Author Chris Gerrib really hits the nail on the head with 'The Mars Run'. Written in the first person, it tells the fascinating story of Janet Pilgrim, a woman who signs up as an astronaut in order to pay for college. The book is space opera, done very well, in the spirit of Robert Heinlein, and highly recommended.
A video review of this book can be seen at Adventure Books of Seattle.

VIDEO LINK: www.adventurebooksofseattle.com/bookreviews.htm

Robert M. Blevins
Managing Editor
Adventure Books

I love sci-fi and this is just up my ally. Packed with action and danger the preview kept me glued to the computer all the way. Highly recommended.
Regards Anne

Wow! What a first sentence! And what a story! I do have a soft spot for sci-fi but even so, I recognize its usual shortcomings. Writers often fall into the trap of making relationships as ideal as their surroundings but not here. This has a dynamic grittiness that belies the genre and the style certainly doesn't pull any punches. I would definately recommend this to anybody.

I love the theme and plot of the story! The layout of the book is amazing and I love the way the trill is build! A sex scene in the mist makes a novel for any kind of reader! Highly recommended!!! Very well writen!

This book is one of fast paced action and thrilling details. If you like sex scenes along with all the suspense, this book is for you. I recommend this book.

Author, Nicole Alexander

What I thought was a tame tale turned into a fast-paced action-packed thriller. Science fiction at it's best without being preachy or over-technical. All and all... a great read! What could one expect from a fellow native of Chicagoland?

Christopher Gerrib is a former Navy man and it shows in his debut science-fiction novel, "The Mars Run." His eye for detail and procedure is trained and his descriptions are effortless. Moreover, he translates the world of ocean-going ships into space in a natural and engaging way. Not burdened by a need to fall back on techno-speak to cover up for a lack of hard knowledge, Gerrib's actions and events in space read in a way that consistently rings true. His ships are real and plausible. Newton is alive and well.

The first act of the "The Mars Run" is classic Heinlein. Janet Pilgrim is a young astronaut-in-training from a struggling middle-class Chicago family at a time in the near future where space transport is the new merchant marine. Space is not her first career choice. When bad family investments rob her of the means to pursue a college education, Janet signs up to crew a transport run to Mars. Her salary from this year-long voyage will enable her to go to a good school afterward. However, a training accident that results in the death of a partner - and lover - nearly sidelines her future.

The second act moves into "Firefly" territory, and this is where Gerrib hits his stride. The action and characters come fast and furious. Suffice it to say that the title mission is no milk run. The third act crosses into very strange territory, and left me with mixed feelings. Terrestrial politics are difficult to believe, and the role played by a resurgent and vengeful Central African Empire left me scratching my head in places. However, the climax is deftly handled and there's plenty of room for a sequel, both in the storyline and the reader's appetite for more.

I will say that there is a lot of sex - copious, even. There is hands-on sex that is consensual, semi-consensual, and outright rape. For me, a little sex goes a long way. Your mileage may vary.

I would recommend the "The Mars Run" to readers looking for first-person action and adventure (and sex) in space from a writer who keeps his science and technology firmly planted in the possible.

Christopher Gerrib's first offering, The Mars Run, is one of those books that grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. I soon found myself delving deeper into this captivating story willingly, and that's always a good thing. The Mars Run, at its core, is pure science fiction that imagines a future world that is as turbulent as today. The characters are well developed to the point that the reader will develop concerns for the fate of the good and the bad. And, with the exception of a few minor errors, there is little to tarnish an otherwise perfect tale. Anyone with a fascination with space, the future, and strong characters, will find The Mars Run a fascinating read.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's start with a little about the book's main character, Janet Pilgrim. She's like any other high school grad that wants to go to college, but soon finds out that the money for her college education has dwindled to near nothing from mismanagement. So Janet searches for alternative methods to earn the money and soon finds herself training for a one-year mission to Mars, which will earn her the money she needs to follow her dream. But this is where things start to go wrong. During a training exercise, her partner dies and this leads to an investigation. The investigation finds Janet only partially responsible, and she is allowed to complete her training. Then, after graduation, Janet begins serving out her one-year contract, but fate soon intervenes, and Janet finds her life moving in a direction never thought possible.

The writing of Chris Gerrib is clean and crisp, allowing the reader to follow the story with ease. Not once did I find myself confused by his writing style. The tale that Chris has crafted here is an excellent and truthful account of how life can take us in directions we never anticipated, a prime example of how best laid plans can easily go astray.

There is no doubt, in my mind, that every science fiction fan will find an enjoyable read in The Mars Run. I didn't want to put the book down, and looked forward to the next reading session so I could find out what happens to the main character, Janet Pilgrim. Chris is planning a sequel, and I'm looking forward to reading his next installment in Janet's life. And yes, that means I'm now a fan of Chris Gerrib.

I'm not much of a Sci-Fi fan myself, and I am not generally optimistic when it comes to novels written in the first person especially if the author is of a different gender). This book, however, blew me away. It's very readable, and has just enough tension to keep you reading.

Great job!

Every once in a while...well, once in a blue moon, to be exact...I'm sent a self-published novel that makes me wonder, "Why in the world is this book self-published"? There is nothing that I can see about Chris Gerrib's "Mars Run" that is of less quality than the best hard science fiction being published today...and in fact it is better than most. It reads very much like a three-way cross between early Heinlein, Joe Haldeman and Allen Steele. Set in the immediate future it deals in an era of space exploration that one rarely finds in recent science fiction. (The science is also very good, another rare thing to find in much current science fiction---and a quality vanishingly rare in self-published SF.) Although one reviewer has described the book as "space opera"---no doubt because it introduces space pirates in its plot---this is very misleading, since there is little to compare between "Mars Run" and what is generally thought of as space opera---the works of E.E. "Doc" Smith, for instance. What the book really is represents the very best of what science fiction is really all about: human beings. And that's where its great strength lay: in the vivid, realisitic depiction of its characters, in particular Gerrib's heroine, Janet Pilgrim. She would be one of the best-realized heroines of SF in any event, but this is made even more remarkable by the fact that she tells her story in the first person...a feat few male writers have succeeded in pulling off. She is tough, resourceful, likeable and altogether realistic and who she is and what she becomes is really what the book is all about. Three thumbs up for what I fully expect to see become a major new voice in contemporary SF.

Ron Miller

“The Mars Run” is a great space opera tale, says Paige Lovitt of Reader Views. The author "develops all the characters well - even the bad guys." The book is "highly recommended" to all science fiction fans.

Read the entire review at Reader Views.