enjoyment. First off, the notion of a conspiracy involving wormholes and cryogenic suspension that plays out over a period of 80 years and is not detected by anyone is hard to swallow, especially considering the political intrigues between an ascendent China and a morbid Europe that are alluded to in the setup. As readers are all familiar with the incredible rate of technological advance that our world has experienced in the roughly 80 years since the end of WW II, the technological premise that this story relies on is inherently ridiculous. On a more micro level, the reader is asked to imagine that a starship crew could be thrown together so haphazardly to include members who disregard contamination protocols on another planet. The characters just didn't feel like they belonged where they were. I did consider quitting halfway thru, but decided to finish it, only to come to what felt like a very hurried conclusion that was not only implausible, but cheesy and kind of sappy in a happily ever after kind of way. Clearly I am in the minority among readers, given a sampling of the other mostly 4 and 5 star reviews.
November 1, 2022
This book was an amazing mixture of sci-fi and mystery with a side of law and order. I am always impressed when 2 authors are able to make a story together but in this story they made it so smooth and you couldn't tell there were 2 voices. The character and world building are very well done and kept me from putting this book down. Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. 5 out of 5 stars.
December 16, 2023
Pedestrian writing, predictable narrative. This noirish sci-fi detective mystery is short on mystery, character development and originality. In sci-fi, a fascinating concept and rich world can sometimes make up for less than stellar writing – that is not the case with this tale of a new world colony linked to a ravaged earth by a wormhole and an 80-year old unsolved murder. It is a disappointingly bland meal, baked with reused ingredients.
September 12, 2022
I was hoping for something a bit like Peter F Hamilton’s Great North Road, but it didn’t quite do the trick for me. It isn’t bad as such, but it mixes too many ideas and doesn’t really follow through on anything. The twists are pretty easy to guess, and too many things are solved by the crafty hacker, just because. 2.5 stars
January 24, 2023
Interesting premiss, and promising development. But the resolution and end are disappointingly simplistic and jejune. I really regret having wasted my time, and will unfollow the Goodreads member whose inexplicable enthusiasm led me to this YA book.
December 4, 2022
Great concept- cold-case detective thriller meets first-contact sci-fi but I found the writing to be pretty plodding and pedestrian which got in the way of some great but not fully-formed ideas
September 27, 2022
Wormhole is mainly set in 2190. Eighty years earlier, a spaceship was launched to a planet 50 light-years away called Carrasco, orbiting the star Mu Arae. On board are crew members, put in suspended animation until they arrive. The ship also secretly carries new technology to create “the other end” of a wormhole which will allow future journeys between Earth and Carrasco to be completed in the blink of an eye. But a few years after its launch, the ship explodes. Eighty years later Inspector Gordon Kemp is assigned to a cold case related to it. It turns out that the explosion was staged and that the ship recently arrived at Carrasco in good condition. However, on board is Rima Cagnac, widow of Sebastian White, murdered eighty years ago, and she is the prime suspect. Kemp will be sent through the wormhole to Carrasco to arrest her. His partner Danni Bellini is staying on Earth to further investigate the matter there. Together they discover a different truth.
Although the story is set in the future, the atmosphere of classic whodunits seeps through right away. Kemp’s attitude and his job as a cold-case investigator remind readers of that slightly melancholic and penniless Humphrey Bogart style private detective who lives in a dusty office. Kemp isn't completely the same type of character, but it probably gets as close as is possible at the end of the 22nd century. His partner Bellini takes on the role of an ambitious young lady who keeps Kemp with one foot in the modern world. This results in a novel that starts quietly and that steadily builds on a solid foundation without really spectacular things happening.
After about one third, the story splits into two parts, with Bellini on Earth continuing to dig into the case through old-fashioned detective work, aided by whizzkid Martin who can hack just about anything that is hackable. Kemp starts his research on Carrasco, and we get to see some of the alien Carrascan environment through the eyes of Rima. The story doesn’t contain anything that is really new in science fiction. It’s of good old fashioned quality and evolves towards a whodunit and whydunit in one, with much focus on unravelling the plot, and with characters being secondary to this. As a consequence, they are not developed too deeply. Character background information is often presented almost as a side note and further ignored. Nothing suggests this is going to be more than a standalone. Nevertheless there is potential to make Kemp and Bellini recurring characters. Some things about the main characters that were not worked out are interesting enough to elaborate on. There were also several story backgrounds that were started but never further explored.
