Commander Sarah Mitchell and her crew have just undertaken a dangerous rescue mission aboard a dying space station. The station is in freefall and the crew are dead, with the final survivor offering only cryptic clues before her demise. Together with crew physician Kuz and the rest of her team, Mitchell must try to stabilize the station and find out what killed the crew—all while trying to decipher whether going home to Earth would mean bringing this deadly contagion back with them.

As tensions rise and people begin acting out of sorts, the team discovers that the problem isn't medical so much as mental. Aboard the space station is a quantum computer capable of stripping away the lies that populate the human mind. But, as Mitchell and the rest learn, not all deceptions are criminal. The little fibs people tell themselves to stay afloat, push ahead, and put their pasts behind them are also at the machine's mercy, with reality-bending results. As Mitchell learns more about the history of her crew, she must also face a monster from her own past that has surfaced once again (if, indeed, it ever left).

THE QUANTUM MIRROR: An Ares Universe Novel starts as a very traditional piece of space horror, both in tone and setting. The strange occurrences aboard the space station will make even the most astute reader look back and re-read. Midway through, however, the tone shifts. Yes, there is still horror and sci-fi, and the book digs deep into quantum mechanics (though readers who aren't knowledgeable about such things won't be left in the dust). The horrors that Mitchell, Kuz, and their crewmates endure are very human and personal: stalkers, stolen valor in academia, parental abuse, hard truths about themselves, and their perceptions of themselves.

There are some outlandish body horror scenes as mental metaphor becomes lethal reality: moments that deserve to be witnessed firsthand and in context. The final act focuses firmly on Mitchell's own past—making for a tense, difficult read that explores the nature of childhood trauma. Those who have dealt with similar situations in their own pasts may find this a challenge to get through, but they will also feel very seen.

This novel requires no foreknowledge of the Ares Universe setting to appreciate. While it's successful as sci-fi, it's even more successful as a meditation on the human condition.

Jayson Adams's THE QUANTUM MIRROR: An Ares Universe Novel starts as a chilling work of hard sci-fi, but it compellingly turns into a tense, insightful investigation of childhood trauma and the lies that people tell themselves.

~ Kara Dennison for IndieReader