Rosalyn Devar is on the run from her famous family, the bioengineering job she’s come to hate, and her messed-up life. She’s run all the way to outer space, where she’s taken a position as a “space janitor,” cleaning up ill-fated research expeditions. But no matter how far she goes, Rosalyn can’t escape herself. After too many mistakes on the job, she’s given one last chance: take care of salvaging the Brigantine, a research vessel that has gone dark, with all crew aboard thought dead. 

But the Brigantine’s crew are very much alive–if not entirely human. Now Rosalyn is trapped on board, alone with a crew infected by a mysterious parasitic alien. The captain, Edison Aries, seems to still maintain some control over himself and the crew, but he won’t be able to keep fighting much longer. Rosalyn and Edison must find a way to stop the parasite’s onslaught…or it may take over the entire human race.

Space and horror.

Horror and space.

Two great tastes that taste great together!!

I mean, I think the Alien franchise will forever define that gloriously blurred line between sci-fi & horror, but there are so many amazing shows & movies & books that do this as well.

I’ve been really excited to read a full-length novel from Madeline Roux. Prior to reading Salvaged, the only thing I had read by Roux was her Star Wars short story, “Eclipse,” part of the brilliant From a Certain Point of View collection. I had to look to refresh my memory, but that’s a brutal & emotional story, in a collection with no shortage of heartbreaking moments!

Salvaged is a book with one of the more memorable openings I’ve read in awhile. When we meet our protagonist, Rosalyn Devar, she’s aboard a spaceship, vacuuming up liquified human remains. It’s…disgusting.

It’s also her birthday.

Rosalyn’s life has spun a bit out of control. She’s a brilliant scientist, but in an attempt to sort’ve outrun her past & her family, she’s taken this job to just keep moving forward. But one too many shifts in space vacuuming up goopified people has led Rosalyn to a life of heavy drinking. Which gets her in trouble. She gets One Last Chance to prove herself, otherwise she’s going to be out of a job.

Of course, the very next job is yet another mysterious salvage mission, which…all these spaceships turning up with dead & liquified people have got to be connected, no?

But then…when Rosalyn and her new partner locate the latest derelict spaceship, it turns out the crew isn’t dead. Not exactly. But they have been hijacked by some weird alien parasite that has the crew members acting…not themselves. Rosalyn has to unravel the mystery & conspiracy behind all this, while also, you know…staying alive.

Salvaged has some pretty tense moments & overall, I dug the hell out of this. There are some really different aspects to the story structure that made this feel really unique in the world of sci-fi/horror, and it’s rather character driven as well. I believe there’s another book coming (Reclaimed) set in the same world, but based on the synopsis, it doesn’t seem as if it’s a direct sequel. Either way, I’m looking forward to it, and to checking out more of Madeleine Roux’s work going forward!