The Strange

Ballingrud (Wounds) explores how isolation can lead to desperation in this ambitious but not wholly successful speculative horror novel set in an alternate 1930s wherein humanity has already achieved multiple permanent settlements on Mars. It’s an exciting premise, but Ballingrud doesn’t do much with it; despite the specificity of the alternate timeline, this shares an aesthetic with countless other generic space westerns. When contact between Mars and Earth is abruptly cut off, panic sets in among the Martian settlers. People supposedly afflicted with madness caused by a mineral ore known as the Strange ransack Anabelle Crisp’s family’s restaurant and assault 14-year-old Anabelle and her father, Samuel. Samuel kills one of the assailants and is arrested for murder, sending a furious Anabelle on a quest for both vengeance and the return of recordings of her earthbound mother’s voice, taken in the robbery. Traveling with her across the Martian deserts are Watson, her robot dishwasher friend; Sally Milkwood, an outlaw supply runner; and Joe Reilly, an Earth-to-Mars pilot turned town drunk. While their perilous journey is suspenseful, and unraveling the horrible secrets of the Strange makes a fascinating mystery, the unsatisfactory conclusion leaves more questions than it answers. Readers will put this down being more frustrated than fulfilled. Agent: Renee Zuckerbrot, Massie & Mcquilkin. (Mar.)