hardcover, 290 pages
Published June 18, 2019 by Blackstone Publishing.
An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of superadvanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last.
A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witnesses and victims to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.
I loved Turnbull's second novel, so I had high expectations of his debut. This one is a more straightforward story, but the horror and mystery of this alien invasion story was rich and rewarding. The commentary on social justice and the resiliency of communities is a through line for both novels, and was a strength of this story.
