Harbinger of Darkness: A First Contact Space Opera Thriller (The Outlier Book 1) by N. Joseph Glass

When an alien threat demands unconditional surrender, humanity’s last hope lies with a ragtag crew, a cynical pirate, and a commander with nothing left to lose.

Arenna thought she was finished with the military. Laigin thought she was only looking out for her own survival in the dark, industrial corners of the Belt. But when a routine rescue mission for a missing pirate goes wrong, they uncover a horror that threatens to rewrite the future of Sol System. They find a woman bound to an alien column, her mind consumed by the Haruspex—an unstoppable cosmic hivemind. Now an empty vessel, she delivers a chilling ultimatum: Surrender or be extinguished.

To carry a warning—rather than a white flag—across the asteroid-ridden Belt, Arenna and Laigin must overcome their bitter mutual distrust, unite a fractured crew, and pilot The Outlier through an onslaught of planetary warfare.

Packed with sharp banter, slow-burn tension, and visceral bio-horror, Harbinger of Darkness delivers a cinematic, gritty space adventure that fans of classic, hard-edged science fiction will love.