Love and smuggling are a bad mix, like an unstable explosive.
Relationships and smuggling are tricky business, and for Reese Daniels tricky is a steep slope to disaster.
Enter Irina Almora, niece to mobster Gideon Almora, the same man Reese helped bring down a few months ago. While on a simple delivery to Mars, Reese and Irina become the targets of assassins, security, and other unsavory types who want Irina for who she is and what she knows.
Short on friends and his enemies list growing, Reese must navigate a tangled web of intrigue and ruthless gangsters to keep them both alive.
Love and smuggling are a bad mix, like an unstable explosive.
Relationships and smuggling are tricky business, and for Reese Daniels tricky is a steep slope to disaster.
Enter Irina Almora, niece to mobster Gideon Almora, the same man Reese helped bring down a few months ago. While on a simple delivery to Mars, Reese and Irina become the targets of assassins, security, and other unsavory types who want Irina for who she is and what she knows.
Short on friends and his enemies list growing, Reese must navigate a tangled web of intrigue and ruthless gangsters to keep them both alive.
Smugglerâs Love
Deimos Orbit
Mars Security Zone
Sunday, November 6
Earth Year 2140
Experience provided me a long career. My adventures took me places I couldnât dream of when I was kid. Along the way, I found people; friends, allies, and plenty of enemies. I never expected to find love, love so innocent it broke boundaries. The kind of love poets opine about. I heard once that love is patient, love is blind, love is transcendentâwell something like that. All I knew was love got me in a whole lot of trouble.
âWoohoo!â
Never had a single word from a woman filled me with more excitement and terror at the same time.
With hands steadier than a seasoned pilot of hundreds of flights, my girlfriend eased my ship tighter into the slingshot around Deimos. âI canât believe you never let me try this before, Reese. This is amazing!â
My fingers continued their white knuckled grip on my chair. Fighting the increasing forces pressing on me and my wavering resolve; my jaw cocked at a weird angle. âMy instructor made all his students do it at the end of their training; a final test before graduation.â
She turned her head. âYou mean I can get certified?â
Her lack of concentration drifted our vector, shifting out of the slingshot window and closer to the moon. I stretched out my hand as an alarm chirped on the panel. âEyes on the controls, Irina!â
She snapped her head forward. To her credit, she didnât overcorrect. A jerk on the controls would have sent us into a spin and headed toward a certain impact with the moonâs surface. She tweaked the thrusters and our vector corrected. âIâve got it.â
Our ship rocketed out of Deimosâs shadow, speeding into a high orbit around Mars. I took a deep breath, letting my tension ease. âNice recovery.â
Irina flashed a smile, her green eyes wide. âThanks.â She tapped the console. âYou did great too, Gracie Mae.â
I soaked her in, hardly believing the events that had brought us together. Three months before, I was blackmailed by EDF Security to infiltrate the home base of the Almora Cartel run by Ulinda and Gideon Almora, Irinaâs aunt and uncle. My instructions were to assist another undercover operative to disable the baseâs defenses and allow Security to barge in. Once inside, I met Irina. Unlike her other family members, who either threatened to tear me to pieces or shoot me, she proved to be a sane alternative and, to my surprise, helped me complete my mission.
When the dust settled, I was arrested along with the Almoras, but Security released me, probably for services rendered, but with those hard assess, itâs difficult to tell. When I got back to my ship, I found Irina had stowed away onboard and weâd been together ever since. Keeping a low profile, we stayed closer to Earth while I taught her the ropes of being a transport pilot. This Mars run was the farthest out weâd travelled.
âWhere is this delivery weâre making?â she asked.
âItâs called the Hideaway. My friend Kenton built it ages ago close to the Martian Polar Ice. Itâs a secluded station with a strict client list and off Securityâs radar.â Kenton Krieg and his longtime assistant, Annie, were two of the best friends a smuggler could have. Easy going, and as long as I didnât bring trouble, they didnât ask questions. I scored a room early on in my career and made sure to visit as often as possible. Friends were hard to make in this life and I valued them like family.
