Chaos Terminal

Lafferty’s second “Midsolar Murders” sci-fi mystery (following Station Eternity) finds Mallory Viridian left in charge of the sentient Station Eternity, surrounded by red snow, fabricated mountains, and the constant presence of the wasplike alien hive mind called the Sundry. Mallory fled to the station, hoping to avoid other humans, as death seems to follow her wherever she goes. Even so, Mallory encounters other humans aboard the station, including her former best friend and high school crush. Before she can recover from this shock, she receives a confusing warning from the Sundry apprising her of a glitch in Eternity’s system. Increasingly destabilized, Mallory realizes she must find the underlying cause of these coincidences and soon falls back into her role of amateur detective. Narrator Kelsey Navarro Foster takes listeners through the novel’s ample twists and turns, offering a spot-on portrayal of exasperated Mallory and nailing the hilarious interactions between the motley group of humans and the Sundry. Foster’s lively presentation of this fast-paced story keeps the action moving and will have listeners laughing aloud even as they wait anxiously for the mystery to be resolved.