Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Chilling Effect: A Novel
    Chilling Effect: A Novel
    Chilling Effect: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    Chilling Effect: A Novel

    Written by Valerie Valdes

    Narrated by Almarie Guerra

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    A hilarious, offbeat debut space opera that skewers everything from pop culture to video games and features an irresistible foul-mouthed captain and her motley crew, strange life forms, exciting twists, and a galaxy full of fun and adventure.

    Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra cruise the galaxy delivering small cargo for even smaller profits. When her sister Mari is kidnapped by The Fridge, a shadowy syndicate that holds people hostage in cryostasis, Eva must undergo a series of unpleasant, dangerous missions to pay the ransom.

    But Eva may lose her mind before she can raise the money. The ship’s hold is full of psychic cats, an amorous fish-faced emperor wants her dead after she rejects his advances, and her sweet engineer is giving her a pesky case of feelings. The worse things get, the more she lies, raising suspicions and testing her loyalty to her found family.

    To free her sister, Eva will risk everything: her crew, her ship, and the life she’s built on the ashes of her past misdeeds. But when the dominoes start to fall and she finds the real threat is greater than she imagined, she must decide whether to play it cool or burn it all down.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 17, 2019
    ISBN9780062959027
    Author

    Valerie Valdes

    Valerie Valdes’s work has been published in Nightmare Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, and the anthologies She Walks in Shadows, and Time Travel Short Stories. She is a graduate of the Viable Paradise workshop and lives in Miami, Florida with her husband and children.  

    Related to Chilling Effect

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Tuskers

      Jul 1, 2018

      Tuskers
      9 min read

    • Article

      Clam Down

      Apr 13, 2017

      Clam Down
      9 min read

    • Article

      Sharp-toothed Charm

      Dec 8, 2021

      Sharp-toothed Charm
      4 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Sep 1, 2022

      Are you ready? I nodded. She slid the needle inand the sick cat, who only a moment before had tried toleap to the floor closed his eyes and exhaled. Andthat’s it, she said a little too brightly, pulling the needle out.That’s it? I asked. That’s all t

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Primeval Comic Book

      Aug 1, 2017

      The Primeval Comic Book
      8 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2020

      Cricket League
      7 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2022

      First prize 10 and under Tang Li, age 9 Palmetto Bay, FL My name is Anisa. I was in Hawaii on vacation. I enjoyed sipping refreshing drinks, overlooking the turquoise ocean, and dancing with others, before I overheard that the priceless Fire Ring wa

      10 min read

    • Article

      How the Lark Got Her Crest

      May 30, 2023

      How the Lark Got Her Crest
      15 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Jun 1, 2023

      Table Talk
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Literary Zoo

      Dec 9, 2021

      A Literary Zoo
      4 min read

    • Article

      When Life Bites

      Sep 14, 2020

      When Life Bites
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sleeping with Lions

      Aug 4, 2019

      Sleeping with Lions
      4 min read

    • Article

      Intelligent Creatures

      Jul 6, 2023

      Intelligent Creatures
      19 min read

    • Article

      Anna

      Feb 5, 2018

      Anna
      7 min read

    • Article

      Suspicious Circumstances

      Aug 10, 2022

      Suspicious Circumstances
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Right Time

      Oct 14, 2019

      The Right Time
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Leftovers: A Nicer Story

      Jun 4, 2017

      The Leftovers: A Nicer Story
      11 min read

    • Article

      Suspicious Circumstances

      Aug 10, 2022

      Suspicious Circumstances
      7 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      May 1, 2020

      1. Stop the action. 1a. Does that include apologizing? 1b. Because I’m sorry about this poem. I’m so embarrassed. Please forgive me. 3. Tape pictures of policemen all around the house, especially on the refrigerator. 7. Cheap tops. 49. Cheap tops. ii

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Chilling Effect

    4/5

    155 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A whiney Captain with no leadership qualities or common sense and a horrible family just like her. Psychic cats thrown in for no reason or job other than to get me to download. A horny supreme being who supposedly never heard "no" before and the rest of the galaxy lackadaisical about his tendency to destroy planets and thousands of people for his ego (that's probably the most related character flaw bere) . I found Sue and her tiny bots to be more interesting than any other character.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Less science than 1 of the old star trek episodes.A waste of 1 of scribd he's limited Audiobook monthly allocations. The books Description as quote hilarious unquote was very far from the mark

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This book took me a bit longer to find my engagement, and I'm not sure why.

