What is Burnout? Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 is a science fiction mystery thriller. It is the story of a fictional Space Shuttle disaster which turns out not to be an accident. As the principal investigators dig deeper, they discover the signs of something unusual - and as they do, friends, lovers, and colleagues involved in the investigation begin to die in mysterious “accidents.” They find themselves on the run, searching for answers, wondering who they can - and can’t - trust, in a game of cat and mouse that spans more than one continent, and may span more than one planet.
Who am I? I am a rocket scientist. I hold graduate and undergraduate degrees in four sciences: Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. I am a former payload flight controller, a veteran of over twenty years of working in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs. I have worked on numerous Space Shuttle flights and the International Space Station, and I count the training of astronauts on my resumé. Of those astronauts I trained, one was Kalpana Chawla, a member of the crew lost in the Columbia disaster. Burnout is dedicated to her and her crewmates.
So far, Burnout is generating very good response from advance readers. Comments like:
“Burnout is a compelling, impossible to put down, first novel in the class of Skylark of Space or “Lifeline.” ... It may perhaps be the most realistic view ever published in fiction about what happens behind the scenes at NASA.”
~ Dr. Jim Woosley, Ph.D. physicist and Heinlein essayist.
“Hard-edged SF that wraps a compelling mystery around ‘this is the real thing’ space science. Burnout is tight, tense, and gripping — Osborn tells a damn good story, and tells it well.”
~ Holly Lisle, author of The Ruby Key: Moon & Sun I.
“I just finished reading it [Burnout]. Really well done! Probably my favorite space themed thriller since Shadows of Medusa and Ben Bova's 'Mars' trilogy. I look forward to reading your subsequent novels. You deserve all the credit for a remarkably detailed piece of conspiracy (my favorite subject!).”
~ David Nora, SF short story anthologist.
If the general public likes it as well, I will be happy. I hope they do.
If it sounds interesting to you, Burnout is available at Amazon and Barnes-Noble, as well as directly from my publisher, Twilight Times Books.
