not really horror at all but kinda interesting anyway. the drama is definitely there but at points it feels a hair repetitive. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

4 ⭐️ I really enjoyed this science fiction, historical fiction thriller. Told from alternating timelines of 1962 and 2025, it really kept me engaged and guessing til the end.

Set during the Cold War In 1962 scientist Martin Hazelton has developed an interesting way to make things disappear and reappear a bit in the future. involving graphite, clouds and a little help from a radioactive watch, he alone knows the secret. A plan emerges to try with a nuclear armed B-52. What a great weapon!

In 2025 mysterious calls go out from mothers urging all pilots not to fly, grounding all air traffic. Teens Charlie and Lawrence, are accidentally swept up in the midst of a secret government operation.

The story is interesting with great characters, fast paced, and full of historical information. I was caught up in the time travel story and the secret government plot that spanned decades. The ending is perfect, putting all the pieces together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bessler Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

A well written historical horror with a whole lot of thrills and chills. The twists were so well done as was this creepening dread throughout the story. This was mysterious in the best way possible and had my mind spinning with all the theories I was coming up with it while reading it. It was a little slow in the beginning but it quickly redeemed itself and caught my attention in a vise grip.

"Horror meets coming-of-age in this thrilling novel in which forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance, from a writer Stephen King has called "a master."

On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: do not fly today.

There are a few concerning elements to the calls. None of the mothers remember making them - and some of the mothers are dead.

While the nation's military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a sixteen-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home - a place she loathes. Her father's dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster, and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn.

She's about to get much more than that.

Her new home is ground zero for a story that begins at a remote naval base in Indiana during the winter of 1962, when a physicist named Martin Hazelton discovered something extraordinary - and deadly. All Hazelton wanted was time to seek an explanation, but pressure from both American and Russian actors forced him into a perilous race.

Moving between the two characters and timelines, Scott Carson deftly weaves Cold War espionage with contemporary terror in a story that explains why #1 New York Times bestseller Joe Hill has declared himself "a fan for life.""

The real mystery is all these pilots actually listening to their mothers.

A Compelling Read! Perfect for fans of Alma Katsu’s The Hunger and The Deep

I love a good story that blends just enough truth with fiction to create an alternative reality that is almost believable. Scott Carson does this masterfully in his next release, Departure 37.

There are three primary points of view in this novel. The first is Charlie, a young girl living an isolated life with her dad on the present day coast of Maine. Charlie is a foul-mouthed, take charge teen whose arc is truly a coming of age story where nothing seems to make sense or have a rational explanation.

Marty is a troubled scientist who discovers a scientific breakthrough while working on the coast of Maine in 1962, that not even he understands. He is loveable, and in some ways naive to the way the world works and uses for his discovery that the powerful had in mind. His arc is one of redemption.

The third pov is the deep state, whether it is in 1962 as they are trying to replicate Marty’s discovery for nefarious purposes, or in the present day as they slowly realize that Marty succeeded and now they are trying to control the fallout.

Scott does a great job of creating three dimensional characters that the reader cares about, and placing them in a fictitious but wholly believable setting where the fate of the world truly hangs in the balance.

A great read. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review. Releases August 5, 2025.

Although I have always been a big fan of Scott Carson, I had mixed feelings about Departure 37. Indeed, there were many passages where the suspense and mystery kept me at the edge of my seat; while, at other times, I felt that the scientific aspect was not only bit overhanded and cumbersome to plow through, but it was a distraction from a fascinating storyline. In any event, the novel starts out with bang, as airline pilots around the country receive a phone call that is seemingly from their mothers (both living and dead) pleading with them not to fly the next day. From that point, the story splits off into two distinct, but connected, timelines: 1962 and 2025. While even the most novice of mystery/thriller readers might have guessed the direction that Carson planned to take with these two time periods (*no spoilers), a good part of the fun was seeing how this masterful writer would smoothly pull things off. Although the central characters from both time periods were quite diverse, I found all of them very believable; ranging from the spunky 16-year old girl in the 21st century, to the brilliant and socially awkward scientist of 1962.

Despite being tagged as a “horror” novel, I found nothing in the book that would remotely fall under that genre. Instead, the book would definitely appeal to those readers who are drawn to mystery, suspense, and historical fiction. For that matter, I enjoyed the ongoing 20th century references to the Vonnegut brothers (i.e, Bernard and Kurt…one of them a scientist and the other a novelist), as well as the questions that were raised concerning the mysterious disappearance of Flight 19. In this regard, the final chapters of the book reminded me a great deal of “Fail Safe,” a novel that explored the frightening possibility of global destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

All in all, while I enjoyed most of Departure 37, there were times that I felt the story was overburdened with too much scientific information. While I would have rated this novel about a 3.7 out of 5-stars, I have rounded upward to a 4-star rating. Many thanks to Net Galley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I went into Departure 37 totally blind. I didn’t know what the book was about and didn’t really care. I just wanted to read something by Scott Carson, and NetGalley made it possible for me to read a digital ARC before release day of his newest novel.

