Description:
"Hel claims that her hacker friends are a bunch of freaking geniuses. A Sidewinder up the tailpipe would be a brutal way to learn that Hel overestimates her geek pals’ expertise."
Fired by NASA for stunt-flying a space shuttle during re-entry, ex-astronaut Mick Oolfson now spends his unhappy days spraying manure over soybeans from his ailing DC3, dreaming of returning to space. So when testosterone-surfing geek goddess Heloise Chin offers him an astronaut gig on Channel Zilch, a pirate orbiting reality show, Mick jumps at the chance. What Heloise doesn’t mention is that the dream gig involves stealing the space shuttle Enterprise.
Getting back into space is worth a little risk, but Mick never signed on for Russian gangsters and nightmare journeys on reeking Turkish freighters. He also didn’t expect Tobias Ishwald, the relentless head of NASA Security—and the man who got him canned—to try to ruin his dreams a second time. Trusting Hel will probably get him killed, but with a little fancy flying Mick just might see the stars again.
A near-future, hard-science thriller with heart and purpose, CHANNEL ZILCH is a smart, fast-moving adventure you won’t soon forget, and the first volume in the “Hel’s Bet” trilogy.
Praise for CHANNEL ZILCH:
“A madcap romp . . . Filled to the brim with hilarious set pieces, this is a wickedly entertaining read.” —Aliette de Bodard, 2013 Nebula Award winner
“Sharp’s dialogue is glib, whip-smart and moves, almost—dare I say—Zelaznyesque to some degree but with sharper corners, making this high-energy joyride of a novel almost impossible to put down. . . I recommend it to anyone interested in a seat-of-the-pants, high-tech SF thriller with more than its share of attitude, intriguing, eccentric characters, and a smoldering Sense of Wonder bubbling under the surface of every page.” —SF Site (featured review)
“I loved Channel Zilch! A brilliant, witty, crime caper involving a retired space shuttle, I was hooked from the first chapter through the last page.” —William Hertling, author of “The Last Firewall Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Channel Zilch (Doug Sharp)