Synopsis
Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.
But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…
A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.
Review
Space Heist Meet Cute.
I imagine that might be the elevator pitch for Beth Revis’ novella Full Speed to a Crash Landing, and it wouldn’t be wrong.
I originally read Full Speed to a Crash Landing late last year and really enjoyed the two leads, particularly Ada Lamarr, as the novella goes (mostly) full speed ahead from start to finish. I gave it a re-read as the third and final book in the Chaotic Orbits trilogy comes out on April 8. Even on the second go-around, I found the novella to be a wonderfully fun time, especially in the context of the next two novellas in the Chaotic Orbits trilogy.
In fact, the name of the trilogy is a great indicator of what’s happening not only here, but in the rest of the series. When we meet Ada at the start of the book, she’s running out of air in her spacesuit as she’s trying to salvage something from a shipwreck. Rian and the crew of the Halifax rescue her, but all the along the way, it’s clear that Ada isn’t being honest with them or the audience.
I do love an unreliable narrator and Ada is one of the most unreliable ones I’ve come across. And that’s one of the things that makes this book a galaxy of fun. Just like in any good heist movie, Ada clues in the audience at the end with all the ways she fooled us with her sleights of hand and twists of her tongue.
But the romance? It adds a great layer to this fairly standard sci-fi story. From the moment Ada and Rian meet, there is a playful sexual tension to every scene they’re in together. But since Ada has her own plans throughout, we’re constantly vacillating between wondering if the feelings are shared between the two would-be lovers or not.
This book works perfectly well on its own, but with two more novellas to make up the trilogy, it acts a little differently in context. I had a great time with Ada and Rian and wish these books were even longer than the novellas Revis wrote.
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