I’ve now preordered a signed hardcover copy from Scott Carson’s website https://www.michaelkoryta.com/

I enjoyed this book immensely. It’s a storytelling story that I’m very familiar with from one of my favorites, F. Paul Wilson. In the 80s, FPW would often begin telling two seeingly unrelated stories, going back and forth between the two, and slowly revealing that the stories are not only related, but intertwined. He usually had the stories collide in a very rewarding revealing way. That’s what Scott Carson (aka Michael Koryta) did here.

The book starts with a variety of people in the aviation industry getting a middle of the night call from their mothers telling them “do not fly today”. Some of these mothers have already passed away.

That part of the story is an interesting hook, but the explanation comes pretty quickly in MOST cases. It is pivotal to the story, but there is so much more.

It’s a tale of many characters, but none more important than Marty in 1962 and Charlie in 2025.

Marty is a scientist working for the US government during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His job is to figure out a way to shield B52s from EMP caused by nuclear bomb explosions. He stumbles into something amazing that the entire story ultimately centers upon.

We have several reveals about Marty as his leg of the story progresses. The last sentence of the book is a jaw-dropper.

Charlie is a 17 year old lady that makes online videos mostly about a place called Ash Point, ME. There is a notorious abandoned air strip there where her grandfather famously crashed a B52 and died.

She finds a weather balloon there containing a mysterious item and at the same time, all of the electronic equipment stops working.

I won’t go farther into the plot, but it’s historical fiction with science and horror elements throughout. It is steeped with military and war themes, but really shows the human side. It is also coming of age, as a 17 year old lady in 2025 has to…

Never-mind. It is a great book. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’ve preordered a signed copy and I’ve got another Scott Carson book on the shelf to read, too.

You can see my video review for Departure 37 here.
Departure 37 Scott Carson Book Review Michael Koryta Cuban Missile Crisis Historical Science Fiction
https://youtu.be/d3dEfLE9cPU

4.25/5 rounded up!

This was such an interesting read. The concept of vanishing planes and bringing them back at different times is FREAKY in general, but for a B52? Hella scary. This had me on edge numerous times and truly despising the government cast in the 2025 setting. But I loved Charlie and her need to get answers to every question she had. I love a character who questions everything and takes nothing at face value.
I enjoyed the dual timelines and how they led us to the ending. I also REALLY LOVED the ambiguous ending. This feels like something everyone’s dad would love to read 😂 but I’d recommend it to everyone! Thank you S&S for my arc!

Scott Carson is an auto buy author for me so I was super excited to be able to read this one ahead of publication. And it didn’t disappoint! While it may not be what I consider his best or one that I connected with setting and character wise as much as his other books, it definitely was decent and super intriguing. I will say I don’t think his books are horror really but more thrillers but I love it even still. Definitely worth a read and I will continue to read his work.

Scott Carson delivers yet another well researched, non-stop thriller this time using AI and the possible effect it could have on all of us, if in the wrong hands. There were times I felt a little lost with all the science involved but it was essential to the story. Thanks again for another great read!

Departure 37 reads like a spooky episode of The Twilight Zone. Twisting and turning, exposing the audience to an extremely unsettling and improbable scenario that scares you enough to make you wonder if it’s more feasible than you realize. Scott Carson has crafted a gripping, mysterious and chilling historical sci-fi novel that will leave you uneasy and reflective.

Hundreds of commercial pilots receive calls from their mothers, begging them not to fly today. While that’s concerning on its own, it’s even stranger considering that the mother’s deny making the calls…and some of the mothers are dead. While the powers that be in the US government search for answers, a teenage girl in Maine finds a balloon at a famous B-52 crash site. The balloon is carrying a strange note and an old watch that belonged to a brilliant physicist named Martin Hazelton, who worked on top secret projects for the US military over 60 years ago. Now, everyone involved must play their part to figure out exactly what is going on…and stop a long dead cold war program from starting WWIII.

This story builds suspense and tension by moving between characters and timelines that are more than 6 decades apart. With this approach, readers get a slow and steady drip of past and present information that converge at precisely the right time to illuminate the full truth and provide an emotional weight to what has transpired. And while you’re trying to comprehend some crazy concepts you wouldn’t possibly imagine in your wildest dreams, you’re also feeling a strong connection to the tragic nature of almost every character contained within the pages of Departure 37.

It’s a bit disorienting, but in the way that only good books can achieve by making you think and feel at the same time. Especially if they leave you with a few questions in the end that keep you awake at night trying to parse out the answers. And rest assured, Departure 37 will certainly stick with you long after you finish it.

I wouldn’t quite call his horror as the blurb implies, but it was a thriller. One day pilots all over get a call from their mothers - Do not fly today they warn the pilots. This novel is a dual timeline between the present and the 1969s. I did really enjoy it!

An interesting concept and plot combining the Cold War, AI technology, suspense and horror. I enjoyed the setting of the book (mostly in Indiana) and Scott Carson (aka Michael Koryta) continues to write thought-provoking thrillers. I did enjoy Departure 37, although when comparing to his overall catalog of work, this one isn't one that will linger in my memory quite like some of the others. Still, very solid novel and I think it will have appeal to readers of the genre.

