Essential Larsen, a gifted coder living on Mars, is missing. But how is that possible when Halo, an artificial intelligence, monitors the location and activities of every living soul on Earth and Mars at all times?

Five families rule Earth and Mars in this dystopian novel set in 2187. Earth is a planet-wide ghetto where all but members of five families. The five families live on Mars, where large areas have been terraformed into a utopian haven. The function of the small number of non-family members permitted on Mars is to help maintain the luxurious comfort of the family members.

Crucial Larsen, Essential’s older brother, is a military veteran and labor cop asked to help locate her. The story takes place in two periods that are fifteen weeks apart at the beginning and narrows gradually as Crucial travels back and forth between Earth and Mars.

The strength of Gates of Mars is the complex protagonist created by McFall and Hays and the depressing world in which he lives. The shifting focus is mildly annoying, but the routine events that populate the story are more troublesome. I struggled to continue reading the marginally interesting story and considered discontinuing. I’m not sorry I finished the book, but I do not plan to read volumes two and three in this trilogy. ( )