The Artifact

By Patrick Astre

Brookhaven National Laboratory sprawls in the serene natural surroundings of Eastern Long Island, New York. Deep within a heavily guarded compound on the grounds of the Laboratory, a forbidding... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930486561
• ISBN13: 9781930486560
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Salvo Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great, Alien Sci-Fi

I listened to the unabridged audio edition of the Artifact and was pleasantly surprised. It was a gripping tense thriller, packed with action and suspense and quite a few endearing characters. Frankly, I hope Mr. Astre chooses to write another. In particular I liked the characters of Mikey, Donny, and the Janitor. The story? It's about an ancient alien Artifact unearthed by the Israeli's and studied in an American lab. At first the artifact seems benign but soon the sinister truth becomes evident... Can a handicapped child and his uncle save the day or will earth be destroyed by a new alien menace? Astre's writing is quite smooth. His characters are well-written and sympathetic. My only peeve with this book was the multiple POV switch. I found it a little herky jerky to stitch between so many characters especially at the beginning. And when each chapter introduces another character (usually someone who will die), I found it a bit disconcerting. I prefer novels where there is a single set of characters and the POV switches are kept to a minimum. This was a fun quick read and reminds me a bit of Crichton's work. I can easily see a film being made out of this. Recommend fo sci-fi fans.