In my experience, a Jack McDevitt novel usually delivers it all – a great story, great characters, a satisfying conclusion and a feeling of money well spent. So when I recently saw the paperback of POLARIS, Jack McDevitt's latest science fiction tale, on the shelf at my local Borders, I quickly reached out my greedy little hands and picked one up.

In recent years McDevitt's novels have centered on his heroine, spaceship pilot Priscilla Hutchins, better known as Hutch. But with POLARIS, McDevitt returns to the main characters of an earlier novel, A TALENT FOR WAR – the antiques dealer Alex Benedict and his assistant Chase Kolpath.

The story begins as the space yacht Polaris, carrying a group of celebrities to view an interstellar event of epic proportions, is found floating empty – a derelict and devoid of all life – shortly after the event takes place. Where did the passengers and crew go? What could have happened? How could those people disappear from Polaris and leave absolutely no trace?

Sixty years later, the mystery rages on and some of the few remaining Polaris artifacts are put on display. Enter Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath, with their minds set on securing several of the Polaris items for various particular clients, who become intrigued with the back-story of the Polaris mystery after they both barely survive a bombing that shatters the Polaris exhibition.

So let the sleuthing begin. The two characters become entangled in the mystery surrounding the celebrities who disappeared from the Polaris six decades ago and, after several failed attempts to end their lives, the fact that they must be getting closer to the truth becomes all too apparent.

McDevitt puts those well-honed story-telling skills of his to good use once again in POLARIS, weaving the reader through twists and turns in the plot that keep those pages turning. As usual, the writing style and talent for dialogue that quite often reach out to grab his readers, making it very difficult to put his books down, have found their way into this mystery. I found both Benedict and Kolpath very likable characters and, after turning the last page of Polaris, I quickly found my way to that very same Borders and picked up a copy of A TALENT FOR WAR.

POLARIS is a story of interstellar intrigue set in a very far and plausible future, filled with various characters that just seem to belong exactly where they are, and all moving within a detailed and sensible political environment. McDevitt drops the names of historical figures, far-off planets and major events of historical importance that make you wish he would simply write more in this universe. If you feel the same, there is hope – SEEKER, the new Benedict / Kolpath novel, just hit the bookstores in hardcover. I, for one, will soon be adding that title to my ever-growing collection.