Page after page Wormhole increasingly turns into a pleasant and decent space detective that is easy to follow and that culminates in an original and attractive denouement. It will not change the future of scrience fiction, but it's simply fun to read. I wouldn’t mind seeing this turned into a series with a few more novels.
Although the story is set in the future, the atmosphere of classic whodunits seeps through right away. Kemp’s attitude and his job as a cold-case investigator remind readers of that slightly melancholic and penniless Humphrey Bogart style private detective who lives in a dusty office. Kemp isn't completely the same type of character, but it probably gets as close as is possible at the end of the 22nd century. His partner Bellini takes on the role of an ambitious young lady who keeps Kemp with one foot in the modern world. This results in a novel that starts quietly and that steadily builds on a solid foundation without really spectacular things happening.
After about one third, the story splits into two parts, with Bellini on Earth continuing to dig into the case through old-fashioned detective work, aided by whizzkid Martin who can hack just about anything that is hackable. Kemp starts his research on Carrasco, and we get to see some of the alien Carrascan environment through the eyes of Rima. The story doesn’t contain anything that is really new in science fiction. It’s of good old fashioned quality and evolves towards a whodunit and whydunit in one, with much focus on unravelling the plot, and with characters being secondary to this. As a consequence, they are not developed too deeply. Character background information is often presented almost as a side note and further ignored. Nothing suggests this is going to be more than a standalone. Nevertheless there is potential to make Kemp and Bellini recurring characters. Some things about the main characters that were not worked out are interesting enough to elaborate on. There were also several story backgrounds that were started but never further explored.
Page after page Wormhole increasingly turns into a pleasant and decent space detective that is easy to follow and that culminates in an original and attractive denouement. It will not change the future of scrience fiction, but it's simply fun to read. I wouldn’t mind seeing this turned into a series with a few more novels.
January 25, 2023
Brooke and Brown have usually collaborated only on shorter pieces but this novel shows their partnership also works at longer length. It is an unusual amalgamation of the detective story and the SF trope of first contact in that the police officer, Gordon Kemp, (passed over and relegated to cold case files) travels to another planet, Mu Arae II, to help solve a case.
It is the late 2100s. Eight decades ago the Strasbourg set off to travel to Mu Arae using suspended animation technology to keep its crew alive till it got there. Widely thought to have been destroyed by an explosion shortly after the voyage began, Kemp discovers that the ship is still on course and due for imminent landfall when he is called in to investigate the death of suspended animation technology entrepreneur Sebastian White just before the Strasbourg’s launch. “‘That’s not a cold case. That’s an archaeological dig.’” White’s wife, Rima Cagnac, was suspected but had an alibi. As a prominent scientist she was on the Strasbourg’s crew. Now the quantum lattice, wormhole technology carried on board, will allow instant travel to Mu Arae and Kemp is designated for the job of bringing Cagnac back to Earth. (One of the things the reader has to take on trust here is that its developers would have been able to keep the wormhole technology’s existence secret for 80 years.) Before Kemp goes, his superiors require him to have an update to his imp - an implant that allows access to the net but may also give his bosses control over him. He has a tame tech whizz called Martin give it the once-over. Martin finds anomalies and supplies Kemp with a device to override it. Chekhov’s gun comes to mind.
The narrative viewpoints switch between Kemp, his associate, Danni Bellini, looking into the case’s background on Earth, and Cagnac, as the Strasbourg arrives in the Mu Arae system and the expedition begins to explore Carrasco, Mu Arae II. Tension builds up with the revelation that the Strasbourg contains six extra sleep pods for the wormhole technicians, the necessity for maintaining bio-hazard protocols, the eventual emergence of cloud fever and deaths due to exposure to pathogens in Carrasco’s atmosphere, the appearance through the wormhole of a goon squad under the control of a Major Gellner and hints of first contact. Connections are established between the murderer and the ruthless conduct of those who want to exploit Carrasco at any cost.
