Nightchaser (Endeavor, #1) by Amanda Bouchet – Review

Tags

5 stars, Amanda Bouchet, Book Review, scifi, scifi romance, series, space opera

About Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet

Tess Bailey: the galaxy’s Most Wanted.

Captain Tess Bailey is in deep trouble. She and her crew are on the run, pursued by a tyrant who’ll take them dead or alive. Tess’s best hope is a tall, dark, and much-too-appealing stranger, Shade Ganavan, who says he can help her. But his motivations are far from clear…

Shade Ganavan: arrogance, charm…and that special something that makes you want to kick him.

With the dreaded Dark Watch closing in, what Tess and Shade don’t know about each other might get them killed…unless they can set aside their differences and learn to trust each other before it’s too late.

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Review of Nightchaser

Tess Bailey is my favorite part of this book. She is intelligent, brave, foolhardy and with a large dose of vulnerability. This vulnerability comes not only from being a wanted criminal, but also from her own emotional desires. This combination makes her character one of the most compelling I have encountered in a while.

Tess also has a past that, in a twist, comes out early in the book. It is a revelation to the reader and to her crew on Endeavor. The shocking announcement comes out in the heat of battle right before Tess thinks she and her crew are about to die.

But they don’t die. Hmm. Thinks could get uncomfortable now. Her crew members each have their own past to deal with, so they don’t seem to mind. But the crew are not the only ones that heard it. I have a feeling that Tess is going to be jumping from one frying pan to another. Not just in Nightchaser, but in any books that follow.

“Shade Ganavan had oodles of arrogance, oodles of charm, and oodles of something that made me want to kick him…” Tess Bailey in Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet.

In the book, Tess is actually quite specific about where she wants to kick Shade.

It’s hard for me to say much about Shade without possibly giving up a spoiler. Except that part about kicking occurred to me often and with increasing desire as the book progressed. But he is a charmer, and Tess likes him a lot. So with a bit of a spoiler about to come out – Shade did redeem himself in my eyes and ultimately my thirst for violence directed toward that charming man was abated.

And redirected. In a climactic scene, Tess’s past comes back to totally mess with her life/escape. In a very bad way. I was heartbroken in a scene where two of Tess’s crew pay heavily for their friendship with Tess.

Nightchaser is a welcome addition to the Scifi Romance genre. Colorful, charming and warm characters mix colorful, cold and evil characters. There is also a great complex plot with so much potential that it is sure to get even better with each installment in the Endeavor saga. And romance. Yes, it is a bit shaky at first, but I am planning on it to get even better as the series continues.

So let me say to Amanda Bouchet, “Welcome to Scifi Romance!” Ms. Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles are very popular fantasy romance books, so I am pleased to see her put her talent to SciFi. I am decidedly happy I found Nightchaser on NetGalley, and will be anxiously waiting for the next book in the Endeavor series.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

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Pre-order Nightchaser (releases January 1):

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Abandoned (Donovan, #2) by W. Michael Gear – Review

Tags

5 stars, alien planet, Book Review, excerpt, frontier planet, native-alien species, scifi, series, W. Michael Gear

About Abandoned by W. Michael Gear

The second book in a thrilling sci-fi action adventure, set on Donovan, a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the planet’s colonists.

New York Times bestselling author W. Michael Gear returns us to the world he laid out with such sure purpose in Outpost. The struggle for survival sharpens as resources dwindle, technology fails, and the grim reality of life on Donovan unfolds.

Supervisor Kalico Aguila has bet everything on a fragile settlement far south of Port Authority. There, she has carved a farm and mine out of wilderness. But Donovan is closing in. When conditions couldn’t get worse, a murderous peril descends out of Donovan’s sky–one that will leave Kalico bleeding and shattered.

Talina Perez gambles her life and reputation in a bid to atone for ruthlessly murdering a woman’s husband years ago. Ironically, saving Dya Simonov may save them all.

Lieutenant Deb Spiro is losing it, and by killing a little girl’s pet alien, she may have precipitated disaster for all. In the end, the only hope will lie with a “lost” colony, and the alien-infested reflexes possessed by Security Officer Talina Perez.

On Donovan, only human beings are more terrifying than the wildlife.

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Review of Abandoned

I almost did not read this book. After I read book 1 in this series, Outpost, I was not sure I wanted to continue with the series because, to be frank, there were no characters that I felt deserving of my empathy. However, after I let the story churn around in my head for a few days, I came to realize I had invested my brain in a truly amazing story. I had to continue.

I am very glad that I did. Abandoned continues what was a fantastic mesh of individual story lines and expands it to include a critical group of people. The Mundo Research Station, though abandoned long ago, has actually been home to a group of people who have managed to live, if not in comfort, at least a substantial step above eking out a living. The Mundo people are cut off from Port Authority and they like it that way. I liked this group. Among the group is Kylee and her pet quetzal Rocket. I like Rocket for his bond with Kylee. But before you get all mushy about Rocket, you need to know that quetzals are apex predators. They eat anything they like, including humans. Also part of the Mundo group is newcomer Mark Talbot. His journey is dangerous and during it, he engaged me as the reader. He is a great character.

“Hey, did you hear me?” Talbot cried.  “I’ve been lost in the toilet-sucking forest for months.  I’m half-starved, and without my armor…”

“Such a crier.  Don’t bawl.  Follow us.  But stay back.  I don’t trust you.  And if you try anything, Rocket will know.”

