Vessel, by Lisa A. Nichols

The setup for Lisa A. Nichols's sci-fi novel Vessel is gripping.  Catherine Wells is the sole survivor of a crew that had travelled through a wormhole to explore another planet.  The crew was thought lost and dead until Catherine showed up in our solar system after her years-long absence.  Not only is her life turned upside down, but she becomes the center of a mystery about what went wrong with her mission and the implications for the next mission.

Two things about Vessel.  First, there's a lot of focus on Catherine's angst upon her return to her family and work.  Her husband moved on to another lover, and her daughter has grown up in her absence.  Obviously, this is a recipe for heartache and scrambled emotions.  Second, Catherine has experienced a huge loss of memory.  She doesn't remember her time on the other planet or her return.  Back on Earth, she experiences periodic memory loss.  This is the mystery at the center of the novel.

Vessel is not a bad novel, but it's pretty predictable.  I'm not particularly perceptive, but even in my little brain I realized the source of Catherine's memory loss.  Now, don't get me wrong, I kept reading because I like a good story.  But between the family drama and the predictable "mystery" it left me not particularly interested.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!