This was just as fun as Calamity, the first book in the Uncharted Hearts series. Maybe more so.
The protagonist this time is Cyn Khaw, a down-on-her-luck bounty hunter with a brief cameo (under cover) in Calamity as the cultist Generosity. What she was up to in that book was the kind of side gig she has to take to pay the bills; her main focus has always been the pursuit of the serial kidnapper who abducted her younger cousin and murdered her when the family couldn’t raise the ransom. The action in this book kicks off when Estella Escajeda (sister of Arcadio from Calamity) shows up in her office, in true film noir femme fatale fashion. Her daughter has been kidnapped by the man Cyn has been hunting, and Estella wants Cyn to recover her daughter.
Cyn isn’t alone on this job. She’s joined on this job by the scout crew from Calamity. Temper and Arcadio are pretty minor players in this book; by far the most prominent member of the scout crew (from both the reader’s perspective and from Cyn’s perspective) (very much from Cyn’s perspective) is the medic Micah.
Complicating matters: in an earlier job Cyn committed the unforgivable sin of embarrassing a member of the prominent Pierce family (she really should have let him put pants on before she stunned him). Carmichael Pierce wants revenge on Cyn, but he’s willing to forego that … if she betrays Micah to him, as he’s a wanted outlaw in Pierce territory.
Further complicating matters: the job takes them to Cyn’s hometown, where she’s going to have to talk to her parents and won’t be able to keep the subject limited to her houseplants.
This story is just so much fun. The hunt for the kidnapper is exciting and unpredictable. The developing relationship between Cyn and Micah is fraught and tense and very entertaining to watch. And Cyn has a pet lizard that adopted her; a genetically engineered critter that eats metal (something to be carefully managed on a spaceship), breathes fire, will be able to fly when his wings come in, and is a completely useless coward.
This is pure entertainment. Highly recommended.
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