Whoops! Didn’t realize this was 3rd in a series until after I requested it. But I liked the last Isabelle Adler novel I read, so I thought I’d give this a shot. And I wasn’t as lost as I thought I was going to be. Enough references happen in the first couple of chapters that I felt I kind of knew what was going on.

The story kept a great pace going, with lots of action and space battles and intrigue. And there were the necessary drops in action that the characters, and I, needed to process the story. For a sci fi story, there’s a fair bit technical jargon, but not so much that it distracted from the story.

I loved the depictions of the characters, especially Matt. He’s dealing with a new relationship, traumas, alcohol addiction, and a stressful mission. He’s not cured of his traumas by the end of the book, and he’s shown to be working through what he can. The background characters were unique and interesting, and I would have loved more for them. Especially Tony and Val, but I admit I’d probably get that out of the previous two books.

I’ve never been a big fan, in sci fi or fantasy, of the “entire race is evil” trope, but that’s definitely a me preference. And the main anatagonist is not the evil alien race, but an old enemy of Matt’s. So this didn’t feel like a permanent ending for the series. There’s enough unresolved that it seems like another book could continue on. Otherwise, this was a fun science fiction romp, and I look forward to searching out the first two books in the series.