In this sort of scenario there is the danger of the author(s) falling between two stools. Brooke and Brown have managed to avoid that particular hazard. There is enough here to satisfy both the SF reader and the crime aficionado. And it is very neatly done. It helps that human nature does not change over time.
It is the late 2100s. Eight decades ago the Strasbourg set off to travel to Mu Arae using suspended animation technology to keep its crew alive till it got there. Widely thought to have been destroyed by an explosion shortly after the voyage began, Kemp discovers that the ship is still on course and due for imminent landfall when he is called in to investigate the death of suspended animation technology entrepreneur Sebastian White just before the Strasbourg’s launch. “‘That’s not a cold case. That’s an archaeological dig.’” White’s wife, Rima Cagnac, was suspected but had an alibi. As a prominent scientist she was on the Strasbourg’s crew. Now the quantum lattice, wormhole technology carried on board, will allow instant travel to Mu Arae and Kemp is designated for the job of bringing Cagnac back to Earth. (One of the things the reader has to take on trust here is that its developers would have been able to keep the wormhole technology’s existence secret for 80 years.) Before Kemp goes, his superiors require him to have an update to his imp - an implant that allows access to the net but may also give his bosses control over him. He has a tame tech whizz called Martin give it the once-over. Martin finds anomalies and supplies Kemp with a device to override it. Chekhov’s gun comes to mind.
The narrative viewpoints switch between Kemp, his associate, Danni Bellini, looking into the case’s background on Earth, and Cagnac, as the Strasbourg arrives in the Mu Arae system and the expedition begins to explore Carrasco, Mu Arae II. Tension builds up with the revelation that the Strasbourg contains six extra sleep pods for the wormhole technicians, the necessity for maintaining bio-hazard protocols, the eventual emergence of cloud fever and deaths due to exposure to pathogens in Carrasco’s atmosphere, the appearance through the wormhole of a goon squad under the control of a Major Gellner and hints of first contact. Connections are established between the murderer and the ruthless conduct of those who want to exploit Carrasco at any cost.
In this sort of scenario there is the danger of the author(s) falling between two stools. Brooke and Brown have managed to avoid that particular hazard. There is enough here to satisfy both the SF reader and the crime aficionado. And it is very neatly done. It helps that human nature does not change over time.
October 12, 2022
[Blurb goes here]
In the year 2190, a down on his luck detective is working in what other policemen refer to as 'The Morgue,' the Cold Case division of the department. His job: to try and bring some semblance of justice to murder victim's families.
While he's working on a case, Gordon Kemp, and his partner Danni Bellini, are called upon to solve an eighty year old murder, new evidence points to the victim's wife: Rima Cagnac. There's a catch, though. Rima left for another planet eighty years ago, aboard the Strasbourg. A ship headed for the planet Carrasco, a supposedly habitable planet discovered only ten years before launch, orbiting the Mu Arae star.
Why is this unsolved case so important? After all, according to the official report, the Strasbourg exploded before leaving the solar system...the need to solve it, lost on the two detectives.
After learning that the ship never blew up, and that it has tech that could transport humans to Carrasco in an instant, detectives Kemp and Bellini, suspect fowl play. There's something else going on. Kemp is forced to go to the far away planet to arrest the suspect, he can't help but think he's nothing more than an escape goat, for a far more larger ploy.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much from the story, but since Sci Fi is something I really enjoy, I gave it a try. At first, it seemed to be a who-done-it thriller with extra steps.
I was completely wrong.
This is a fast paced adventure that will take you to another planet, while a decades old conspiracy unfolds.
The characters are well thought out, and for the most part, feel "real". Except for the few that don't. IMHO the antagonists should've received the same treatment as the main characters did, it didn't happen. These are thrown into the mix as one-dimensional bad guys. I was truly interested in "hearing" their back stories, instead, broad strokes described them, and described their sinister plans.
As for the story, I really enjoyed it, Gordon Kemp is someone you'll root for, beginning to end. He, Danni and a couple of their friends (a lawyer and a hacker), are wonderfully written. As for the Carrasco characters, two of them stood out, but not by much. Whatever it is that they come against, isn't as interesting as everything that's going on with Danni and Kemp.
