Solid 4stars

This is an interesting trip to Mars. The characters were a bit flat but still a good story. I don’t think a comparison to “The Martian” is valid. The only thing similar is the loo….Mars. I think this book is worth the credit and I have just downloaded the second book in the series. I’m going to jump right into it so in summary try it or don’t… I say try. W.Hope is C5 one of the best narrators in the biz. He is worth a star all by himself.

2 people found this helpful

Derivative perhaps, but still outstanding!

If you are a fan of Martian exploration stories ( and gosh, there is no shortage of those, nor are they all good ) this series is for you! Sure, you could argue it is somewhat derivative of The Martian ( etc.) even to the extent that they make sly reference to the story itself, but why not?! Some things are just good and deserve to be respected. This story crackles along with just enough space opera and strangeness to keep the listener engaged. The principal, "Frank" is very well drawn, consistent, and keeps the listener interested and engaged in his journey.
The other characters are nearly as compelling and drive the story arc along equally well.
A brilliant performance by William Hope, who is developing into one of the leading Audible performers in my books.
The series comes highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

A True Thrill-Ride

I have to admit, I suspected the final twist to this book for a long time, but somehow it still kept me guessing, or at least feeling like I didn't have all the cards I needed to play... the author weaves a truly spectacular and edge-of-your-seat murder mystery that is only improved by the fact it's set on Mars, and the audiobook performance really makes it pop
I highly recommend this to all sci-fi and thriller lovers!

1 person found this helpful

good book, but unsatisfying ending

overall this was a great book. the storyline was unique and plausible, and I really like the fact that there was so much scientifically correct information in it. however, the ending was rather abrupt and unsatisfying. I also think there was much more opportunity to embellish the reasoning behind the decisions the company XO made.

1 person found this helpful

A New Twist on a Space Murder Mystery

4.5 out of 5 stars

One Way has been on my radar for some time – I ended up picking this book up to read (non-requested review) which I have very little time for anymore. My wife and I started another book on a drive home from DC and we just couldn’t get into it. We put One Way on and were instantly hooked. Literally the first 3 minutes were more intriguing than the hour we had given another book.

Morden knows how to build both suspense and intrigue as he builds the world, the characters, and the mistrust throughout. You follow one main character but are introduced to numerous others. Frank is one of those characters that in the beginning you don’t know if he is going to be a good or a bad guy – and you’re told right away that he’s a convict. You’re also told pretty early on why he’s a convict. While I’m not a parent – I could completely understand the crime that Frank committed.

Once the Earth part of the story was over – this entire book read like the synopsis said. It combines And Then There Was One and The Martian. And it references and I think pays a little homage to The Martian a couple times (there was at least one scene where duct tape was mentioned. I thought for sure one of them was going to mention Mark but they didn’t. I kept thinking to myself that this could have honestly been the prequel to The Martian. It was built in such a way that the convicts sounded like they were building the HAB that the characters in The Martian were going to live and work in. While I understand that the science and technology needed to power a Martian base would be the same – it felt so similar.

So, that bodes well for fans of The Martian. And if you like a good “whodunit” murder-mystery an are looking for something set in a new and unique environment you should check out One Way.

Overall, I thought that One Way was a well thought out and paced combination of a science fiction and murder mystery book. It has elements that a lot of people would enjoy and will have me thinking about it when it comes time to vote for my best books of 2018.

1 person found this helpful

good but...

For something that was compared to books like The Martian and the like, it's got a lot of little details and fact wrong. As someone who really likes that stuff it's was a disappointment and ruined the story a bit. Maybe because it was presented as something that cared about details like that. If that kind of thing doesn't bug you, then it's a mostly good story otherwise.

No good guys, only less bad

Very interesting and not like most of the stuff I read. There arw absolutely no good guys in this story, only less bad. It's a quick read and I recommend

Terrible Wooden Narrator and Slow Plot

I really do not like writing bad reviews but I feel that I have to with this one. The narrator is awful. He sounds so wooden. The plot was so slow to me. By the time anything exciting happened, I honestly didn't care. Also, I knew from very early on in the book who was going to be killing everyone and I was right. No surprise at all there. I wouldn't waste your time, $ or credit on this one.

Not Much of a Mystery

There is an interesting concept at the core of this book. The future exploration of the solar system will be built with very little supervision from NASA. And the companies getting the contracts for the building will, unsurprisingly, be far more interested in cutting costs than they are in ethical behavior or human rights. So when XO figures out that it can’t have robots assemble the research station it is contracted to build on Mars, it decides to use human convict labor instead. And since the corporation owns/controls a privatized prison system in California, it has a ready pool of convicts to draw upon and a big hammer to make them do what it wants. (Solitary confinement forever is the big punishment threat for failure to meet expectations in the very brief training program.)

Enter Frank. He’s serving something like 120 years for shooting his son’s drug dealer. The dealer was the son of a sheriff and he believed the only way to save his son was to get rid of the man. Not very well thought out, obviously, but it makes him a sympathetic convict. He ran a construction company before his crime and has critical skills that XO will need on Mars as do 7 other convicts who make up Frank’s team.

The most obvious flaw in XO’s plan is that there is no way to make certain the convicts do the job once they get to Mars. Enter Brack. He’s the thug that XO intends to keep their convicts in line. There’s just one problem. Once on Mars, what’s to keep the convicts from killing him? The answer was obvious and frankly the convicts were seriously stupid not to consider it. I knew the answer when Brack made his pitch to Frank. Brack tells him that he is making a deal with him because he’s the only trustworthy convict in the group. If he watches Brack’s back, Brack will bring him back to earth and get him his freedom. It was blatantly, embarrassingly, obvious from moment one that Brack was making this deal with every convict, but apparently none of them ever consider this possibility.

Then they get to Mars and people start dying. By the second death it was also obvious that the people who were dying were the ones whose usefulness had ended. Again, I immediately suspected Brack but he’s the one person no one considers, even when it becomes obvious that the convicts are being murdered. The reason is obvious. The convicts are a liability. There is no way that NASA would have approved using convicts for this mission so they need to be killed, preserved, and shipped back to earth where they could “die” in prison. It takes an incredibly long time for Frank (or anyone) to consider this possibility and their stupidity hurts the story which is sold as a big mystery.

So let’s be clear. There is no mystery, but it’s still an exciting story. Watching the convicts overcome their problems and establish the base was enjoyable—not The Martian level enjoyable, but enjoyable none the less. Perhaps the big difference between the two books is that Frank doesn’t have much of a personality. He’s amazingly low key and the rest of the cast is two dimensional at best. Still, I’m glad I read it.

Three and a half stars

Recommended. I figured out the mystery early on, but I still enjoyed the story. So much so that I purchased the second book No Way immediately after finishing this. I am probably rating a little high based on my love for sci fi and Agatha Christie. Not as great as Saturn Run, Project Hail Mary, Frozen Orbit, The Martian or the Murderbot series but hey another trip to Mars / Space is always welcome.