This is turning into a pretty good series. I like the cast of characters even thought the main character is a female. Yeah, I’m a male chauvinist all the way through. Still, she’s not bad at being pretty tough. Well, it also helps that she’s now indestructible! Lieutenant Abigail Cage is in charge of her team from Hell! Of course you would have needed to read the first book to understand that statement. But, I’ll do some explaining.
Her team is comprised of prisoners which were sentenced to the prison planet name Hell. Abigail was also sentenced there even though she had been framed for the charges. Still, she managed to stay alive long enough for some or two someone’s to become interested in her. Captain Olus Mann is the head of the Republic Office of Special Investigation. That makes him the chief spook for the Republic. He knows something is brewing out in the Wastelands near the rim of known space, but he doesn’t know just what. So, he managed to break Lieutenant Cage and a number of other ex-military out of Hell and set them up as a quasi-special forces outfit reporting to him. Now these guys and gals are all hardened criminals. They did what ever crime they were sentenced to Hell for and that’s a fact. Abbey, on the other hand, is pretty innocent, but she’s a Lieutenant full of self-righteous indignation and now, something called the “Gift”. It was injected into her just before the breakout from Hell. Captain Mann had nothing to do with that. The “Gift” isn’t understood by Abbey. She feels it inside her, it’s doing something.
They have been assigned the mission to find and recover two Republic starships, the Brimstone and the Fire. They went to an out-of-the-way planet to see if they could get a led on where these two ships were taken after they were stolen from the shipbuilder during a big ceremony. While on this planet, Feru, they encounter some of Gloritant Thraven’s people and one in particular, Trin. She is a disciple of Thraven full of the “Gift” which makes her almost indestructible, just like Abbey. They fight and Abbey manages to get the better of Trin and then kills her by cutting off her head. Apparently, that’s the only way to truly kill someone who is consumed by the “Gift”. Just after doing that, though, Abbey is mercilessly gunned down by the remaining members of Trin’s gang. Her bullet riddled body is carried back to the Faust, placed in the care of their auto-doc knowing that there wasn’t much it could do for her.
Abbey wakes to find the auto-doc standing over her looking very confused. She’s asks him what his problem is and he states that he’s logic loop or rather confused since he doesn’t know how she could possible be alive given there was nothing he could do for her massive wounds, yet here she is now sitting up and breathing. It seems as though the “Gift” can repair just about any damage as long as one doesn’t loose their head. So, now the Faust believes the Brimstone has gone to the planet Anvil and that’s where they are going. Just how they will be able to overtake a huge, gigantic starship that’s armed to the teeth and accomplish their mission is unknown. Even Abbey refuses to think about it. All she can think about is who is this Gloritant Thraven and what the hell is this “Gift” I’ve been given. The story results in some pretty spectacular battles along the way.
This book is very easy to read. I found myself rapidly covering pages, yet the story line seemed to flow logically. I also didn’t mind the “super powers” Abbey seems to have acquired although it does seem to make her less careful in firefights. She’s now getting shot a lot instead of ducking. The “Gift” also has to be fed. It seems it can exist and sustain itself by consuming huge amounts of food. In ordered to grow in strength, Abbey is aware that she has a hunger for blood of others with the “Gift”. That’s now getting into the realm of vampires and stuff, but I don’t think it’s the same thing.
There’s more to come. In fact the next book in the series, “The Devil’s Do” is already out and of course, I have it. I would encourage anyone to read this series because it’s very interesting, well written, and not as gross as it could be.