This is a very short book. The story line is quite simple and it’s not necessarily a military science fiction book although there is a lot of fighting. Your main character, Slim Taggart, is a thief and a smuggler, with a code of honor! You’ll read about him teaming up with others of his kind only they don’t seem to have any honor just a lust for money. There is some humor thrown and some really impossible situations, but the author took liberties where he needed to ensure all the primary characters didn’t die.
Sam Taggart has been contracted to deliver Yannik Xawei and her bodyguard, Qiao, to some destination that he hasn’t been told yet. In fact, starting out he has to go to the planet Vion that was currently at war. So, the first thing that happened is he lost his starship! Yeah, it somehow gets destroyed, but he’s still alive and looking for his new employer. Once he meets her, she asks the obvious as to how he’s going to get them off the planet when he doesn’t have a ship. Of course, he plans to steal one. And that’s how things go in this story.
Along the way you’ll find out why Slim is transporting this Yannik Xawei, who, by the way, happens to be a very efficient assassin. In fact, her whole race are professional assassins, not to be trifled with. She has some kind of crystal (the Emberling) that has to be delivered to a person named Monkskull Nakvar, a notorious warlord. Yannik says he’ll pay millions for this crystal but is pretty vague on why or what the crystal is so important.
So, that’s the gist of the story. Along the way Slim will pickup some questionable friends/enemies that want to take over either the delivery or grab the crystal for themselves. Yannik is pretty good at keeping the crystal hidden and based on her reputation as an assassin, you don’t want to try and take it from her. There’s also her bodyguard, Qiao. He’s a Krekza and he’s also extremely huge, very huge. There’s also the very good fact that Monksull Nakvar won’t pay anyone for the crystal, but just kill them once delivered. He’s wants delivery done on his planet in his very well protected part of space. Even the Colonial Militia won’t venture into Monksull territory.
There’s a good chance that this could be the last job that Slim gets to undertake, if he even finishes this one. His code of honor, believe it or not, won’t just let him steal from his employer and take the crystal for himself and it’s questionable if he would help anyone else do that while he just stood by. As you can guess by the fact this is a series, they don’t actually make deliver of the crystal so now they still have to figure out what to do with it and hopefully get paid something.
I’m not exactly sure what the title “Exiled” has to do with this book, but book 2, “Recoil” is available on Amazon now. Oh, Wow, this series already extends to book 6 so you’ve got a lot of reading to do if you’re going to stay with it.