2.5 stars

Set in the year 2098, the main character Lowry Walker takes a position on the International Space Station to collect data on Antarctica after having been exposed due to global warming causing the Melt. The allegory for the story in a plausible "what it" imagining is clear; however, I do think that the book suffers from trying to tackle too much and not having a clear vision.

I was hooked on the book with the first pages: the writing is strong and the way the story initially unfolds piqued my interest. Unfortunately for me the strong start was short lived, and once I got to Lowry's time on the space station I was bored with the main character's adaptation to life on the ISS. Much of the plot and character interactions seems to revolve around relationships with men, or the lack thereof, and it falls a bit flat. There are also random flashbacks to the past which are probably there for character development but served no real purpose but to disengage me from the story. After the first 15% or so of the book when the main plot point occurs it did become interesting again, but the switching between character viewpoints and at times abruptly switching to the past was jarring and difficult to follow and didn't do much justice to the story.

This book had so much promise, but its argument/thesis is lost in the minutiae. I was sucked in early on but lost interest quickly. Some of the initial flashbacks to the Melt were very heavy handed and reads strongly of anti-global warming. The book suffers from not knowing its main objective or plot point as it is at times all over the place.

As a personal pet peeve, it is Colombia... not Columbia. And the book vacillates between the two spellings interchangeably.

Thank you NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Lowry Walker takes a graduate position on the new International Space Station. Her project involves gathering Landsat data over Antarctica. One day, while working on her project, the ISS becomes the target of a terrorist attack... and Lowry is the only witness. Unfortunately for Lowry, she is drawn into a political nightmare with the corrupt government of Amerada (the merged USA and Canada).

I was really excited to read this book. I love a good thriller, and my background is in environmental science (bonus, I used Landsat data in my master's thesis). So, it sounded like something right up my alley. Sadly, I did not love this novel.

I liked Lowry, but she seemed more naive than she should have been based on her past. She made some decisions that didn't seem likely from a strong, smart woman. Maybe it was supposed to show she had weaknesses, especially since she's coming off a recent divorce.

I was interested in the science, but that wasn't really a main point in the book. I was a little confused on what happened with the melting ice caps and population migration. The political climate of Amerada seemed toxic, but it also wasn't explained very well.

I did enjoy some parts of the novel, but I had a hard time getting into this one. It took me much longer to finish than books normally take me. Partly because I haven't been reading as much lately, but also because it didn't hold my interest. Maybe too much was going on, or character development was poor, but by the end of the book I was confused and thinking I must have missed something.

Lowrey is sent out to the international space station to research and study the global warming of the ice pack on Earth. While she is there a terrorist attack from afar occurs or is someone on the space station itself guilty? Just seemed a little to unrealistic even though I know it's fiction.

A very interesting and unique book which takes you on a journey you hadn't thought much about.