Polaris (Alex Benedict)
by Jack McDevitt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jack McDevittEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-25
ISBN: 0441012531
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Ace
Book Reviews of Polaris (Alex Benedict)
Book Review: Another great installment in the unique Alex Benedict series
Summary: 5 Stars
_Polaris_ is another excellent installment in the Alex Benedict series, a series which I believe in November of 2008 will be a four volume series. Though later books in the series reference very briefly earlier adventures, the books can be read out of order or as stand-alones (I read the third volume for instance first and only later bought and read the first and second novels).
Just as in the other novels, the two main characters in _Polaris_ are Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath, two dealers in antiquities, a two-person firm (Alex is the owner and boss and Chase is his sole employee) that generally keeps its eyes and ears open for new objects to sell to their wealthy clientele, private individuals who want a piece commemorating some great historical person, culture, ship, or event.
The two get wind of some historical artifacts coming up for sale, artifacts connected to a famous ship known as _Polaris_. Sixty years ago it accompanied a scientific expedition to watch the collision of two stars. Unlike the other ships present it that extremely rare stellar event, it was there for pleasure; the _Polaris_ was a luxury craft sent out by the Department of Planetary Survey and Astronomical Research with a pilot and six passengers. These six passengers were famous people at the time (and still famous in the novel's present), leading scientists, media personalities, and captains of industry. There to view a magnificent and awe-inspiring natural event, the ship failed to accompany the research vessels when they jumped back home.
Not responding to hails, a rescue mission was sent, Survey first diverting a nearby freighter. The crew of the ship found when they arrived _Polaris_ adrift in space. They boarded the vessel and found no evidence of damage, the ships Artificial Intelligence turned off but still functional (and unaware of any problems). The pressure suits and the ship's lander were still present, and the way personal items were present, books still open to where they were being read, food left on the table, seemed to indicate that the crew had left suddenly. Where had they gone though? No one was found on the ship, no blood, no signs of any struggle. An ever expanding rescue mission which eventually included many dozens of Survey, military, and even private vessels found nothing. No bodies adrift in the vacuum of space, no place where they might have set down, nothing. They were never found and years later, proclaimed dead.
The disappearance of the pilot and six passengers was one of the most romantic mysteries of Alex's and Chase's time, a topic subject to some of the wildest speculations and conjectures about aliens, space diseases, ghosts, or stranger theories. Whatever the cause, Alex and Chase were delighted to find that they had an opportunity to purchase from Survey select items connected with the passengers and crew and them offer them up for sale to their own grateful and wealthy clientele.
Unfortunately, all does not go as planned. A bomb goes off at the site of the auction where the majority of the artifacts were housed. The artifacts there are destroyed, though the few that Chase and Alex saved still exist. Though the authorities and even our two protagonists don't have any reason (at first) to believe the bombing had any connection with the _Polaris_, they begin to wonder as someone is investigating the artifacts that Alex and Chase sold and also someone broke into their house, obviously looking for something. Alex and Chase conclude that someone is trying to find something, something hidden in one of the artifacts. They want to prevent that item from being discovered, whether that means destroying the object, buying it themselves, or stealing it. Also, they are not above killing those who get in their way. What is this object? What is so important after sixty years, when everyone connected with the doomed flight is retired or deceased? Who is after them?
I enjoyed the book greatly, I liked the murder mystery aspect of it, it unfolded very well and in such a way I began to guess what the answer was. The book had some similarities to the first volume, _A Talent For War_, such as Alex and Chase investigating harmless social clubs that are essentially groups of hobbyists who get together to celebrate their interest in something historical and finding deep, dark secrets connected to famous people and events that would once found totally rewrite history. The book is told from the point of view of Chase, a difference from the first volume (and a point of view also used in _Seeker_). There is also a good deal of action in the book, particularly at the end.
Summary of Polaris (Alex Benedict)
Jack McDevitt brings back the daring Alex Benedict from A Talent for War, thrusting him into a far-future tale of mystery and suspense that will lead the prominent antiquities dealer to the truth about an abandoned space yacht called the Polaris.
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