I received an advance copy of
this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
The first thing that attracted
me to this was the title. It immediately grabbed my curiosity. I didn't even
bother reading the back-cover blurb before I downloaded it.
One of Our Spaceship's is
Missing is a tale of piracy in the darkness of space. It is a military
space-opera sci-fi tale with non-binary LGBTQ+ characters. Set in a future
where space travel is common to the point, there are cruise ships that plough
through Earth's inner solar system, carrying passengers to planets that are, or
have been, made to be inhabitable. Each inhabited world has its own sovereign
government with its own laws and navies. In this story moves from setting to
setting by following the principal character's points of view for each chapter.
We get to see what they see colored with their own perceptions and thoughts.
Overall, I got into this story
from the very opening pages and finished it in a couple of days. It's an
excellently crafted story with interesting characters set in places and
settings that are well described and plausible.
Be advised, even though one of
the characters is a girl in her late teens, this is not a young adult novel.
Owing to the thoughts revealed by the characters as they interact, it is, in my
opinion, an adult story.
Aboard the space cruiser
Cardinal, passengers enjoy an inner-system cruise scheduled to arrive at Earth
from Mars. In the main lounge, a woman sits at a piano, playing and singing
popular songs from the past and present to help everyone relax and enjoy
themselves. During her performance, she casually flirts with another female
passenger while passengers move about. What everyone doesn't know is the piano
player is eagerly awaiting to opportunity to hatch a plot she and others have
been planning for two years.
The plan is to hijack the
Cardinal and hold it and its passengers for a lucrative ransom.
Also on board is a young woman
from Mars who finds herself thrown into a dangerous situation. She has a small
amount of military training. That, along with her ability to adapt and think on
her feet, helps her to avoid becoming a casualty as she works against the
hijackers.
On earth, a gumshoe detective
who has a hard-boiled reputation for resorting to the use of his weapon,
investigates why and who an interplanetary cruise ship has suddenly gone dark
without a trace.
The artist in the first-class
piano bar named Victoria, the young girl is Kelley, and the detective is Ray.
These three, along with other characters, come to life in this page turner that
starts moving full speed ahead from the opening page and never slows down until
the end.
My favorite character in this
story was Special Agent Ray Volk of the FBI. It was fun reading about a
character who presented a noir-ish feeling in the story. Ray is a
straightforward experienced investigator, and once on the case, he is
relentless until he has all the facts. He goes to great lengths to gather the
information to break a case. He goes without sleep, food, and will jump on a
plane at a moment's notice to follow leads. As with many investigators, he is
often a pain-in-the-butt for his boss, who tells him he needs to leave his
weapon in its holster, even when he comes under fire. Ray's character adds a
portion of dry humor to an otherwise dark tale.
All the characters were well
written and relatable. There was also a wide diversity both in cultural ties
and sexual orientation.
Aside from following the
adventures of Ray, my favorite point of plot was the military aspect of the story.
One can certainly tell the author is a veteran of the US Navy. I got a strong
sense of authenticity during the military scenes. The author's experience added
just the right nuance to the action and made those parts come alive.
My takeaway from this tale is
if one gambles, one shouldn't count their winnings before the game is over.
Even the best planned operation will not turn out as the planner expects
because there are just too many unpredictable outside factors that cannot be
considered.
One of Our Spaceships is
Missing is a great story, carefully written, with interesting characters. It
hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the end. Even with the fast pace
of the story, everything is written clearly and with enough detail to give the
mind's eye a good feel for the backdrop the characters are playing in. It is an
adult oriented story, and I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers. Some may
find the sexual encounters and thoughts between the characters a little
unsettling, but not gratuitous.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You can visit Chris' website at
www.privatemarsrocket.net or read his blog at chris-gerrib.dreamwidth.org.
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
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