Salvaged by Madeleine Roux is a good example of fast-paced, diverting science fiction. It does have its faults, but that does not mean one cannot enjoy a good, old-fashioned space drama. After all, humankind does not change no matter how far from Earth we might voyage.

Rosalyn makes for a solid main character. Her determination and unwillingness to give up offset her faults. The trauma in her past may trigger some readers, but Ms. Roux does not go into explicit details about the event. Instead, she focuses on Rosalyn’s fear, shock, and outrage at what occurred. As Rosalyn wrestles with her past and the messy events she faces, you cannot but help admire her resilience and intelligence.

And yet, the mysterious fungus threatening Rosalyn and all of mankind is a bit too similar to the protomolecule from The Expanse for comfort. It not only shines as a blue filament but it also grows and corrupts everything it contacts. It even creates a hive mind, much like how the protomolecule operates.

In addition, it feels as if Ms. Roux resolves one-half of Rosalyn’s problems too soon and too easily. On the one hand, I can see why she did that because to continue that aspect of the story would bring nothing but repetition. However, the resolution she uses seems so obvious and so easy that it is unsatisfying. Maybe my thoughts on this show influence by The Expanse series, which is nothing but one creative and shocking event to another. In that series, even easy answers are complex and unusual. So, to obtain a resolution to a problem that is as simple as the push of a button feels unfinished.

Another niggling issue I have with Salvaged is that we never receive an adequate understanding of the connections between corporations involved in the event. Ms. Roux fails to thoroughly explain each organization and how it fits with the others, nor do we understand the levels of involvement of each, including the company for which Rosalyn works. While a clear-cut picture of the relationships and aims of each organization may not be essential for the story’s resolution, it does help clarify motive and execution in such a way that it, in turn, clarifies Rosalyn’s place within the events.

For all its faults and similarities to other beloved books, however, I did enjoy Salvaged. For a short while, it took me away from the drama of the pending inauguration and helped me forget my own problems. The issues I had with the story were annoying but not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. ( )

I enjoyed Rosalyn and the creepy but touching encounters with past and actual demons, but I think the ending didn't quite land it for me. So much of the story, and the characters are vague, and I would have liked the climax to have more of that. ( )

Pros: great characters, interesting story

Cons:

On the run from her past, Rosalyn Devar took a job with Merchantia, cleaning up ships when missions go bad. Excessive drinking means this next mission is her last chance. But the Brigantine’s not the dead, drifting ship the company believes. To survive, she’ll have to face her past and a new alien threat.

If you like the claustrophobia of Alien and the mysterious alien element from The Expanse, you’ll love this book. My only complaint was that the holidays cut into my reading time so the paranoia had time to wear off between reading sessions. Otherwise, it gets very intense.

The characters were all quirky and interesting. The storytelling tight and focused. I did figure out one aspect of the mystery a lot sooner than the characters. The ending is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

I really enjoyed it. ( )

Rosalyn is running from her past and ends up being a scavenger (aka a space janitor) that cleans up unfortunate research expeditions in space. After numerous mistakes on the job, Rosalyn is given one last chance to prove that she wants to keep her job. That chance is salvaging a research vessel, the Brigantine, that has gone dark and the crew thought dead. But Rosalyn comes across a major surprise when she finds the crew not dead but alive to say the least. Now she’s trapped on the Brigantine with parasitic alien infected humans that have little control over themselves. Now Rosalyn must fight to stop the parasite or risk it spreading.

I rather enjoyed this sci-fi, horror, space themed book! About half way through I did find myself slightly bored but I pushed through and it paid off.

This book was won through a Goodreads Giveaway and all opinions are my own. ( )

This stories main character, Roslyn, is a former scientist turned salvager due to a traumatic experience in her old job and she wanted to get away from it as much as possible. She tries to dispel those demons through alcohol and cleaning up wreckage or accidents up in space. When her drinking nearly gets her fired she is given one more chance to prove herself on a mission to clean up what could be the forth in a series of fatal expeditions.
When she arrives on the scene she quickly finds out that there are survivors but that something alien has taken over and it might lead back to her families company she has been running from.
I think that the characters were well written with believable flaws that made them believable. I thought that the story itself was quite good and could easily be made into a movie. I just felt that the ending was wrapped up too quickly and conveniently and definitely left questions to be answered. ( )