I just finished RED NOISE by John P. Murphy. This book is a fun sci-fi homage to Kurosawa-inspired spaghetti westerns. When the main character, known simply as The Miner, shows up at a backwoods space station, she finds it overrun by criminal gangs and corrupt cops. A bit of an antihero herself, she decides to take advantage of these groups lest they take advantage of her. Offering her skills as a former-military assassin, she leaps from one gang to the next, playing them off each other.

The prose is witty and crisp. But the second act of the book drags a bit – I couldn’t tell if this was just a really effective slow burn or if the story just bogged down. Fortunately, by the midpoint, things pick back up again. From there, it becomes a non-stop back and forth where the stakes and consequences build and build. Overall, the book’s strength is the main character. She’s a real badass. Bits of her backstory are sprinkled throughout, but never in its entirety… which definitely leaves you wanting more.

All in all, this was an entertaining read. And I always like reading sci-fi that’s confident enough not to add aliens or other tropes of the genre…. Like space madness.

Check it out, and let me know what you think! You can purchase the book here, and you can find John P. Murphy here. Thanks for reading!