THIS SPLINTERED SILENCE

A deadly virus kills off all the adults on a space station, leaving the children and teens to figure out how to survive and whom to trust.

Five days after the last adult has died, Lindley, daughter of the former commander, and her five friends are left in charge of the Lusca and the remaining, parentless young survivors. Everyone finds their own ways to cope, and though she works through her own grief, she does her best in the leadership role as acting commander and ship doctor. When they come across new deaths, however, Lindley and friends struggle to control panic and paranoia while dealing with the threat of a mutated virus, dwindling food and water supplies, and challenges with asking for help. In this already claustrophobic setting, the author packs in a love triangle, questionable forensics practices, and grief fiction on top of a flimsy plot that could have been easily solved if someone had just contacted authorities and told the truth earlier on. There is some variation in characters’ skin tones, and ethnic diversity is indicated through names. The main strengths in this story are the main character’s relationships with her mother and friends. Otherwise, believability of the plot points reaches absurd levels.

For die-hard fans of the genre.