Free (Kindle) Nightmare Planet by Donald S. Rowland [Sci-Fi Space Mission Thriller]

[ATDrake]

Nightmare Planet by the usually pseudonymous prolific multi-genre British author Donald S. Rowland (ISFDB, SFE) is his vintage standalone science fiction adventure thriller apparently with horror elements (the Amazon categories claim both Alien Invasion and Supernatural Suspense), where a spaceship crew on an exploratory mission to locate new sources of badly-needed materials is sent into deep space, whereupon it encounters a mysterious hidden planetary system which seems to be inhabited, and investigates, possibly to its detriment, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press' Venture imprint.

This was originally published in 1976 by Robert Hale as part of their Hale SF line, and another one of the few published under Rowland's own name.

Currently free @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)

Description
Kyle Barlor is captain aboard the spaceship Voyager on its exploration of the farther reaches of the Universe in a ceaseless hunt for minerals and chemicals badly needed by Earth and its space colonies in the solar system.

With these resources dwindling not just on Earth, but her surrounding colonies, there is little choice but to explore further into deep space.

Voyager is nine hundred light years from Earth’s solar system…

Kyle’s mission was to find the Brontus Major Constellation and search it for any metals that may be used.

The spearhead through space, carried out by men such as those aboard Voyager, never saw the fruits of their work. They would merely locate the planets containing sufficient metals and then push on to leave the transport freighters to strip them.

A seemingly endless mission…

That is, until, an uncharted planetary system appears between them and the Brontus Major Constellation.

Why does it not show up on their scanners?

And what are the strange missile silos doing around the planetary system?

Kyle decides their only course of action is to send out a search party to try to find out what forms of life are there.

However, when they lose contact with the search party they realise something must be wrong.

So far from Earth, Kyle Barlor is the only hope of ever returning home for the crew aboard the Voyager, but even he is beginning to feel out of his depth.

[Gardenman]

Thanks I got it

[svenlind]

Me too