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Paradise-1, Earth’s first colony planet in another star system, goes silent. The government assembles a crew to investigate the case. Leading the charge is Alexandra Petrova, the detective who just caught the galaxy’s worst serial killer but botched a years-long investigation in the process. She’s assisted by Zhang Lei, a survivor of a massacre on Titan who isn’t exactly in the best of shape, and Sam Parker, a pilot who’s easy on the eyes but light on impressive accomplishments. And then we have Rapscallion, a robot who prints and changes bodies like they’re going out of style. A curious bunch here, for sure, but are they fit to save the planet?

Especially since they’ll have to deal with infected AIs, contagious delusions, and murderous zombies. Not to mention more serious obstacles. Paradise-1 is long (700 pages), but for a reason. There’s hardly any filler, so don’t let the length scare you off. Especially if you’re looking for a sci-fi horror hybrid filled with terrifically terrifying ideas.

The action and plot twists kept me riveted and provided enough tense moments to keep the suspense going. Even in the middle section, which slowed down a bit. Moments of disturbing body horror and psychological terror appealed to me; I prefer the feeling of lingering dread and frightening ideas to bloody explosions of violence. That we got both was a plus.

Well-realized world-building introducing an utterly alien world to the crew and readers impressed me. It’s not fully explored, but I liked what we got. I loved how skilfully and creatively Wellington played with hard light holograms and other futuristic concepts. And finally, we have a crew and AIs. I found all the crew members fascinating and well-developed. Their relationships and dynamics drive the story forward.

Paradise-1 is a clever sci-fi horror novel that provides enough thrills and cool ideas to keep readers entertained until the end.