This was just okay for me - some of it may be bad timing on my part. First in a series, but I don't think I'll continue on. Text included in KU, purchased the audio during a sale back in 2022. Ray Porter is a great narrator, but at times his books/voice (thus story/characters) tend to run together in my mind. I also don't love his voicing of women.  Here the prologue/epilogue were 3rd person/Dirk's POV, with the rest of the book 1st person, Rex's POV. All past tense. 

A lot of action ... not a lot of aliens. While I was listening to the audiobook, I was comparing things to other books/movies (3 Body Problem, Resident Alien, Monarch/Legacy of Monsters, Indiana Jones, Unknowns~Pokemon). Father and friend lost years earlier. Bridge. Little clues. Hexagon tile keys.  Kidnapping, chases, murder.  There was a lot of smirking going on (x16). A scowl (my son hates that word, so I tend to notice it). Lots of "rifling" through things (x5 ... felt like lots). Route ... pronounced "root" (just another thing I note). Crevasse. Dias. Sneaked. No ProFanity. 

Things really came to a crash there at the end, a few reveals (ones I wasn't expecting ... one was "acceptable" to me, the other seemed too far-fetched). Definitely a set-up for a sequel, but I just hadn't really some to care about the characters or the story/situation to continue on (especially if I'd have to buy the audio (AudibleExclusive) ... although the text is included in KU and the add-on audio is reasonable ($1.99, $3.01).