Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Deadly Enterprise-Christopher Hoare

Deadly Enterprise
Christopher Hoare
Double Dragon, Sep18 2007, $14.99
ISBN: 9781554044900

From the future with an advanced technology but a damaged starship the Iskander, the crew must adapt to the old war ravaged earth of Gaia. The Iskander leaders wish to broker a peace between the emperor and his opponents so all can prosper. The best choice to work with is considered the merchant-banking Felger family. Although she is young and a rogue, Lieutenant Gisel “Wildcat” Matah, is chosen to make first contact with Yohan Felger; as she bends rules but always accomplishes the mission because she never loses focus as to who she portrays under cover.

Gisel’s assignment is to work a trade deal that will benefit her people and his family. However, in his world, women are subservient and not equal let alone superior. To negotiate, Gisel must dress and act as if she is a man. As troopers search for outside operative Wildcat, her superiors switch her mission when another stranded space traveling species surfaces. However, the hardest impediment to staying in character is her attraction to the man who sees her as a male but her heart is all female.

The key to this terrific alternate earth science fiction thriller is the heroine who comes from a future in which a woman can be all she can be, but in this past, a female has restrictive roles. Fast-paced throughout, readers will enjoy Gisel’s efforts to broker a peace between two adversarial groups who have been fighting a Hundred Years War while another joker enters the fray. Although the support cast can seem overwhelming as there are so many players providing diverse limited roles, Deadly Enterprise is an enjoyable action-packed tale (see Wildcat's Victory and Arrival for other thrillers starring Gisel).

Harriet Klausner

No comments: