I picked up this book because one of my favourite authors, Ilona Andrews, recommended it on her blog. I don’t normally like science fiction all that much, but this seemed to be focused more on action and adventure, and I’ve liked recommendation from her blog before, and figured I’d give it a try.
Deviana “Devi” Morris is a professional mercenary, and has pretty much risen as fast and as high in the ranks of the elite corps of the Blackbirds as she can go. Her dream is to become a Devastator, the elite guard of armoured soldiers who guard the God King of Paradox, her home planet. However, the Devestators only take soldiers who have proven themselves to be exceptional, and it seems the only way Devi may show herself worthy of their attention is by surviving a stint as a security guard aboard the Glorious Fool, captained by the supposedly cursed Captain Carswell. To begin with, Devi is disbelieving the job can lead to any flashy promotions, with the shifts involving nothing but standard security detail, taking care of her precious custom-made armour and flirting with the handsome and mysterious cook, Rupert Chekov.
But Devi needn’t have worried. Once they get the ship fully crewed and start their trade runs, the ship keeps being attacked, and Carswell keeps sending Devi and her partner into increasingly more dangerous situations. Every time the ship docks, the captain, Rupert and the captain’s deeply introverted daughter goes off on mysterious missions, and the more time Devi spends around Rupert, the more convinced she is that he is much more than a mild-mannered cook. He can single-handedly take on blood-thirsty aliens and wield Devi’s guns without any noticeable after-effects, despite Devi breaking her arms if she tries to fire them outside her armour. Ignoring every warning she gets, Devi keeps prying into Carswell and Rupert’s secrets, not caring that the answers may the fastest way for her to end up dead.
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