“I’m not going to try anything.  And what kind of animal is Rocket, anyway?  It looks like something that tried to kill me.”

“He’s a quetzal.”  She glanced back at him as she turned away. “Don’t you know anything?”

A quetzal?

Talbot warily inspected the creature as it turned to keep pace with Kylee.  Sure enough, it was a miniature version of the thing he’d shot in the forest.

“Isn’t it a little dangerous for you to be wandering around out here in the forest?  With a, um, quetzal, no less?”

Again she shot that irritated glance over her shoulder.  “I’m not the one who walked under the nightmare.  It’s not like anyone doesn’t know about the nightmare.  He’s been there for as long as any of us remember.”

“I’m not from here. Get it?”

“As Rebecca would say, no shit.”  She was headed slightly northwest, away from the direction he was headed when he encountered the nightmare.

“Which way is Mundo Base?”

“This way.”

“How do you tell in all the trees?”

From the look she gave him, he might have been an idiot.  The quetzal hissed, the sound almost like laughter.

—–From Abandoned by W. Michael Gear.

In the meantime, supervisor Kalico is trying to set up a mining operation for the Corporation, constantly fighting the planet. Wirth is trying to run the town through his less than legit gambling operation. And Talina and the rest of her Triune are just trying to keep the peace while making sure the settlement doesn’t fall down around them. Survival on Donovan is never guaranteed. Donovan can be considered the supporting planetary character. You can never let your guard down on Donovan. Okay, I am a little mesmerized by Donovan.

These intertwined stories make Abandoned a truly compelling, complex novel. Talina, with her quetzal DNA silently egging her on, is perhaps the most interesting character. She has always had a pivotal role in the series and it continues in Abandoned. Her relationship with the people of Mundo station was critical and as a reader, I was glad to see her involve herself in it even though her past relationship with Mundo was extremely contentious. Teaching us all that life is a series of compromises, especially on a planet like Donovan.

Off planet, there is something just as intriguing going on. Freelander is the ship that just popped into orbit after being missing for three years, but actually being gone for over a century in transit.  Freelander is just plain creepy. In Abandoned, you don’t learn anything new about what happened to Freelander, but, since it did not go away, I assume that story will continue in a future book. I hope so. Unanswered questions are annoying.

Like Outpost, Abandoned has a disturbing cover. Take a look. It depicts key aspects of the story. It is a great cover!

There are so many things going on in this book, my review would be three times as long if I were to comment on all the stuff I liked. So I will leave it at this. This Scifi story that plays out on a frontier world has me hooked on the Donovan series, and yes, even the characters. I will be reading more. No doubt about that.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Links

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Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing Holiday Treat Giveaway for the audiobook of The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick, or the print books of Tiffany Roberts’ Dustwalker and Bec McMaster’s Nobody’s Hero.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Darkest Time of Night by Jeremy Finley – Review

Tags

5 stars, alien abduction, Book Review, Jeremy Finley, scifi, X-files

About The Darkest Time of Night by Jeremy Finley

When four-year-old William vanishes in the woods behind his home, the only witness is his older brother who whispers, “The lights took him,” and then never speaks again. With these words, the boys’ grandmother Lynn Roseworth fears only she knows the truth. But coming forward would ruin her family and her husband’s political career.

As Lynn and her best friend Roxy revisit the secrets of her long-buried past to find clues that will lead to William, they’ll get ensnared in a much larger conspiracy. The truth is hidden for a reason, and not even a grandmother’s love may be enough to save her grandson from what is coming for them all.

Author Jeremy Finley was inspired to write this story after interviewing so many families of missing people for stories and seeing how far people will go to try to find their loved ones. He combined this experience with that of his mother-in-law, who was a secretary in an astronomy department, like Lynn, for professors who researched UFOs and were featured in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind“.

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Review of The Darkest Time of Night

X-Files. Yeah.  If you like X-Files, you will probably like The Darkest Time of Night. For a couple of reasons. First it is very X-Files like except the investigators are not FBI agents. Second reason, if you watched X-Files when it first aired, you are in a certain, er, older generation. The protagonists in this story are also of an age. We can relate.

Lynn’s love for her missing grandson, William, and for Brian, the grandson traumatized by William’s disappearance, set her on the search for the answers. She is relentless as only a grandmother can be. Aid from her long-time friend Roxy, as well as her past experience with an abduction researcher, will lead her down a crazy path lined with secret meetings, codes, black suits, and an ever present past to haunt our heroine. Lynn was the perfect heroine and with Roxy as her sidekick handling some of the dirty work, this partners story is a relentless hunt and chase. Because, the truth truly is out there.

Print (paperback or hardcover) prices are typical, but the Kindle price of this book is a bit steep. So you might find it at your local library like I did.

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Links

Add The Darkest Time of Night to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase The Darkest Time of Night:

 

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Giveaway

Don’t forget the ongoing Holiday Treat Giveaway for the audiobook of The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick, or the print books of Tiffany Roberts’ Dustwalker and Bec McMaster’s Nobody’s Hero.  If you haven’t entered yet, you might be interested to know that commenting on today’s post helps qualify you for an entry – see the giveaway post for all the details.  Or go straight to the giveaway….

Click Here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway