Polaris

Polaris is book two in the Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt. Unlike the first one, Polaris is narrated by Chase instead of Alex. Alex and Chase risk their lives to uncover the secret of what happened to the passengers and pilot aboard the Polaris some sixty years ago.

After going on a scientific mission to see a star be consumed by a wandering white dwarf, the pilot radios in that they're about to depart for home. The only problem is they never make it. A ship is dispatched to investigate, but upon getting there, they find the Polaris eerily abandoned. Alex and Chase must piece together the clues risking their own lives to solve the mystery once and for all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I felt it was almost a rehash of Talent for War. It's as if McDevitt used the same formula as the first book. We have three or four scrapes with death leading into the final portion of the story where all is suddenly revealed. I'm not saying it was a badly written story at all, but I kind of wish that McDevitt would have revealed the truth a little more gracefully than in the final two or three chapters.

Overall, this is an excellent read and I think any sci-fi nerd will enjoy it, too.