Ghost Station

Dr. Ophelia Bray volunteers to be an on-site therapist to an exoplanet survey crew as self-imposed penance for a tragedy that is not her fault. She then proceeds to prove that she is unqualified and generally unfit for the mission.

Horror stories tend to rely heavily on people making poor decisions to drive the plot, so Ophelia really does fit in well with legions of genre characters; the problem here is that she is surrounded by a crew that is qualified, experienced, and all around more stable than she is, which just makes her look that much worse. The book would have been so much better if Ophelia had dropped her self-martyrdom earlier and actually put her brain to use.

On the whole I don't regret reading Ghost Station, but I can't help show more but think my time would have been better spent rewatching Alien or Event Horizon.

Received via NetGalley. show less

What a dark and uncomfortable tale. The dread and unease absolutely jump off the page!

Ophelia has joined a space crew out to bop around to a few planets to get samples and status checks, and then head home. The crew itself is suffering from a recent loss and Ophelia is there as a new psychiatry check to ensure they are all still mentally well enough to be traveling. She's there to ensure everyone keeps their cool.

But as soon as they arrive to the first plant, a very cold and storm riddled spot, the first station shows signs of distress and misuse. From there, the whole crew must decide what is going on and what they will do pull through.

The story was compelling. At first I wasn't sure who was the weakest link and I actually worried our show more own mc Ophelia might be the most unstable of them all. But as soon as they pull the prank and then the left over suit, the dread and discomfort were absolutely in every part of the story. S. A. Barnes excels at making me uncomfortable but also completely unable to stop reading!

Spooky, creepy - this is the perfect fall season read!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to treating ERS - a psychological condition linked to people who live and work within the darkness of space. Being in the darkness and on a different circadian rhythm can mess with people's sleep and, as one infamous tragedy shows, can be deadly.

Ophelia is assigned to work, and head out on a mission, with an exploration crew who just suffered the loss of one of their own. She is eager to make a difference regardless that they have no interest in her help to the point where it's clear the crew is keeping information about their colleague's death from Ophelia.

As they land and begin to make residency it quickly becomes apparent that something unexplainable happened on this planet. And when those show more inexplicable things begin happening amongst the crew, culminating with one of their deaths, Ophelia begins to question if it is the beginning of ERS or something else entirely. In order to survive they'll have to trust each other, but that trust becomes difficult when it's apparent that they've all been keeping their secrets.

Space is the perfect setting for a mystery because it’s so vast yet also so suffocating. You can’t just go anywhere you are at the mercy of your team and technology. And for Ophelia she can’t trust either. As readers it's put in our heads early on that we also might not be able to trust Ophelia's perspective on things. So there is this tension slowly building and running throughout as we kind of walk side-by-side with Ophelia as everything starts to go sideways. Who do we believe? Can we believe anyone?

I will say that there are quite a few too many feints without much forward momentum early on in the book. Yes, it is a slow build and I was completely captivated in the narration, but I also feel like the pacing could have been stepped up a little more while still maintaining that building tension.

In that regard, however, the narrator has a very haunting quality about her voice and listening to the audiobook lent itself well to keeping this eerie quality running throughout. I think the decisions made as far as tone of voice and pacing of the read was spot on. Even though the story is told from Ophelia's point of view, each character was distinctive on their own. When the dialogue changed I knew who was speaking without cues. Overall, impressive and immersive narration.

I don't typically read a lot of horror. But there was just something about the premise of this on that called to me I guess. If you're not super into the squishy, squicky moments that often pop up in horror, then I think you may like this. Don't get me wrong it certainly has its moments of that, but I personally felt like it was lighter than the other times I've read a true horror book. Maybe it's because it has a futuristic bent to it that lends itself well to not feeling overly gross like some horror tends to be.

I do feel like this is a good book to go into with very little knowledge of, so in order to avoid giving anything more away, I'll leave off here, but do want to say that I like and appreciate the way SA Barnes chose to tie everything up at the conclusion.

I've not read SA Barnes previous book, but reading this certainly gets me interested. Next time I'm in the mood for a thrilling sci-fi mystery/horror, I'll know where to look. show less

Thanks to Tor for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a fan of the 'haunted ship/space station' genre (whether haunted is ghosts or aliens), though it's not one I read frequently. It's possible I'm easily impressed, but boy, this one had me ~stressin'.~ I think Barnes did an excellent job with building up feelings of paranoia and fear as the crew spends more time in the station and tries to learn what happened on the planet before their arrival. There is some mild (imo, for what that's worth) body horror - enough to make me feel a bit squicky, but not so much that I felt I needed to skim anything, and I'm a pretty big baby.

I was definitely trying to guess what was going on as much as the crew and really enjoyed the ride. show more I do think the main character, Ophelia, gets a bit in her head at times, but it make sense because she's a therapist; of course she's going to be over-analyzing everyone's words and actions, including her own.

The end was a little vaguely convenient, in a somewhat unsatisfying way, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the overall story. I'll definitely be reading Barnes's other book. show less

So, here's the thing. I think S.A. Barnes' world building skills are a 10/10 across the board. No argument, her world building is one of the reasons I stay interested in her books. However, I do not feel like I easily connect to her characters or like them. I think its possible I could have found Ophelia to be a compelling character, but her constant internal fight with herself was exhaustive and made me wholly uninterested in her.

This is my second S.A. Barnes book, I will likely read others, but it's her world building that keeps me coming back. I hope her characters become more relatable and interesting down the road.

I wasn't 100% sure about reading this book because sci fi stories set in space are kind of hit or miss with me, but I"m really glad I decided to give it a try, because this one was definitely a hit. I've heard it described as "claustrophobic" and I got that impression, too. You can feel the walls of the station closing in on you when crew members start acting odd, and then one of them turns up murdered. Who did it, why did they do it, and who will be next? You find yourself asking those questions right along with the remaining crew members, and then are unable to put the book down until you get your answers!

This is a well written book full of great characters, a setting that is described perfectly, and enough action to keep things show more tense and keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and am giving it an enthusiastic 5/5 stars.

*** I want to thank NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and S.A. Barnes for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book. show less

Psychologist in space, space, space... If you sent the grown-up Doc Torrance to a planet with a mysterious spooky entity, then let him confront, understand, and channel his inner Jack to survive, you'd have Ghost Station. So, science fiction "Doctor Sleep." Too much time is spent in the main character's head neurotically evaluating each conversation for the suspense to really build.