Navigating ‘Dark Space’: How Rob Hart and Alex Segura Mashed Up Spy and Speculative Fiction ‹ CrimeReads

When Rob Hart and Alex Segura sat down to write "Dark Space," which combines a "Star Trek"-style space opera with a John le Carré-infused spy story, they faced exactly that sort of challenge. Fortunately, they both have deep experience in writing multiple genres-in addition to his crime-fiction work, Hart has written two speculative-fiction novels ("The Paradox Hotel" and "The Warehouse"), while Segura is the award-winning writer of multiple novels and comic books.

"Dark Space" weaves two narratives together. One takes place aboard the Mosaic, a huge interstellar ship that begins experiencing mysterious, potentially catastrophic issues; its pilot, Carriles, becomes increasingly suspicious about the true cause of those problems. The other is set on an off-world settlement where a burned-out spy, Timony, finds herself sinking into a deadly conspiracy. The two are connected, of course, and ultimately personal for both Carriles and Timony as they fight to stay alive.