Blackest Ocean (Backyard Starship, #8).
By J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ out of 5 stars.
Van is a veteran now, and the lessons are getting tougher.
But so is he.
When a ghost ship arrives in port, filled with the victims of a crime beyond imagination, Van and his crew will be drawn into a chase that goes beyond any star system the Peacemakers know.
Beyond Guild borders, the Torus is a gateway to crime and profit beyond imagination. It’ a wild, lawless place with few connections to the civilized stars, but Van and Torina discover a thread that connects the past, the future, and the present in a web of violence that can only be purged by fighting fire with fire.
Unfortunately for the enemy, Van has a torch, and he’s willing to use it. From the reaches of space where a secretive race ply their illegal trade, to the halls of Anvil Dark, Van will face his greatest step, and answer his most challenging question.
After the Peacemakers, what comes next? And can Van survive it?
This series is altering between three and four stars, mostly four stars so far, and this is another four star one.
As usual it is a light science fiction adventure with a mixture of police, detective and military elements. There is a distinct but not overdone comedy element, especially when it comes to the dialogue, to the story as well.
The book continues the thread from the previous books and the deeper Van & Co’s investigations leads them into the murky waters of the criminals they are hunting the higher the stakes become and more dangerous does their lifes become.
As usual Van and his merry band is cool, funny, likable and, luckily for them, very, very kick-ass. Their investigations leads them into more than one ambush, assassination attempts and a small interstellar war. The bantering between Van and the members of his team is going from cool to funny to outright hilarious. Perry is his usual snarky combat AI and bloodthirsty Icky is hilarious most of the time whether she is just opening her mouth or knocking the heads off the bad guys, literally.
As the story develops we learn more and more about Van’s family history as well as the GKU who are becoming more and more involved. I quite like how everything develops. Once again Van returns back to Earth for parts of the story and that is another part I like with these books.
Overall, this is another good instalment in the series. It as a light, action filled, sometimes hilarious space adventure. A fun and enjoyable read plain and simple.
PG's Ramblings 