Detour by Rob Hart and Jeff Rake
Detour
by Rob Hart and Jeff Rake
Science Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
320 Pages
Released January 2026
Detour Series #1
Rating: ★★ 1/2
Goodreads
Content Warnings
I requested this book a while back after coming across it on NetGalley. The description was right up my alley (and I really liked the cover) so I requested it. After my request was rejected, I came across this book again at my library so I immediately snatched up.
This book follows a ragtag group of characters, hand-selected by billionaire John Ward to be astronauts on a coveted and critical mission to Saturn’s moon - Titan. But the mission is not all that it appears to be and when the astronauts return from their two year mission, the world the left behind is not quite the same.
This was a tough one - I really wanted to like it but I really had a hard time enjoying this story. This book felt like it wanted to be a screenplay more than a novel. It also felt strangely familiar and after reading Rake’s acknowledgments at the end, everything clicked into place. I learned that Rake was heavily involved in the NBC/Netflix show, Manifest. And if you’ve watched any of those episodes, I think you’ll notice some very similar themes coming up. While I’m sure Rake and Hart intend to take this book series in a different direction from Manifest, it really felt like a rough draft set up for another TV series.
I had a lot of trouble with the pacing of this book. I understand why the authors took the approach they did, given the significant amount of time they had to cover in such a short book but it’s structured a bit awkwardly. Initially the book focuses in on each of the characters and how they were selected to go to Titan. Then it breezes through team building and astronaut training. We hardly touch on their experiences during their two years in space, instead the book focuses on a significant moment around the time they reach Titan. The rest of the book focuses on the fallout which is the part that felt the most like an action/thriller TV pitch.
I also struggled to connect with any of the people in this story. All of the characters in this book felt incomplete - pretty flat, stereotypical, and needing way more fleshing-out. There were definitely moments of intrigue but by the end of the book, I didn’t feel invested in a single person to want to continue in this series.
Unfortunately by the end of the book, I have well and truly lost interest in seeing what happens next.
That said, if you enjoyed the Manifest TV series, or are interested in an action book with a bit of space mixed in, you may enjoy this one.