      I enjoyed the character, the plot picked up, the world building was minimal enough to avoid off setting the story making for a character based read.
    • 1/5
      DNF @ page 264. A light popcorn space-opera in which Captain Eva Innocente and her rag-tag crew zip around the galaxy having jolly adventures while becoming entangled in the clutches of bad guys. If the author had only managed to chop it down by half it would have been an undemanding entertainment, but it becomes stale and repetetive and fails to hold the attention.
    • 1/5
      When you're advertised a book with cats and get delivered the character saying "fking psychic cats". No, fking stupid author.
    • 4/5
      I absolutely loved this book!! It was just what I was looking for when looking for sci-fi. I cant wait to see what the author writes next in this genre. This book was well written and even taught me some Spanish. I highly recommend this book!
    • 5/5
      A gem of a book that will make any Mass Effect or scifi fan happy.
    • 3/5
      I like a good space opera. Fleets of ships, large evil forces at work, derring-do, galaxy hopping and strange artifacts. Chilling Effect has that and more, yet I didn't particularly like the book. An instructive comparison would be The Long Journey to a Small Angry Planet. In that novel, the author summons up a range of civilizations and creatures and then spends time on each, building a believable universe. In addition, the crew members of the principal ship all develop distinct personalities. The end result is an absorbing novel that is worth re-reading.In Chilling Effect, however, Valerie Valdes's new book, it's as though she took the elements of space opera and flung them at a wall. The plot can be generously described as ODTAA: one damn thing after another. There is little narrative flow and no time to consider the implications of various plot turns because Valdes piles one thing after another. The book hurtles through the plot so fast, with so many action scenes, that there is little character development. And to me it seems as though she conjures exotic sentient species by combining random letters. In this way, no one species is fully explored, no culture built out.If you are a fan of action movies and want to read a novel that is little but action scenes, Chilling Effect might be for you. But it left me cold.
    • 3/5
      Oh, this book! First off, I have to praise Harper Voyager for pushing #ownvoices books out in the world. Captain Eva Innocente was hilarious, snarky, and the kind of woman I’d gladly follow into battle. The fact that she just so happened to cuss in Spanish whenever she was extremely angry made me crack up laughing. As a person with a family who does the same I couldn’t help but love Eva, prickles and all.Starting with the good, I can definitely say that there’s not a boring character in this book. Eva’s whole crew is just a bit mad, and full of personality. Although I suppose they would have to be, to follow Eva Innocente. I loved their family dynamic, and how much each of them was willing to sacrifice for any of the rest of them. The ship felt like a place that I’d want to visit. Provided I wasn’t visiting on a day when Eva decided to get into a fight, that is.In terms of the plot, the overall story line was pretty solid. I liked that they brought Eva’s actual family into the picture, and that Eva did do some growing up throughout the story. Let’s be honest, we all make bad decisions. Eva just makes a lot of them all at the same time, for a fair amount of this book. What pushed this book down in ratings for me as mainly the pacing, to be honest. It drags at points, and runs at a mad pace during others. I needed a little more of an even keel, to keep me reading on.Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the for the long haul on this series. I liked Eva and her misfit crew enough that I’ll be back for the next book. I only hope that now that we’ve established the dynamic between these characters, things will even out a bit. I’d love to dive deeper into the places that La Sirena Negra travels, follow along on more battles, and giggle madly at the banter between these friends. So, count me in. I’ll be waiting.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. It ended well, I think? I liked lots of parts of this individually, but the plot had more holes than Swiss cheese. The aliens were fun, and the main character was likable, though she wouldn’t know a good decision from a hold in the wall.
    • 5/5
      In Chilling Effect, Valerie Valdes introduces Captain Eve Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra, who work to eke out a living in the galactic gray market. When Eva’s sister, Mari, is kidnapped by the galactic crime syndicate known as The Fridge, she must work for them to earn her sister’s freedom. Along the way, Eva struggles with having to hide the truth of their jobs from her crew while avoiding an alien overlord who never learned to handle rejection and blames women for his own shortcomings. Further complicating matters are strange artifacts left behind by the Proarkhe, a mysterious extinct alien civilization that built the Gates which make galactic travel possible, but also left various other items behind that the various alien governments, mercenaries, and The Fridge all seek.Valdes’ story fully embraces the variety possible in space opera, with only a few human characters amid dozens of other featured species (and nearly a hundred named aliens). While she creates her own universe, she works in some fun pop cultural references, with Eva’s friend Pink metaphorically describing naiveté through a reference to “a sweet young moisture farmer with dreams of space travel” (pg. 318). She also pokes fun at academia and the way professors assign their own monographs in a manner reminiscenct of Douglas Adams’ humor (pg. 332). In terms of tone and the scope of her vision, Valdes’ universe most closely resembles Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga comic book series, though this only approximates the feel of Chilling Effect. Valdes also works to decolonize science-fiction through her use of Spanglish, which both deepens her character portrayals and leads to some really creative profanity that can lighten the heavier moments. Fans of space opera should welcome Valerie Valdes’ work and look forward to the follow-up to this book, Prime Deceptions!
    • 3/5
      How can you add 20 psychic cats to a book and have them do nothing? Too lightweight for the immense body count with yet another 5 person crew of a space freighter, I cannot imagine anyone remaining around the train wreck of Captain Eva Innocente. She spends way to much of the novel moaning in her cabin, has no contingency plans and ignores all good advice. The author has raked through a 100 years of F&FS for juicy bits to thread together, and the tale is lively and fast moving, but jeez.
    • 4/5
      I received an advanced copy through NetGalley.Chilling Effect is a quirky space opera adventure reminiscent of Firefly, with an eclectic space crew captained by Eva. When Eva finds out her sister has been kidnapped by a nasty crime syndicate, she takes on a series of terrible jobs--all while keeping the truth secret from her crew. Of course, everything goes wrong, but does so in surprising ways. That's part of the fun of this book. It's a total screwball romp. You have no idea what's going to happen next. There are many little video game tributes throughout that made me grin, too.Eva's a fun heroine. Well-meaning, edgy, and competent at her job. Her voice, with Spanish sprinkled throughout, is wonderfully authentic. I've only seen this done by one other scifi book, Amber Royer's Free Chocolate, and here's hoping more such books are on the way.I'm betting the cover of this book alone will sell a bunch of books. It gets across the fun vibe quite well. I think about my only complaint is that I wanted more of the cats!