Genre: Science Fiction Romance
My Rating: 5.0
Book Description
Publication Date: April 29, 2010
Doc-Delilah Oliver Clementyne's-orders are simple: do the impossible and do it yesterday. A genius/bad ass, she does the impossible on a regular basis. But this time the impossible is complicated by an imminent war between the Earth expedition to the Garradian Galaxy and the Gadi, an encounter with some wife-hunting aliens, and not one but two bands of time travelers. The only way it could get worse? If the heart she didn't know she had starts beating for the wrong guy...
Review: This has great imagination and characterization. I love the characters and love the story even more.
This is book Two of the Project Enterprise series and is set two years after The Key. Doc, Delilah Oliver Clementyne, has been transferred to the Earth expedition ship, the Doolittle. Doc is sometimes called “Morticia” due to her dark hair, white face and cool demeanor. What no one realizes is that she is also“the Chameleon.” She is a super spy, portrayed as a Doctor, but so much more. Doc has always had a brain that manages multiple tasks at super speed. She is accustomed to accomplishing the impossible although she knows the odds on continuing to do so are against her. She has never had time for romance or met anyone who sparked her libido...until now.
Helfron Giddioni is the leader of the Gadi people. The Gadi and Dusan leaders had tried to capture “the Key” two years before until the Gadi and Earth forces joined to defeat the brutal Dusan. The Gadi still want control of the Kikk outpost which has some remarkable technology including travel portals. General Halliwell is the Earth commander who is negotiating with the Gadi leader, a man he doesn’t like or trust from prior experience, in a delicate dance of diplomacy.
Shortly into this story an assassination attempt is made against the two leaders, General Halliwell and Helfron. Doc’s hidden talents help her to survive the bomb attack, eliminate the “clean-up” crew and thwart a second bombing. Hel had already noticed Doc and now suspects there is more to her than meets the eye. A fragile agreement has to be made to work with Hel to uncover the espionage and protect their position and future negotiations.
Doc heads off to the outpost to study the technology and try to retrieve a team that went through the portals two years before. On her way she is captured by “Conan”, Vidor Shan, the leader of a barbarian looking group of men out to capture women to replenish their race. Now both Hel and General Halliwell are desperate to locate her.
As if dealing with hostile races isn’t enough, Doc has to try to figure out why Dr. Tobias Smith is messing with time. Yet her efforts to go back in time may cause a paradox and a change to current time.
There is plenty of intrigue and action as well as puzzling time travel issues. The friendly, sentient nanites are added fun companions to Doc, as they were with Sara in The Key. There is immediate attraction and interest that draws Hel and Doc, even though they are an unlikely pair. But their new found emotion and love is torn by a time shift leaving Doc alone once more unless she can reach Hel and convince him to help them again.
I love the adventure, the alien setting, the action and the humor of these stories. Pauline sets up a believable time travel scenario with all the paradoxes that should be expected. The characters are rich and likeable; even the pirate, bad boy Vidor, has engaging qualities. The writing has a wonderful fast pace that fits the tale. This can be read alone but it works much better if you read The Key first.
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A taste of action:
Doc studied the timer on the bomb as her brain kicked into a predictable kaleidoscope of higher gears. Despite the surge of data, there was a precision to it, as if her brain were a Swiss clock on steroids. EOD—Explosive Ordinance Detail—wouldn’t make it. She had maybe a minute to defuse it. The good news, a “Doc minute” was more than enough. P. 24-25
A touch of romance:
“Just don’t be surprised by what we find on the other side.” His smile was both wry and tender. “I have been surprised almost every minute since your people arrived in this galaxy, Delilah.” P. 348
Thank you to the author for providing the ebook to read and review.
Check out my review and giveaway for The Key.
Thanks for another wonderful review, Martha! :-)
ReplyDeleteVery nice review about the overall story and action and mystery.
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