âSecluded, huh,â her voice turned sultry. âAre you planning a romantic getaway?â
I winked. âMaybe.â
âAs long as I can get to Mars Station while weâre here, Iâm all for it.â Irinaâs mother had grown up on the station and Irina still had family there. I promised we would swing by to collect some things her mother had hidden away from her fatherâs side of the family.
I straightened myself and rubbed my shoulder where my harness had cinched. A white light flashed on the sensor panel and I checked the screen. âLooks like thereâs another ship in the area.â
Irina turned. âI didnât see it before we started.â
âNot to worry. Theyâre probably headed to the observatory on Deimos. Iâve made supply runs there dozens of times.â
The light on the sensor panel turned red and a harsh klaxon blared.
âReese, whatâs happening?â
I grabbed the controls. âWhoever that is, they just targeted us. Switch over.â
Irina tapped a button, sending primary control back to my station.
âTheyâre closing, brace yourself!â I slammed the throttle to maximum and vectored toward Mars. The acceleration constricted my chest, but the inertial dampeners kicked in providing a slight respite. âIrina, does the computer have a reading on that ship?â
She studied the sensor readout. âMitsu-Renault Corsair.â She shook her head. âThe transponder is registering. I canât get an ident.â
I grimaced. Corsairs were sleek transports, but their cargo size was limited. Over the years, retrofitted versions became the ship of choice for mercenary groupsâand pirates. âTheyâre not rolling out the welcome wagon. That ship is closing to weapons range.â
Irinaâs face turned to a picture of concern. âCan we outrun them?â
I checked the sensor screen and shook my head. âWe canât make the atmosphere in time.â I pointed to a bank of four switches under the sensor screen and smiled. âDonât worry, weâve still got few tricks left to play. At this range, we can dodge cannons all day, but most of the Corsairs are fitted with a missile launcher. I need you to throw those switches when I tell you.â
She nodded, her hands trembling.
I activated the comm system and switched to the emergency band. âMayday, mayday, mayday. This is the Gracie Mae II on approach vector to Mars from Deimos to any ship in range. We are under attack by pirates. Please respond.â
âThisâŚEDF SecâŚÂ RepeatâŚmission.â A powerful hiss drowned the responderâs voice in the broken reply. I repeated the Mayday call and only the hiss of static returned.
âItâs no use; comms are jammed.â Another light flashed on the sensor panel. âHe fired. Iâve got one bogey inbound.â The distance tracking numbers under the approaching missile ran like a waterfall. I counted down in my head. ThreeâŚtwoâŚone. âNow Irina!â
When I am reviewing a book aimed specifically at a narrow genre, I ask myself two questions. First, does the book stick to the genre? Second, what is there about the book that lifts it above the other members of the group?
 The draw in this book is the main character. He is a sympathetic, rounded personality, a bit out of his depth a lot of the time, but valiantly covering it up. The short-term action sequences are also well written.
Two reasons it doesnât quite make the grade. First is the complexity of the plotline. This is a short book, but there are too many characters, and the social and economic structure of the setting is too complicated.Â
Second, and arising from the first, is the large amount of discussion required to keep the reader in tune with whatâs happening. This problem is not improved by the close connection to the book that precedes it in the series, creating a great deal of backstory in the opening section. For example, in a g-rated book I donât mind a fade to black as the ladyâs blouse comes off. However, I donât expect the main character to segue into an introduction of himself.
Other, minor blips I could mention include the ending, which I shouldnât reveal, but it is a rare example of a conclusion that ties up too many loose ends. Another is the casual approach to the science. True, simplified technical details are normal in Space Opera, but when the author spends a lot of time explaining a technical maneuver, then completely disregards it a moment later, the knowledgeable reader is tossed out of emotional contact with the characters. For those who want to watch for it, a skip against the outer atmosphere sends the ship careening away from the planet. You canât just use the thrusters to adjust the course to fix it.
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The bottom line is that, while this book ticks all the boxes for a Space Opera, it does not have the snappy, simple, action that is a hallmark of that genre. There is too much going on to create solid emotional contact with the characters or to get a good idea of the flow of the overall action.Â
Recommended for fans of the series. For others, read the earlier two books first.Â