Dark Deeds

October 15, 2017

The crew of the Keiko are back, and they are in the doghouse with powerful crime lord Sergei Orlov, who didn't get what he wanted from them in their previous adventure (Dark Sky). To ensure that Capt. Ichabod Drift makes good on the debt Orlov believes is owed to him, he holds Drift's partner Tamara Rourke for ransom. The crew have two months to come up with a large amount of cash. While siblings Jia and Kuai work with new recruit Muradov to rip off a dirty cop, Drift convinces the Keiko's huge Maori crew member, Apirana, to enter a big-purse prize fight. Of course, Rourke doesn't wait tamely to be rescued. In this entertaining space opera, Brooks explores further his characters and their interactions by splitting the Keiko crew into different teams. As there are limits to how many stories you can tell on a relatively small spaceship, this series is an example of space opera that broadens its scope by having the action mostly take place planetside. VERDICT A delight for series and space opera fans.--MM

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 30, 2017
In Brooks’s fantastic third space adventure (after Dark Sky), the stakes have exponentially increased for Capt. Ichabod Drift and the crew of the Keiko. Russian casino owner and space mobster Sergei Orlov is severely displeased that Drift’s crew failed to complete their last job for him. This is brought home forcefully to Drift when he is captured and held for several days in a shipping container. When Drift is freed, he finds that his business partner, Tamara Rourke, has also been captured, and the pair are made, as they say, an offer they cannot refuse: Drift must return to New Samara with a pile of cash in two months, or Rourke will die painfully and Orlov will post a bounty on Drift’s head. Each of Brooks’s Keiko novels feel like a great caper movie, but at this point things have become so desperate that Drift actually considers doing legitimate work to raise the funds he needs. The bonds among the crew continue to be a high point of the writing, as are Brooks’s terrific action sequences, particularly those highlighting Rourke’s fighting skills.