The tech portrayed is from 2190, but somehow it felt less advanced. Not that any of us will learn what awaits in that far away year. Even the fauna at Carrasco felt a bit under-developed.
Let me be clear, the misgivings I have with 'Wormhole', are but tiny specs of dust in a much larger and richer story. I truly recommend this read, not only to sci-fi fans, but to mystery thriller fans as well. Over all, a fantastic adventure.
Thank you for the advanced copy!
In the year 2190, a down on his luck detective is working in what other policemen refer to as 'The Morgue,' the Cold Case division of the department. His job: to try and bring some semblance of justice to murder victim's families.
While he's working on a case, Gordon Kemp, and his partner Danni Bellini, are called upon to solve an eighty year old murder, new evidence points to the victim's wife: Rima Cagnac. There's a catch, though. Rima left for another planet eighty years ago, aboard the Strasbourg. A ship headed for the planet Carrasco, a supposedly habitable planet discovered only ten years before launch, orbiting the Mu Arae star.
Why is this unsolved case so important? After all, according to the official report, the Strasbourg exploded before leaving the solar system...the need to solve it, lost on the two detectives.
After learning that the ship never blew up, and that it has tech that could transport humans to Carrasco in an instant, detectives Kemp and Bellini, suspect fowl play. There's something else going on. Kemp is forced to go to the far away planet to arrest the suspect, he can't help but think he's nothing more than an escape goat, for a far more larger ploy.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much from the story, but since Sci Fi is something I really enjoy, I gave it a try. At first, it seemed to be a who-done-it thriller with extra steps.
I was completely wrong.
This is a fast paced adventure that will take you to another planet, while a decades old conspiracy unfolds.
The characters are well thought out, and for the most part, feel "real". Except for the few that don't. IMHO the antagonists should've received the same treatment as the main characters did, it didn't happen. These are thrown into the mix as one-dimensional bad guys. I was truly interested in "hearing" their back stories, instead, broad strokes described them, and described their sinister plans.
As for the story, I really enjoyed it, Gordon Kemp is someone you'll root for, beginning to end. He, Danni and a couple of their friends (a lawyer and a hacker), are wonderfully written. As for the Carrasco characters, two of them stood out, but not by much. Whatever it is that they come against, isn't as interesting as everything that's going on with Danni and Kemp.
The tech portrayed is from 2190, but somehow it felt less advanced. Not that any of us will learn what awaits in that far away year. Even the fauna at Carrasco felt a bit under-developed.
Let me be clear, the misgivings I have with 'Wormhole', are but tiny specs of dust in a much larger and richer story. I truly recommend this read, not only to sci-fi fans, but to mystery thriller fans as well. Over all, a fantastic adventure.
Thank you for the advanced copy!
October 19, 2022
Wormhole is a detective story set in the context of man’s first venture outside our solar system. It’s a clever pairing of the intrigue of a murder mystery with the fascination of exploring a distant planet.
In the year 2194, Detectives Gordon Kemp and Danni Bellini are trying to solve cold cases in London. When they’re given an 80-year-old case, they find that the chief suspect is still alive, having been aboard a spaceship headed to a planet 50 light years distant, with its passengers cryogenically suspended. It turns out that the spaceship arrived and secretly stowed on board was a “quantum matrix,” which allowed a wormhole to be established between the distant planet and earth, so Kemp can travel to the planet instantaneously to track down his suspect, the dead man’s wife, a doctor.
We are treated with an interesting description of the new planet and the discovery that it is inhabited by sentient creatures and has an atmosphere that is deadly to those exposed to it without a biohazard suit. But the real story involves Danni, still on Earth and working with a lawyer-friend of Kemp’s and Kemp piecing information together on the new planet, to find that the whole trip to the planet was part of a plot by the real killer of the man 80 years previously. The story bounces back and forth between Danni’s investigation on Earth, Kemp’s adventures on the new planet, and the doctor’s experiences with the aliens who live there. It’s an exciting mystery, and I won’t give away its solution or too much of the details. In will say that the combination of learning about the unusual nature of the new planet and its inhabitants while trying to solve the murder mystery makes for an exciting story. The characters are well developed and likable, the mystery is suitably hard to unravel, and all, and there’s just enough strangeness and scientific speculation to make it real science fiction.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this book freely available to me to review.
