The Stars Too Fondly

DEBUT Twenty years ago, the world watched as the 203 crew members of the spaceship Providence I disappeared at launch. Today, Cleo McQueary and her best friends just want to know the truth about what happened. Breaking into the abandoned industry building where Providence I now sits was easy for these young people; dealing with a dark-matter engine starting on its own was not. Now the four friends are on their way to Proxima Centauri B and cannot turn around. Cleo always wanted to be an astronaut, and Earth is on its decline, so why not enjoy the ride? But strange things begin to happen the further into space they get, and decades-old secrets are revealed along the way. Also, the ship’s hologram holds the face, mind, and acerbic attitude of the missing Captain Billie Lucas, including the emotions that neither Cleo nor Billie wants to admit to. The found family of the friends is at the heart of the characters’ actions, and Hamilton deftly keeps the story moving through action and emotion.