SpaceMan (The SpaceMan Chronicles) Paperback – November 22, 2016

The plot line is good, but I had trouble identifying with the characters. They seemed too naive for who and where they were. Also their internal monologues didn't quite fit their circumstances. It just left me feeling it was too contrived.

I liked the development around the main characters, but the villains--the extreme religious cultists, the truckers, and the gouging store owners--were nothing more than one dimensional caricatures. It was as if there were certain classes of people the author disdains and he wanted them to look as morally inferior to his characters as possible. I'm not convinced that was the author's intent, but it was certainly the result. I know he's capable of fleshing out believable villains, because his Traveler series does have believable villains, but these villains, especially the cultists, were just husks with the personality of zombies. Maybe that's how he views people with odd religious beliefs, but I've known any members of religious groups, however strange their beliefs, to act like automatons.

249 miles above the earth, 72 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes, 31 seconds into Clayton Sheppard's first mission on the Internationa l Space Station an alarm sounded displaying a warning. A warning indicating that a severe magnetic storm was on it's way. A Coronal Mass Ejection large enough to disable any electronic devices while shutting down the power grids on earth. Sheppard is alone in the Space Station as fellow astronaut, Greenwood and Cosmonaut Boris Voin, are outside on the missions first emergency Spacewalk. Confirming the approaching CME with Houston Clayton Sheppard's first duty is getting Greenwood and Voin safely back inside and away from the deadly solar flares. As the CME sends death rays past the International Space Station, aiming it's blast towards earth, satellites become space junk as all communication with earth and the men spacewalking outside the station is suddenly interrupted. How will Sheppard bring the men back inside?Back on earth planes fall to the ground while in flight, cars crash when all electronics cease to work, all electric power grids are made useless. In a world that depends on electrical power and electronic devices or hourly living we find people unprepared to exist without what as become so common no none think about it until it's gone. That is when the struggle for survival kicks in. The families of the men caught in space by this massive tempest are in a fight to live along with the rest of humanity. What will happen to them as we see the criminal element emerge all too early. I try to imagine what I how upset I would be if suddenly everything came to a screeching halt while one of my kids was away on a camping trip. Knowing the dangers presented by those who seek to take advantage of innocents I wouldn't be able to think of anything else. Add to that my husband being in a position of greater risk then I would be a basket case. Author Tom Abrahams portrays the strengths and emotions of Sheppard's family as they anxiously await news from the Space Station.Tom Abrahams happens to be one of my favourite living authors. He certainly can write an intriguing story, however, I was not sure I would like this one due to it's extreme prospective. I was wrong. Abrahams takes the subject of Coronal Mass Ejection and turns it into a fascinating story of survival. I'm looking forward to the next volume in this series.Do I recommend this book to other readers? Most definitely.As always, happy reading.

If you’re looking for character development, forget it. The characters are more like caricatures. There’s the plucky astronaut who makes dumb jokes (stolen from “The Martian”)? There’s the tough, practical astronaut’s wife. There are two shrill single moms.There’s even a UFC fighter who makes quick work of the bad guys with non-lethal groin punches because there’s no way the author can have a main character actually kill anyone That would make the character morally complicated. But rest assured there’s no psychological complexity to this book.There is some suspense as you, the reader, wonder which of the Earthbound charro will make it through each encounter with the baddies. I kept waiting for a minor character to be killed off. But so far none have been.The two worst things about this book.First, the author has never met a bizarre word or description he doesn’t like. It slows down the book. Do we really need to know one character ran his hand “along the thick Visqueen sheeting”? What is Visqueen? Who cares? There are literally hundreds of random phrases like this that do nothing to advance the story.No one walks. They “slog” or “trudge.” No group ever gathers around a kitchen island. Some stand. Some sit on stools. Some slouch. Some rest their elbows. Again, who cares? Writing that a character is slouching isn’t character development because they slouch every chapter.Second, the main characters make too many stupid decisions. The astronaut on the ISS spends an entire chapter trying to rescue two colleagues he already knows are dead - almost killing himself in the process. To bring their bodies back to their families in a world without electricity? He will land on Earth thousands of miles from their homes. How is he going to transport and keep two bodies from decomposing without electricity?

Disappointed with a story the abruptly ended after 224 pages without conclusion. I accept that it is part of a series, but each book in a series should be able to stand alone. The Three story lines have become two. Chris and Kenny got home. But no ending, just halfway through the story. I feel I am being milked for cash. Moo

Tom Abrahams'' first Spaceman series book is so good, and gives a new perspective to the apocalyptic genre. Thoroughly riveting, definitely worth a read

It lost my interest about a third of the way through and I did not finish it, sorry.

There’s a great deal happening right from the very start. Planes fall from the sky, a man is caught in space, a family spread out but needing each other. Lots of suspenseful moments and a huge cliff hanger. A good read.