Title: Twelve Seconds
Series: Space Coast Mysteries: Book One
Author: Meg Perry
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 97 Pages
Category: Murder Mystery
Rating: 4 Stars
At a Glance: I liked this long novella for its engaging characters and Perry’s poised storytelling style.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: The last thing that Air Force Special Agent Greg Marcotte expects to find in the debris field of an exploded unmanned rocket is a dead body with bullet holes in its chest. A phone number in the victim’s wallet leads him to space reporter Justin Harris and a deeper mystery. Why did the dead man call Justin the morning of launch? Why won’t anyone discuss the rocket’s payload? And who else does the killer have in his sights? Justin and Greg must join forces to stop a murderer…who has Justin in his sights.
Review: The billionaire boys club’s civilian race to space is given page time in Meg Perry’s Twelve Seconds, but it’s murder that takes center stage as space reporter Justin Harris watches his newest story go up in a ball of flames, quite literally, when a Skyose rocket carrying an unknown payload explodes just seconds after takeoff. When the body of a missing man—a man who was going to give Justin an exclusive scoop—turns up in a decidedly unexpected place, the investigation into the explosion and his murder brings Special Agent Greg Marcotte to Justin’s doorstep looking for some answers.
Coming in at just under 100 pages means neither the investigation nor the budding relationship between Justin and Greg are detailed down to the minutia, but that does not mean 12 Seconds spares readers the chance to learn some interesting things about the Space Coast and Justin’s job in particular (I had no idea space reporting was an entire journalism niche), as well as being involved in the search for answers to the question of who thought murder was the only acceptable answer to cover up a secret.
Greg and Justin click in all the right ways, including commiserating over their exes. That they aren’t out—Justin not at all, and Greg to one friend/coworker—may or may not be a plot point later in the series. For now, they’re taking things one step at a time and working toward something special. I liked this long novella for its engaging characters and Perry’s poised storytelling style.
You can buy Twelve Seconds here:
I liked this one too! I read it in the Footsteps in the Dark anthology originally, and am so happy to see there are two more books now! :)