Red Desert - People of Mars

Station Alpha: 1000 days, 5 persons.
Mysterious discoveries.
Friendship, jealousy, hatred, betrayal.
Death.
Where's Anna?
What's hiding in Valles Marineris?

Second book in the science fiction series "Red Desert".

After 995 days on Mars, the enthusiasm of the Isis crew has turned into frustration and intolerance. Their research hasn't provided the hoped for outcomes, the resources at their disposal are insufficient, and NASA had previously cancelled the launch of a second mission, which would have brought more colonisers and equipment to the planet.
Relationships among the five members of the expedition have become difficult. Station Alpha is home to a complex web of conflicts, secrets, alliances, and rivalries.
Now a new launch window is about to open, but the news from Houston isn't reassuring at all. While the finding of a possible ice sac might give a positive turn to the events, Anna, embittered by the unusual behaviour of Robert and the cold war against Hassan, is considering the opportunity to return to Earth.
When death strikes amongst the five inhabitants of Mars, Anna finds her only possible choice is a solitary escape.
But Mars has got an incredible discovery in store for her, a key to a mystery hidden in the depths of Valles Marineris.

The previous book is "Red Desert - Point of No Return".
The next book is "Red Desert - Invisible Enemy" (a novel).


Follow Anna Persson (@AnnaPerssonDR) on Twitter!


--- This is the second book in a series of four and it ends with a cliffhanger. ---

This book is written in British English.

Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli is an Italian science fiction and thriller author.
She has lived in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) since 1993, earning a degree in biology and working as a writer, scientific and literary translator. In the past she also worked as researcher, tutor and professor's assistant in the field of ecology at "Dipartimento di Biologia Animale ed Ecologia" of the University of Cagliari.

She has written fiction since 2009.
Between 2012-2013, she published a hard science fiction series set on Mars: Deserto rosso. 
The Deserto rosso series, which includes four books, was also published as omnibus in December 2013 (ebook and paperback) and hit No. 1 on the Italian Kindle Store in November 2014.

Deserto rosso was published in English, with the title Red Desert, between 2014-2015.

She also authored four thrillers, Il mentore (2014), Affinità d'intenti (2015), Sindrome (2016), and Oltre il limite (2017); five more science fiction novels, L'isola di Gaia (2014), Per caso (2015), Ophir. Codice vivente (2016), Sirius. In caduta libera (2018) and Nave stellare Aurora (2020); and a non-fiction book, Self-publishing lab. Il mestiere dell'autoeditore (2020).

Il mentore was published in English by AmazonCrossing as The Mentor on 1 November 2015 and was an Amazon Bestseller (#1 on the Kindle Store in the USA, UK, and Australia in 2015). A second edition of The Mentor was published in 2022.
Sindrome and Oltre il limite are available in English as Syndrome and Beyond the Limit (2023).
Affinità d'intenti is also available in English as Kindred Intentions (2016).

She is podcaster and blogger at FantaScientifiCast, an Italian Representative at Mars Initiative, and a member of the International Thriller Writers organisation.
She's often a guest both in Italy and abroad during book fairs, including Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (Turin), Frankfurter Buchmesse and Più Libri Più Liberi (Rome), publishing events, university conferences as well as classes.