RRP: £7.99

Save: £1.78 (22%)

FREE delivery: Thursday, Aug 26 on your first eligible order to UK or Ireland.

Fastest delivery: Tomorrow
Order within 12 hrs 44 mins Details

Only 1 left in stock (more on the way).
Available on Kindle eBook and can be read on any device with the free Kindle App. Want to Listen? Try Audible.

££6.21 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Dispatches from	Amazon
Sold by	Amazon

Details

Dispatches from

Amazon

Sold by

Amazon

Add gift options

£2.79 delivery: Aug 28 - Sep 1 Details

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Re-Read

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the author

Rob Boffard

Tracer (Outer Earth) Paperback – 16 July 2015

by Rob Boffard (Author)

65 ratings

Book 1 of 2 in the Outer Earth Series

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle Edition

"Please retry"

£2.99

—

Audible Audiobooks, Unabridged

"Please retry"

£0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Paperback

"Please retry"

£6.21

£1.90

£0.01

Note: This item is eligible for FREE Click and Collect without a minimum order subject to availability. Details

Imagine The Bourne Identity meets Gravity and you'll get TRACER, the most exciting thriller set in space you'll ever read.

A huge space station orbits the Earth, holding the last of humanity. It's broken, rusted, falling apart. We've wrecked our planet, and now we have to live with the consequences: a new home that's dirty, overcrowded and inescapable.

What's more, there's a madman hiding on the station. He's about to unleash chaos. And when he does, there'll be nowhere left to run.

In space, every second counts. Who said nobody could hear you scream?

'Fast, exhilarating and unforgettable, and once you start it you can't stop' Sarah Lotz, author of The Three

'A stunning debut that never lets up, from the nerve-jangling beginning to the explosive end' James Douglas, author of The Doomsday Machine

'TRACER sets a new standard for all-action SF' Ken MacLeod

Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Orbit
Publication date

16 July 2015
Dimensions

20 x 2.9 x 12.9 cm
ISBN-10

0356505138
ISBN-13

978-0356505138
See all details

School Books

From pre-school to A-levels, find School Books for all ages Shop now

Product description

Review

TRACER is the literary equivalent of a base jump: fast, exhilarating and unforgettable, and once you start it you can't stop. I loved it., Sarah Lotz, author of THE THREE

Exhilarating and guaranteed to keep you hooked until the very last page, GLAMOUR

TRACER sets a new standard for all-action SF, Ken MacLeod

Relentlessly fast pace...Vivid action scenes, SFX

Compelling, compulsive...Thoroughly entertaining - this one's worth picking up if you're in the mood for some sci-fi action., SCIFI AND FANTASY REVIEWS

If you're after a fast-paced, action-packed, cinematic space adventure, then Tracer is absolutely for you . . . A promising debut, I think Rob Boffard is an author to watch, CIVILIAN READER

Riley Hale battles to save the last remnants of humanity in the claustrophobic, brilliantly evoked world of a crumbling space station where danger lies around every corner. A stunning debut by Rob Boffard that never lets up, from the nerve-jangling beginning to the explosive end, James Douglas, author of THE DOOMSDAY TESTAMENT

From its very first page, Tracer leaps into life and the pace doesn't drop until the end . . . This is not an easy novel to put down, the space station dramatically imagined, and I look forward to seeing where we are taken next., FOR WINTER NIGHTS

I absolutely loved this book. Boffard's style of writing is ingenious. He has created a world within this book that is both mesmerising and terrifying at the same time . . . This is one that will go down in history as a classic novel., THE WRITER'S RAMBLES

Ludicrously fast-paced, with a brilliant sci-fi setting, TRACER is an absolute blast of a read, David Owen, author of PANTHER

A hugely enjoyable and exciting space dystopia . . . I loved this. I'll definitely be looking out for the next book in the series . . this isn't just for fans of science fiction and space stories . . . If you like exciting and twisty thrillers (with a side order of action), you may find this right up your street., Nudge Book

Book Description

Imagine The Bourne Identity meets Gravity and you'll get TRACER, the most exciting thriller set in space you'll ever read.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit (16 July 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0356505138
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0356505138
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 20 x 2.9 x 12.9 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 840,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 2,861 in Cyberpunk
- 3,259 in Colonisation
- 4,250 in Space Fleet

Customer reviews:
65 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		36%
4 star		30%
3 star		13%
2 star		18%
1 star		3%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Dr. E. E. Ernstbrunner

Ludicrous plot, failure to grasp elementary physics

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2016

Verified Purchase

It's written well enough (saving it from a one-star rating), but there are two serious negatives here:

1. The author would fail O level physics.
a) He keeps confusing gravity with centrifugal/centripetal force. On an orbiting rotating station there is only Coriolis force acting on bodies not in direct contact with the station structure. So you don't fall "straight down", and you certainly aren't subject to g-force acceleration as you fall/float. Thus the tracers' manoeuvres as described simply don't work in this environment, as the mechanics of earth gravity don't apply.
b) He has this absurd scenario where Riley fires the booster to spin up the station and is INSTANTLY subjected to several g. It takes a very long time to spin up a large body (the author seems to be unaware of inertia). And then she shuts the boosters down and is immediately back to normal gravity...
c) A station having a radius of 6 miles would have to spin at a rate of about 0.3RPM to achieve apparent Earth gravity at its outer rim - i.e. it would take only 3.3 min per revolution, hardly the slow motion described in the text.