In the year 2194, Detectives Gordon Kemp and Danni Bellini are trying to solve cold cases in London. When they’re given an 80-year-old case, they find that the chief suspect is still alive, having been aboard a spaceship headed to a planet 50 light years distant, with its passengers cryogenically suspended. It turns out that the spaceship arrived and secretly stowed on board was a “quantum matrix,” which allowed a wormhole to be established between the distant planet and earth, so Kemp can travel to the planet instantaneously to track down his suspect, the dead man’s wife, a doctor.
We are treated with an interesting description of the new planet and the discovery that it is inhabited by sentient creatures and has an atmosphere that is deadly to those exposed to it without a biohazard suit. But the real story involves Danni, still on Earth and working with a lawyer-friend of Kemp’s and Kemp piecing information together on the new planet, to find that the whole trip to the planet was part of a plot by the real killer of the man 80 years previously. The story bounces back and forth between Danni’s investigation on Earth, Kemp’s adventures on the new planet, and the doctor’s experiences with the aliens who live there. It’s an exciting mystery, and I won’t give away its solution or too much of the details. In will say that the combination of learning about the unusual nature of the new planet and its inhabitants while trying to solve the murder mystery makes for an exciting story. The characters are well developed and likable, the mystery is suitably hard to unravel, and all, and there’s just enough strangeness and scientific speculation to make it real science fiction.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this book freely available to me to review.
February 21, 2023
Another one of those reading coincidences - the last book I read, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words, was a Science Fiction Mystery involving aliens, and so is this one. They just coincidently came in to the library at the same time.
This one is even more convoluted, with first contact, corporate shenanigans, rich people weirdness, and political cover-ups, all down to a demoted London cop and his partner unraveling an 80-year-old cold case.
While DonAYSNW has some unique and fresh ideas, this one feels better-constructed. I liked this story a lot, and it doesn’t hurt that one of the main characters, our dogged cop, is basically the same age I am, in his late fifties. (And honestly, it’s weird for me to type that.)
At first I thought this would follow the trope of other noir or police procedurals, but Brown quickly moves on to other POVs as necessary, which expands the scope of the story. We get to see events from multiple perspectives, and he’s able to hide clues in between the shifting viewpoints. Like Drunk, there were a couple times where the answer was blindingly obvious, but it sticks out less here due to the circumstances the characters find themselves in. Plus it shifts scenes so quickly that you can tell it will only be a matter of time before someone figures it out, even if the original person missed the clue. So that works.
But quite good all things considered. I think we have enough evidence now to prove old John W. Campbell wrong when he said Science Fiction Mystery was impossible to pull off because authors needed to impart too much information to readers. Too bad he never got to see all these solid stories.
This one is even more convoluted, with first contact, corporate shenanigans, rich people weirdness, and political cover-ups, all down to a demoted London cop and his partner unraveling an 80-year-old cold case.
While DonAYSNW has some unique and fresh ideas, this one feels better-constructed. I liked this story a lot, and it doesn’t hurt that one of the main characters, our dogged cop, is basically the same age I am, in his late fifties. (And honestly, it’s weird for me to type that.)
At first I thought this would follow the trope of other noir or police procedurals, but Brown quickly moves on to other POVs as necessary, which expands the scope of the story. We get to see events from multiple perspectives, and he’s able to hide clues in between the shifting viewpoints. Like Drunk, there were a couple times where the answer was blindingly obvious, but it sticks out less here due to the circumstances the characters find themselves in. Plus it shifts scenes so quickly that you can tell it will only be a matter of time before someone figures it out, even if the original person missed the clue. So that works.
But quite good all things considered. I think we have enough evidence now to prove old John W. Campbell wrong when he said Science Fiction Mystery was impossible to pull off because authors needed to impart too much information to readers. Too bad he never got to see all these solid stories.
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