What happens to your story hero when he gets old and apparently has accomplished everything he was planning to do? Well, you make sure he had a son some where along the way and then you start writing about his adventures. So, out goes Colonel Kyle Riggs and in comes Cody Riggs!
And as the son of most famous person in the universe, you tend to get defensive about your own actions which is just the way Cody Riggs is acting. He doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. Even though he manages to graduate from Star Force Academy with his girl friend Olivia, nothing really sees to bother Cody Riggs because he knows he can’t compete with this father’s legacy.
Then his girl friend and finance gets killed on what was to be a pre-wedding joy ride in her fathers new space yacht. Cody doesn’t know who killed her or why or even if they were really after her in the first place. But he vows to find the killers and put an end to them. In so doing, we are on another space adventure with a Riggs and eventually, Marvin. Certainly by now if you’ve read any of these books you have heard of Marvin and have an opinion one way or another on his value to the story line. I personally think Marvin should have been dismembered a long time ago. But no, he’s still around to mess with Cody Riggs and cause trouble.
You’ll find out that this story takes Cody and his fiancée sister, Adrienne, out of the Solar System and through another ring gate only this time, the ring gate is one way! Cody also meets some new aliens in this new system who at first seem friendly enough except for a slight misunderstanding in language. All six officers, including Admiral Turnbull, leave to meet with these strange looking aliens and all six do not return. Riggs is now the only Star Force Academy office on the battleship, Valiant.
From there it’s one fight or flight after another with no friendly civilizations any where around. Cody has to manage just like his father did making live or death decisions at every turn. They flee one star system to another only to find hostiles waiting or friendlies that need help but don’t appreciate the help he and his crew give them. Along with Marvin, Cody Riggs puts on another show of brilliant tactics and war fighting abilities that surprise even him.
I found this book easy to read and very enjoyable except for some of the parts dealing with Marvin. I think he gets too much freedom when he should have been melted down a long time ago.
The story line continues….