The Doublecross Program by Chris Bunch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was somewhat disappointed with this book and that surprised me. I really like Chris Bunch and I really liked the first two books of this Star Risk, Ltd. series, so when this one seemed to be sub-standard, it was a real surprise and, as I said, a disappointment. Basically, M’chel Riss and the Star Risk, Ltd. mercenary team are hired by one planetary system to train and lead its armed forces against a neighboring planetary system, only to double cross them and go to the other system for the same deal. And back again. And so on. It’s an entire book of double crossing. And it doesn’t really endear the group to me, I’ve got to say. I mean, I know they’re mercenaries, but still, have some ethics in how you do business. If you have a contract, do your damn job! I thought better of these people.
The thing that makes Chris Bunch books good is not only are they action packed military sci fi novels, but they’ve got intrigue, and plenty of it. There’s a mystery and it’s a good one. And there are plot twists and you wonder how the heck the protagonists of his series’ are going to escape whatever predicament they’re in. That was the case in the first two books of this series, as well as all of the Last Legion books. Not so with this book. It’s plenty action packed. A lot of tension, I suppose. Perhaps. Maybe not. I mean, you know your heroes probably aren’t going to be killed off, so really, how much tension is there? So, in this case, the book seems to be mostly a straight ahead military action novel. No real intrigue, no real mystery. No wondering who did what, who’s going to do what. No real wondering how they’re going to escape, other than how they’re going to either end this war or get away from it, which is frankly anti-climactic and when it does “end,” it is anti-climactic. And for once, they actually don’t conclude their job, technically. It’s a fairly dissatisfying ending to a dissatisfying book. I’ll be starting the fourth book in the series in a little while. I have hopes that it will be an improvement and will return the series to its normal status of excellence. Because this is not typical Chris Bunch. If you’re reading this series, I guess you might want to read this, but it’s not essential. I don’t think you’ll be missing a lot by not reading it. And frankly, if you’re not reading the series, I see little point in reading it, although it can be read as a stand alone book. Whatever the case, not recommended, sadly.
hankrules2011 