Rocket Science Book

In ROCKET SCIENCE, Jay Lake's first novel, Vernon Dunham's friend Floyd Bellamy has returned to Augusta, Kansas after serving in World War II, but he hasn't come back empty-handed: he's stolen a super-secret aircraft right from under the Germans. Vernon doesn't think it's your ordinary run-of-the-mill aircraft. For one thing, it's been buried under the Arctic ice for hundreds of years. When it actually starts talking to him, he realizes it doesn't belong in Kansas-or anywhere on Earth.

The problem is, a lot of folks know about the ship and are out to get it, including the Nazis, the U.S. Army-and that's just for starters. Vernon has to figure out how to communicate with the ship and unravel its secrets before everyone catches up with him. If he ends up dead, and the ship falls into the wrong hands, it won't take a rocket scientist to predict the fate of humanity.

Library Journal

When Vernon's friend Floyd returns to Kansas after World War II, he brings back the usual souvenir German weapons as well as an entire top-secret aircraft formerly buried in the Arctic. Once the plane demonstrates its full capabilities, the two friends realize that they must guard it with their lives lest it fall into the wrong hands. Staying just one step ahead of government agencies and several clandestine organizations, Vernon and Floyd have to figure out how to direct the plane's internal intelligence system. Lake-winner of the 2004 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and author of several highly praised short story collections (e.g., Greetings from Lake Wu)-presents a fast-moving, quirky sf adventure as fresh and entertaining as its two heroes. Lake is an up-and-coming sf writer to watch. For most sf collections. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.