Chilling Effect

by Valerie Valdes

Overview

“Jam-packed with weird aliens, mysterious artifacts, and lovable characters... a tremendous good time and an impressive debut.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred)

A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.

Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy syndicate that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva must undergo a series of unpleasant, dangerous missions to pay the ransom.

But Eva may lose her mind before she can raise the money. The ship’s hold is full of psychic cats, an amorous fish-faced emperor wants her dead after she rejects his advances, and her sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. The worse things get, the more she lies, raising suspicions and testing her loyalty to her found family.

To free her sister, Eva will risk everything: her crew, her ship, and the life she’s built on the ashes of her past misdeeds. But when the dominoes start to fall and she finds the real threat is greater than she imagined, she must decide whether to play it cool or burn it all down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062877239
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	157,191
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Valerie Valdes’s work has been published in Nightmare Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, and the anthologies She Walks in Shadows, and Time Travel Short Stories. She is a graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop and lives in Miami, Florida with her husband and children.

 

Editorial Reviews

06/24/2019

Valdes’s space opera misadventure of deceit and family ties is full of heart but slow to develop. Capt. Eva Innocente, a reformed rogue, has gotten herself on the right track, cruising the galaxy with the crew of the La Sirena Negra and taking up small legal jobs even though that means smaller profit. But after receiving a message that her sister, Mari, has been kidnapped by an intergalactic syndicate called the Fridge, Eva has to wager her ship, her crew, and her better life to get Mari back. Soon she’s lying to her crew, fending off an angry suitor, and wrangling a cargo hold full of psychic cats. The intrigue, deception, and action somehow never quite rev up, but spirited characters and absurd humor hold this novel together as the plot trudges forward. Readers who get through the smaller early mishaps and into the meat of the book will find it satisfying. Agent: Quressa Robinson, Nelson Literary. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Valerie Valdes delivers a hilarious and heartwarming story of a lovably screwed-up found family pinballing through a galaxy of spies and villains. My crops are watered, my skin is clear, my shields are at full strength, and my heart is ready for Eva’s next adventure.”  

Patrick Weekes

Eva’s fiery spark of devotion and spirit will keep readers captivated until the very last page of this winding, backtracking and space-jumping ride.

BookPage

Chilling Effect is a funny, fast-moving, richly detailed space opera set in a sprawling universe of aliens and flashy tech, and Eva Innocente and her rag-tag crew make for excellent company while you’re hurtling from one planet to the next. While the ending satisfies, it will also leave you very much looking forward to another tour of the galaxy with this band of rebellious misfits.

B&N Sci-fi and Fantasy Blog

Imagine if Firefly and Mass Effect got together and had a baby, and that baby were delivered by Guillermo del Toro. This book is that baby. ¡Esto fue un triunfo!

Curtis C. Chen

Mass Effect meets The Expanse in this energetic space opera adventure. Eva Innocente is unforgettable starship captain and I love every member of her crew-slash-family. This book has enough twists to keep you up way past bedtime, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

Michael R. Underwood

Valdes’ debut novel follows starship captain Eva Innocente and her crew... The mixture of space adventure and interpersonal relationships comes off as a more light hearted take on the video game Mass Effect and should appeal to anyone looking for its particular brand of light, fun space opera.

Booklist

Valdes’ debut novel follows starship captain Eva Innocente and her crew... The mixture of space adventure and interpersonal relationships comes off as a more light hearted take on the video game Mass Effect and should appeal to anyone looking for its particular brand of light, fun space opera.

Booklist

Valerie Valdes delivers a hilarious and heartwarming story of a lovably screwed-up found family pinballing through a galaxy of spies and villains. My crops are watered, my skin is clear, my shields are at full strength, and my heart is ready for Eva’s next adventure.”   %COMM_CONTRIB%Patrick Weekes

★ 08/01/2019

Captain Eva Innocente leads her crew on La Sirena Negra as a small-time cargo smuggler. One thing she has tried to hold true to is honesty and integrity in her business and dealings with her crew, especially after her notorious past. When her sister is kidnapped by syndicate the Fridge, she must perform dangerous, probably illegal services to pay ransom. But family is everything to her, and things get worse as the lies pile up, forcing Eva to test the loyalties of everyone around her. Added to this mess is a jilted emperor who will take Eva's death instead of "no," plus a hold full of psychic cats that find their way all around the ship. As Eva contends with the threats in front of her, she must face her failures, past and present, or lose everything she has built. Valdes's elegant writing is on point, with all the emotional buy-in that comes with a story about families. VERDICT Featuring memorable Cuban-descended characters, this engaging space opera debut delivers a story that dances between hilarity and seriousness, with all the joy and frustration psychic cats can bring to the mix.—Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Library Journal

★ 2019-07-01
The snarky captain of a small cargo ship is sent on harrowing missions through space by the frightening syndicate holding her sister hostage.

Capt. Eva Innocente and her small but talented crew traverse the galaxy in her beloved ship, La Sirena Negra, completing cargo runs for various clients. Eva may be a little rough around the edges, but who can blame her when her story begins with a shady customer ditching her with a cargo of troublemaking psychic cats (no, really) and no payment. But when Eva is contacted by a representative of the Fridge, a shadowy crime organization that has kidnapped her sister, Mari, the cats become the least of Eva's troubles. The Fridge orders Eva to complete a series of missions, each more dangerous than the last, in order to secure Mari's freedom. Eva is terrified for her sister's safety, but she's only barely in better shape herself. A sleazy alien emperor whose amorous advances she rejected will literally kill to have her, she lied to her crew about her sister's kidnapping, and, worst of all, she might have feelings for her engineer! Valdes is a debut author, but this zany, rollicking adventure doesn't show it. Jam-packed with weird aliens, mysterious artifacts, and lovable characters, there isn't a single dull page. Eva and her family are Latinx and often include unitalicized Spanish in their dialogue, a rare find in a genre that usually uses whiteness as the default.

A tremendous good time and an impressive debut.

Kirkus Reviews