Fault Tolerance — Valerie Valdes

From the author of the critically acclaimed Prime Deceptions and Chilling Effect, the hilarious new novel about the adventures of Captain Eva Innocente and the crew of La Sirena Negra.

Nothing wrecks Captain Eva Innocente's vacation plans quite like an anonymous threat to vaporize billions of people. Hundreds of monoliths have suddenly materialized in space, broadcasting the same looped message: surrender or be exterminated. Is the universe being epically spammed?

Surrender to whom? Exterminated when? And how is Eva, commander of a beat-up cargo ship, supposed to prevent it? As panic spreads, a mystery message sends Eva to find answers, in a system that hasn't been explored in all of recorded history.

With the crew of La Sirena Negra, a score of psychic cats, a feline-phobic robot, and a superweapon she has no clue how to use, Eva prepares to battle the unknown. But first, she has to defeat the known: mercenary Tito Santiago, whose idea of a clean fight is a shower before kill time. His mission is to ensure Eva doesn't succeed at hers.

If anything goes wrong, the universe is doomed. But if everything goes according to Eva's plans -- wait, when does that ever happen?