Dark Run

Brooks’s terrific debut demonstrates that a good caper tale can take place anywhere, even in interstellar space. Capt. Ichabod Drift and the crew of the Keiko have an unusual approach to galactic law and order, one that ranks “convenience over obedience.” All of them have secrets that they’d rather not reveal, but Drift’s is the biggest of all: he was once known as Gabriel Drake, a notorious privateer. He thought he’d escaped his past, but now it has come calling in the form of Nicolas Kelsier, ex-minister of Extra-terrestrial Resource Acquisition for the Europan Commonwealth, and Drift’s former boss. Kelsier offers him both the carrot and the stick: Drift can take Kelsier’s smuggling commission and earn a handsome sum for himself and his crew—or have his past revealed to the Federation of African States and the rest of the galaxy. Even with elaborate planning, capers never run easily, and this one is no different. It will take all the skills of each of the Keiko’s crew members and some “outrageously ballsy chicanery” on Drift’s part if they are to escape with their lives, let alone make a profit. Fans of rip-roaring space adventures will greatly enjoy this one. (June)