Thanks to an intriguing ensemble cast and their varied takes on the nicely complex universe, readers who missed 2008's Peacekeeper
will find it easy to catch up in this entertaining second military SF adventure for Ariane Kedros, a secret agent of the Consortium of Autonomous Worlds. Kedros and her pilot, Matt Journey, are co-opted into transporting CAW Master Sergeant Joyce to system G-145, home to an anomaly of interest to multiple parties, including the mysterious alien Minoans and the Terran Expansion League. When terrorists arrive with a stolen temporal-distortion bomb, seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs of the past, alliances form and shift as the tension mounts. Reeve immediately immerses the reader in her universe's vernacular, acronyms and backstory, an approach most rewarding to those who are versed in learning from context. (Oct.)
