Aaahh, mixed feelings about this one. 
 It started great; McGuyver on Mars and all. It was exciting to see the character overcome his problems, one at a time, through his own critical eyes, and the technical jargon speaks to my geek side, sure enough... 
 But after a while, I just... lost it. 
 I don't know what changed about the story, but, slowly, I stopped getting that sense of urgency, of do-or-die. 
 I don't know. Maybe the Earth-side drama spoiled it for me. Maybe the ode to NASA's prowesses got too long. Maybe duct tape can only go so far... 
 I was entertained, that's for sure. Even thrilled, at times. But the story fell one step short of spectacular. 
 This review may sound harder than it actually is. I did give the book 4 stars after all, which is a good mark. A very good mark.