Exiles - by Mason Coile (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The human crew sent to prepare the first colony on Mars arrives to find the new base half-destroyed and the three robots sent to set it up in disarray--the machines have formed alliances, chosen their own names, and picked up some disturbing beliefs. Each must be interrogated. But one of them is missing. In this barren, hostile landscape where even machines have nightmares, the astronauts will need to examine all the stories--especially their own--to get to the truth"--

Book Synopsis

A terrifying locked-room mystery from the author of William--this time set on a remote outpost on Mars.

The human crew sent to prepare the first colony on Mars arrives to find the new base half-destroyed and the three robots sent to set it up in disarray--the machines have formed alliances, chosen their own names, and picked up some disturbing beliefs. Each must be interrogated. But one of them is missing.

In this barren, hostile landscape where even machines have nightmares, the astronauts will need to examine all the stories--especially their own--to get to the truth.

Exiles is a terrifying, taut, one-sitting read, and Mason Coile once again blends science fiction and psychological horror to engage some of humanity's deepest questions.

Review Quotes

"Taut and suspenseful, smart and wickedly funny, Exiles is a white-knuckle read that you'll want to devour without stopping. I couldn't put it down until the last twisting page." --Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of Murder Road

"[P]acey and taut . . . Exiles has the breathless pace of a thriller, the creeping dread of horror and the robots and alien landscapes of science fiction . . . Even if Exiles isn't reinventing the extraterrestrial thriller, it's still a standout example of the form: satisfying, entertaining and emphatically human." --New York Times Book Review

"[A] taut, terrifying combination of science fiction and horror that doubles as a locked-room mystery on Mars . . . What begins as survival horror quickly becomes a meditation on AI, paranoia and the weight of grief in isolation. [Coile's] final work is lean, propulsive and layered with existential dread, capped by a devastating emotional undercurrent. Exiles is both a gripping thriller and a poignant farewell, proof of [Coile's] rare gift for marrying terror with tenderness." --Seattle Times

"Exiles is a terrifying, taut, one-sitting read, and Mason Coile once again blends science fiction and psychological horror to engage some of humanity's deepest questions." --Reactor

"A locked-room mystery set in the near future . . . A fast and riveting read." --CrimeReads

"This sci-fi horror novel delivers a gripping blend of psychological tension and fast-paced suspense. Structured like a locked-room mystery, where the locked room is an uninhabitable planet, the story builds an atmosphere of isolation and paranoia." --Library Journal

"A taut, terrifying thriller." --The Guardian

"Lean, mean, and propulsively paced . . . Nerve-shredding space whodunnitry with a side of existential dread." --Kirkus

"With its tough-as-nails heroine and scheming robots, there's plenty here to hold sci-fi fans' interest." --Publishers Weekly

"A sci-fi locked-room mystery set on Mars? Sign us up!" --Bookish

"An action-packed space opera." --BookBub

"This slim, propulsive read follows the first human crew to colonize Mars . . . A blend of locked-room mystery, whodunnit, sci-fi, and good, old-fashioned jump-scare horror, this is the kind of thing you read in a single sitting then lose sleep over for days." --TheSkimm

"Mason Coile just brought gothic horror to Mars. Don't let its vast landscape fool you, there's something haunting this planet--and these pages. I absolutely inhaled this propulsive gasp of a novel." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

"In Exiles, Mason Coile introduces the fiercest, most formidable female character I've read in a long time--beware, Dana Gold's past and present will haunt you long after you've turned the final page. This brilliant novel reminds us that sometimes the monster to be most afraid of is lurking, just out of sight, in our own pasts." --Rachel Eve Moulton, author of Tantrum

"At once a science-fiction whodunnit and a claustrophobic horror story, Exiles is a tour de force. You can't stop turning pages." --Andy Davidson, author of The Hollow Kind

About the Author

Mason Coile is a pseudonym of Andrew Pyper, the award-winning author of William and ten other novels, including The Demonologist, which won the International Thriller Writers Award, and Lost Girls, which was a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year.