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daviddavidkatzman's review against another edition
4.0
Skillful, enjoyable writing, a surreal atmosphere, and an intriguing story. Yet it ends too abruptly without much resolution. This is really a short story posing as a novel. It's delightful, but the end felt strangled, as if this book could easily have been extended to a novel and instead, in the interest of leaving a "mystery" for the reader, is simple cut short with too few answers.
Missing Signal takes place in some slightly-off alternate reality. It's not too far off, perhaps slightly futuristic, but the world has changed from the current state. The main character, Terrance Kovacs, is an espionage counter-intellience agent (posting subversive propaganda--"fake news" indeed) for a country called New Petersburg that doesn't particularly seem Russian. Doubinsky leaves a lot for the reader to fill in. Terrance's job essentially is to disguise government weapons testing as UFO phenomenon, so he embeds himself in the UFO conspiracy movement, and when there is something the government wants hidden, he creates a UFO story that slightly changes the facts enough to subvert the truth.
The following is not a spoiler--it's in the book description--Terrance is approached by individuals who claim to be actual aliens disguised in human bodies. And from there, things start to get weirder and weirder, with Terrance unsure who he can trust, and whether he is being lied to by his department or by a foreign power.
Doubinsky's writing is a pleasure, and he crafts a wonderfully strange atmosphere. The real issue is just how abruptly this ends, leaving me disappointed. Still. Even with the disappointment, I think it is worthy of four stars. I'd like to check out his other books.
Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Missing Signal takes place in some slightly-off alternate reality. It's not too far off, perhaps slightly futuristic, but the world has changed from the current state. The main character, Terrance Kovacs, is an espionage counter-intellience agent (posting subversive propaganda--"fake news" indeed) for a country called New Petersburg that doesn't particularly seem Russian. Doubinsky leaves a lot for the reader to fill in. Terrance's job essentially is to disguise government weapons testing as UFO phenomenon, so he embeds himself in the UFO conspiracy movement, and when there is something the government wants hidden, he creates a UFO story that slightly changes the facts enough to subvert the truth.
The following is not a spoiler--it's in the book description--Terrance is approached by individuals who claim to be actual aliens disguised in human bodies. And from there, things start to get weirder and weirder, with Terrance unsure who he can trust, and whether he is being lied to by his department or by a foreign power.
Doubinsky's writing is a pleasure, and he crafts a wonderfully strange atmosphere. The real issue is just how abruptly this ends, leaving me disappointed. Still. Even with the disappointment, I think it is worthy of four stars. I'd like to check out his other books.
Note: I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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