Saturn Run

Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein has humanity witness an obviously alien space ship enter the solar system, make a stop at an object orbiting Saturn, and leave.  The question is what were they doing and the race is on to take a space ship out to see.  The contenders boil down to the United States and China and the book focuses on the journey, what was discovered, and the return with plenty of time spent on the political maneuverings between the two countries involved in the race.

The authors elected to go the realistic SF route here, there’s no unexplained advanced technology helping anyone out.  All in all a nicely told tale that left me personally feeling (not too spoilerish I hope) that the Americans were the overall villains of the piece.  Recommended for those who like a nice gripping adventure set in space.