The Man in the Tree: A Novel

With The Man in the Tree, Locus Award-winning author Sage Walker has given us a thrilling hard science fiction mystery that explores the intersection of law, justice, and human nature.

Humanity's last hope of survival lies in space…but will we even get there?

Helt Borresen is an Incident Analyst. What that means is that aboard the seed ship Kybele, he is the closest thing that the organization has to a security officer. But he doesn't think that it'll be a big part of his job, as all the candidates have been carefully screened.

Why the need for a seed ship? Because our planet is toast and the colonists that leave our world are the best shot that we have for our species to continue.

Everything is set…and then someone is found hanging dead just weeks before the launch. Fear and paranoia spread as the death begins to look more and more like a murder. The authorities want the case settled quickly and quietly so as not to cause panic.

And Helt is the one to prevent a murderer from sabotaging the entire mission.

"Rapid-fire storytelling from start to finish!"—Greg Bear

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

© 2025 Tor Books (Ebook): 9781466871090

Release date

Ebook: 14 March 2025