Book Review: Departure by A.G. Riddle

Title: Departure
Author: A.G. Riddle
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: October 20, 2015
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction

           

Harper Lane has problems. In a few hours, she'll have to make a decision that will change her life forever. But when her flight from New York to London crash-lands in the English countryside, she discovers that she's made of tougher stuff than she ever imagined.
As Harper and the survivors of Flight 305 struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of the crash, they soon realize that this world is very different from the one they left. Their lives are connected, and some believe they've been brought here for a reason.
In addition to Harper, several other passengers seem to hold clues about why Flight 305 crashed. There's:
Nick Stone, an American on his way to a meeting with The Gibraltar Project, an international group dedicated to building a dam across the Strait of Gibraltar and draining the Mediterranean.
Sabrina Schröder, a German scientist who has unknowingly sealed the fate of half the flight's passengers.
Yul Tan, a Chinese-American computer scientist who has just made the breakthrough of a lifetime: a quantum internet capable of transmitting more data, farther, faster than ever thought possible. His invention, however, does much more than he ever dreamed possible.
With time running out to save the survivors of Flight 305, Harper and Nick race to unravel the conspiracy that crashed their plane. As they put the pieces together, they discover that their decisions have already doomed one world and will soon determine the future of ours.

This is the most difficult review that I have ever written to date.

Why?

Because I want to say so much, but I can't without giving anything away. That is how complicated and interwoven all the aspects of this book are. To mention anything beyond what the blurb says, would ruin the experience of this book for you, and I just can't do that.

What I can say is that Departure is told from a dual POV, and was highly engaging right from the start. It was so reminiscent of LOST, it made me want to watch the first several episodes all over again.

Departure is filled with layer upon layer of mystery, all wrapped up in an action packed science fiction bundle, told through the eyes of Harper and Nick.

What I especially liked about the dual POV's, was that we, the readers, almost get two stories that must be pieced together. We gather clues from what both Harper and Nick learn separately, and then attempt to piece together what the hell is going on. Never once was I able to figure out the "big mystery". Every time there was a "reveal" I though to myself, "I did not see that coming".

I could 100% see almost all of the events in this work of fiction, happening in our world within the next few years. These types of "real world" situations in science fiction books really gets you, well me at least, thinking about the state of the world we currently live in.

The ending of the book dragged on too much for my liking. But when the end did come, all I could think was WTF! That's how it ends! I still had questions. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I needed closure. Now I don't know if this book is going to remain a stand alone, or if A.G. Riddle is thinking of continuing the story, but I sure hope he does, because I can see the potential for so much more. Something very SLIDERS. You know SLIDERS, right? The television show?

Anyway, if you love science fiction, if you love mystery, if you just love reading a damn good book, pick this one up ASAP. You will not be disappointed.