NIGHTCHASER is the glorious first
book in The Endeavor series, a space opera and sci-fi romance rolled
together by one of my favorite authors, Amanda Bouchet. Bouchet's
first series, The Kingmaker
Chronicles, is a not-to-be-missed fantasy romance. Now
Bouchet turns her gaze to space, with a high stakes rebellion against
an evil ruler and his stifling empire.
Tess is a mouthy space pirate who captains a piece of junk ship with a
motley crew of misfits by her side. These pirates run blockades to bring
desperately needed vaccines to the sector where Tess grew up. Tess is
an incredibly engaging character. She's socially awkward, inadvertently
funny, and doesn't appear to have met a challenge that she doesn't
recklessly try to best. I adore Tess!
Tess has a number of explosive secrets, though. When Tess meets
Slade, who is masquerading as a parts dealer and ship repairer, those
secrets start dribbling out. But the stalwart, brawny hero Slade is
hiding dangerous secrets of his own. I really enjoy the ambiguity that
Slade brings to the story. When Tess and Slade find themselves fleeing
the might of the galactic military together, Tess must decide if she can
put aside her mistrust in order to rely on Slade's powerful skills and
work as a team to save an imperiled orphanage.
Fraught with lots of nail-biting tension, NIGHTCHASER is a roller coaster of intrigue and space
battles, chemistry and betrayal. Bouchet keeps the reader on
tenterhooks, with superb world-building and plenty of emotion. I love
what she's done with this new space frontier. Bouchet's NIGHTCHASER is a marvelous sci-fi
romance with fantastic intrigue and fun, tricksy characters.