2.The continuous violence for (mostly) violence's sake palls quickly. In fact, it gets more and more ludicrous, the good guys (mostly) escaping by the skin of their teeth. (This in fact gets worse in the sequel "Zero-G", which of course fails the physics test as disastrously as this first instalment).

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. W. T. Taylor

Bodies moving in a vacuum

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 October 2015

Verified Purchase

Whatever one might say about Tracer, the one thing it has in spades is a relentless forward momentum. Set aboard a ramshackle space station containing the sad remains of the human race that is just hours away from destruction, it presents an unlikely saviour in the form of Riley Hale, a punky courier who specialises in speed, parkour and a cynical line of banter. Hale has to battle her way through the 18-mile circumference of the space station with just about every other occupant out to stop her before she can reach the control room and halt the countdown to armageddon. It's a bit like Die Hard meets District 13 meets The Warriors.

Which is the whole problem with Tracer in a nutshell: it feels less like a novel than a pitch for a movie – a sketchy outline lacking any real depth or gravity (no pun intended). With the exception of Hale, who is fleshed out as a scrappy and appealing hero, everyone else along for the ride is strictly one-dimensional. Unfortunately this includes Oren Darnell, the snarling villain of the piece, who is never given much in the way of compelling motivation for wanting to render the human race extinct beyond the fact that he's utterly bonkers. Credibility is further strained when various other characters are revealed to be secretly in cahoots with Darnell in sequences that have all the dramatic weight of a villain being unmasked in a Scooby Doo cartoon. Dang, we would have got away with it if it hadn't been for that meddling Riley Hale!

Make no mistake, Tracer is fast-paced and action-packed. Unfortunately, it's also completely disposable and eminently forgettable.

Helpful

ExtraPilot

Summary: "Die Hard" in a Space Station

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is effectively "Die Hard in a Space Station" with a Brucette Willis. If you've seen enough Die Hard films then you pretty much already know the plot of this story. Yeah, it was entertaining if you're in the mood for non-stop, totally implausible action with a characters who seem impervious to a good beating, and a predictable story line. In fact this is one of those rare books where one can imagine the film version being better - and done with in 100 minutes.

I don't actually regret reading it, but there were moments when I had to put it down because the action had become tedious and pointless. The author seems to have also taken a light view of the laws of physics, specifically in implying that one can spin up an 18 mile circumference space station in a few minutes to the extent that everyone is being centrifuged to the floor. Hmmm, i don't think so.

So, yeah, if you're on the beach with nothing else to do and feel like disengaging your brains for a while, this is the book of the day.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

testtesttest

Do you like fight scenes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2015

Verified Purchase

Do you like fight scenes, people running around, race against time situations and a balance of likeable heroes and villains and pace then this book is for you. I loved the premise of Outer Earth and a group of people wanting to destroy what remains of Humanity while a few choose to fight. The sequels Zero G is out in January 2016 with Impact due for release in June 2016. The only question now for me is will films be made of these original stories?

Helpful

Taryn Lee Schutz

Awesome book. Must read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2015

Verified Purchase

I'm not usually a Sci-fi Action book reader but I enjoyed every page of this one. I loved the concept of Outer Earth and Tracers as couriers and for me I liked that it did not get to Sci-fi and technical so I could still relate to the characters. I also enjoyed that there was more going on behind the scenes with the characters, romance, sorrow, revenge, aggression and more. It was an awesome read and I have already pre-ordered book two. Can't wait.

Helpful

Ryan B.

Brilliantly written, excellent story and a very unique style

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2015

Verified Purchase

Its not often I find a book that I just cant put down, a book that makes my heart race when I read it. Tracer is such a book. Brilliantly written, excellent story and a very unique style. I love the characters and the way the author develops them.
If you’re looking for an action packed, fast paced, exciting adventure story then this book is a must, even if you don’t like sci-fi.
Well done Rob!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2018

Verified Purchase

will read more Boffard

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 August 2015

Verified Purchase

Sci-fi / fantasy is my favourite genre so this was right up my street. I like how it is a future possibility and not the unrealistic, generic aliens. I also think it flows really well. Looking forward to the next book! :)

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: earth science

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food	Amazon Second Chance Pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life

Select Your Cookie Preferences

Follow the author

Similar authors to follow

Tracer (Outer Earth) Paperback – 16 July 2015