The Blighted Stars

Stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, a spy must survive and uncover a conspiracy in the first book of an epic space opera trilogy by an award-winning author.

She's a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they're found and Naira Sharp thinks she knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity's expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He's the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin's father has tasked him with monitoring the settlement of a new planet, and he doesn't really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin's new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy the settlement ship before they make land. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she's sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that's bigger than both of them.

For more from Megan E. O'Keefe, check out:

The Protectorate
Velocity Weapon
Chaos Vector
Catalyst Gate

Author: Megan E. O'Keefe
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 05/23/2023
Pages: 544
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9780316290791

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 09/01/2022 pg. 44
Library Journal 11/01/2022 pg. 93

About the Author
Megan E. O'Keefe was raised amongst journalists, and as soon as she was able, joined them by crafting a newsletter which chronicled the daily adventures of the local cat population. She has worked in both arts management and graphic design, and has won Writers of the Future and the Gemmell Morningstar Award.

Megan lives in the Bay Area of California.