Offworld, by Robin Parrish

On the way back from Mars, Chris Burke and his crew were looking forward to a hero's welcome and some time to reconnect with their lives on Earth.  Alas, the first people to walk on Mars were greeted by--no one.  Not only were there no people, there were no animals.  It was as if every living thing had instantly disappeared. 

So begins Robin Parrish's sci-fi novel Offworld.  Of course, the intrepid explorers and scientists that they are, they set out on a cross-country trek from Florida to Houston, where satellite images show a bright beam of light that, they figure, must have something to do with the disappearance.  Along the way, it seems as if the world is conspiring against them.  Among other perils, they struggle to survive an unnaturally severe storm, and a building inexplicably collapses on them. 

Ultimately, they discover that the cause of the disappearance is, in fact, human activity, and the humans who caused it are highly motivated to keep the crew from discovering the source.  This is a page turner for sure, but Parrish goes a little over the top with the luck of the crew and falls a bit short in the scientific purpose and means of the disappearance.  I am a little curious how this book fits with the other two in his "Dangerous Times" series, but I'm not sure I like it enough to take time to read those, too.  As a stand-alone title, Offworld leaves some unanswered questions, however, for the most part, wraps it all up nicely in the end.

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