Audible Book Review: Mission Pack 1: Black Ocean Mission Pack, Missions 1-4 by J.S. Morin

This is entertaining but not gripping.

Mission Pack 1: Black Ocean Mission Pack, Missions 1-4
By: J.S. Morin
Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Series: Black Ocean, Book 1-4
Length: 20 hrs and 50 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-23-16
Language: English
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press
Genre: Action & Adventure, Sci Fi, Space Fleet
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.5; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
Science to build a starship. Wizardry to take it past light speed. A crew to give it a soul.
The Mobius is a cobbled-together ship with a matching crew. Captain Carl Ramsey is an ex-Earth Navy pilot whose crew won't let him fly his own ship. The pilot is his ex-wife, the mechanic is a drunk, and the chief of security is from a predatory species. Instead of a star-drive to travel through the astral space between worlds, the ship's wizard does it by hand.
Mission 1: Salvage Trouble
A salvage mission turns into a rescue, and no good deed goes unpunished. With two refugees onboard, the Mobius crew is hounded by bounty hunters, border patrols, and corporate enforcers.
Mission 2: A Smuggler's Conscience
"Don't open the package." It's the smuggler's credo for good reason. When the Mobius crew takes a peek at their illicit cargo, the entire job takes an about-face.
Mission 3: Poets and Piracy
The Mobius crew gets caught in a turf war between a pirate fleet and a galactic criminal syndicate. The trick is getting everyone out alive (and maybe getting paid in the process).
Mission 4: To Err is Azrin
Sometimes, you can't go home again. When a job takes the crew to their security chief's homeworld, she gets dragged into a familial power struggle. Can the rest of the crew bail her out of an old feud gone horribly wrong?
©2015 J.S. Morin (P)2016 J.S. Morin

Review:
The Mission Pack follows the not totally scrupulous adventures of the crew of the Mobius starship, whose members all have history and secrets. Captain Carl is the charismatic spokesman – and close to a con artist. Tanny, the pilot, is Carl’s ex-wife…several times. They apparently can’t live together but still have a strong connection. Mort is the ship’s wizard who runs the stardrive like no one else and comes to the rescue when circumstances become drastic. Roddy is a Laaku, close to humans but closer to “chimp-like primates”, and a wiz mechanic. And finally, there is security chief Mriy, an Azrin, “a humanoid house cat” – furry, large, clawed, fanged and always hungry.

The focus of each of the four stories is shared in the blurb. As the story proceeds an additional crew member is added giving another quirky person to add to the crew dilemmas. I was pulled in by the Firefly tease as I like varied alien characters and crafty space adventure. I was also pulled in by the picture of a dinosaur which plays a part in Mission 2. Although I enjoyed the crew members, I wasn’t gripped by them nor by the plots. The writing was fine, there is some humor and the magic is fun, it is just not overly exciting. For me it was an entertaining, light listen, but nothing compelling. Readers who like lighter space escapades might give this a try.

Audio Notes: Mikael Naramore does a good job with the narration. I felt he fittingly presented each character with appropriate voices and personalities. I’m glad that I listened to the audio.

Source: April 2017 $1.99 Audible Purchase. This qualifies for 2020 TBR, 2020Audiobook and 2020Alphabet goals.