A sci-fi horror novel from a USA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror, in print for the first time! When a guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost, she disregards protocol to investigate, with catastrophic consequences. The parasitic alien wears its victims’ skins and adopts their personalities. It’s a perfect disguise, and allows the creature to spread without being detected. By the time humanity realizes it’s facing extinction, a third of its space stations have already gone dark. As the alien’s ruthless progress collapses communication networks, wipes out defenses, and leaves hundreds of stations to fend for themselves, a handful of remarkable individuals must find a way to battle the greatest threat the universe has ever encountered…or die trying.

‘Ridley Scott’s chestbursters are pop culture legend, and any mention of unwanted alien stowaways brings to mind John Hurt sprawled out on a table in Alien, blood spewing from his chest. But Darcy Coates’s parasites are interested in more than just gestating in their hosts before chewing their way out through the sternum.’ - Booklist