The Spaceship Next Door

The most exciting thing that ever happened in Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, was the landing of a UFO. Seriously. Just the landing. Because it’s done nothing in the years since. That is, until a government agent arrives, believing that something has changed. And his only lead? A gregarious sixteen-year-old girl.

The Spaceship Next Door is very slow to start, lulling you, much like the town of Sorrow Falls, into a false sense of security, before ratcheting up the tension. The reader ambles around town with Annie Collins, meeting the characters and growing invested in the people themselves, but the action finally kicks on about halfway through.

From that point on, it becomes more YA sci-fi than the slow-burn mystery readers have been led to believe as answers begin tumbling out, and the plot hinges on one big twist. And quite honestly, your enjoyment of the novel will hinge on that twist. If you don’t buy it, you’ll find the rest of the book a slog. But I suspect most readers will buy the twist and appreciate Doucette’s patient techniques for building tension and creating a few eye-catching action set-pieces.

The Spaceship Next Door is an interesting first step. I’ll be curious to see where it goes from here.