The Explorer

Ambitious journalist Cormac Easton has always yearned for adventure. Selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity’s great explorers.

But in space, nothing goes according to plan.

Waking from hypersleep, Cormac and the crew discover the captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. Back on Earth, Ground Control tells them there is no turning back. No matter what happens, the mission must continue.

But the captain’s mysterious death is only the beginning of the paranoia. As the body count rises, Cormac finds himself alone and spiralling towards his own inevitable death... unless he can find a way to stop it.

James Smythe has created a gripping, darkly atmospheric psychological thriller full of paranoia and terror, set in the near future, within the cramped confines of a spaceship destined for disaster. Written with the piercing insight and wondrous sense of possibility embodied in the greatest science fiction, his tense, twisty, and fantastically imaginative ride examines the complexities of human relationships — and what it means to be human.