This book succeeds at both piquing your curiosity as well as terrifying you past your bedtime. But instead of ghosts or creatures, Carson gives you reasons to fear mankind’s propensity for risking it all in the name of territorial squabbles when unexplained phenomena and scientific discoveries have the power to change the entire world. Seamlessly switching between the present day and the historical context, Carson propels this story to warrant your full attention, dangerously so because you won’t be paying attention to anything else until you get to the final page.

A chilling, fast-paced high-concept novel with heart. It’s a powerful journey that brings to life disturbing truths and traces trajectories of deeply unsettling questions.

Scott Carson’s Departure 37 gnaws at multiple fears and kept me in a state of rapt tension throughout the book.
The real horror of the history layered into this novel grabs like an undertow. The arms race, space race, nuclear bomb creation, tests, bombings, and accidents come at us though the story, adding to the intensity.

The true terrors of technology under the control of [insert your term for the people with the power to deploy mass destruction] combined with speculative horrors creates a boxing match effect with deft footwork and heavy punches landing hard.
The B-52 bombers are practically a character in this, and I became so fascinated I did some searches and studied photos and reports about them. There truly still are decades-old B-52s still in service.😳

The masterfully orchestrated dual timeline feeds the razor-edge suspense. We experience the world-altering events of 1961 via the point of view of a scientist whose work goes in an unexpected direction. Alongside the chilling history, a 17 year-old’s isolation on an abandoned airfield on a peninsula near an old B52 wreck ratchets up the creepiness. Carson makes powerful use of key quotes from the Cold War era.

Departure 37 rises to the level of brilliant in its layered vision of complex moral choices and figurative and literal fallout from abuses of power. At times, it's surprisingly and effectively poetic. I savored the nature descriptions, indelible memories, the surgically perfect gruesome details, the just-specific-enough heterosexual sensuality. There are some minor distractions with one plot point and the characterizations of the teenagers, yet overall, I was swept away. This book had me choked up near the end.

Beyond being a book that will highjack you from everything else you meant to do and make you think about it when you have to set it aside for mandatory activities, Departure 37 is well written. Carson provided an excellent Afterword, too. I’m going to look for more books by Scott Carson.
I rated it 4.5 stars.

Highly recommended for general readers as well as aficionados of science fiction, horror, thrillers, speculative fiction, and dystopian fiction. You don’t need to know anything about history. All of the relevant information is embedded in the novel in easy to read bits that move the story along.

My thanks to Atria | Emily Bestler Books for the e-ARC for consideration – and for making this one available as a Read Now option via NetGalley. As soon as I saw it, I had to read it. These opinions are solely my own.
I'll add the TikTok link.

This book is not my normal read, but I ended up really enjoying it. The science and the Cold War aspects were harder for me to follow but I loved that the author tied in the two different time lines and gave us another point of view to relate more closely with. This helped me connect and I feel like I was honestly intrigued to see where the story went. It moved a little slow at the beginning but the last half really had me hooked to find out how this could all end. Over all this was very well written and I loved that first chapter hook!

“Horror meets coming-of-age” wasn’t quite the vibe I got while reading. That aside I still enjoyed this one! The author’s writing style along with the storyline kept me engaged and wanting to pick up the book at any opportunity. I appreciated the author’s note and plan to look into some of the books he referenced as his reading for research while writing Departure 37. Looking forward to reading others from his back list.

Generally solid thriller from Carson (Michael Koryta's pen name) about a mysterious series of phone calls that ground hundreds of flights and the strange goings on in a town with an aviation history that may be the key to the whole thing. A young girl with video blog, her old-timer subject and his nephew get caught up in military secrets and try to unravel the long history of covert operation involving making planes disappear. The young girl, Charlie, gets self-righteously annoying as the story progresses, which seems to be the trend lately in these types of books. Despite this, the plot gets increasingly complex and the mixing of past and present works well, and the writing is top notch as usual with Carson. Not my favorite book by Carson but it's a worthwhile read in its own right. 3.5 stars bumped to 4 for the quality of writing. Thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

***Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this upcoming book***
This is the second book of Scott Carson's (aka Michael Koryta) that I have had the pleasure to read and I was not disappointed with this one. The supernatural elements make this story feel like an extended Twilight Zone episode or even Amazing Stories (remember that show?).

I was a little confused by the MacGuffin that drives the story and how it works but if you don't overthink it and just enjoy the stories and characters, I guarantee you will have a great time reading this one. Check it out!

This book wasn’t a horror story, but definitely more sci fi/thriller. It was full of twists and turns and I absolutely enjoyed it. Told in a split story between presents and 1962 during the Cold War years, it features Charlie, a teen on a deserted Naval base in Maine, and a government scientist on a base in Indiana. The stories eventually converge. I don’t want to reveal much because that’s where so much of the book gets you… in the details.. in the twists. It’s worth the read! I’ll definitely read more from this author!