The Defector by Chris Hadfield

On November 30, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller3 Comments

The Defector Cover

Publisher: Quercus (Trade Paperback – 10 October 2023)

Series: The Apollo Murders – Book Two

Length: 369 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Former astronaut turned thriller author Chris Hadfield returns with his second excellent novel, the intriguing and clever historical read, The Defector.

Back in 2021, I was lucky enough to receive a copy of superstar astronaut Chris Hadfield’s cool and much-hyped debut novel, The Apollo Murders. Set during the Cold War, The Apollo Murders depicted an alternate history adventure where a fictional Apollo flight mission to the moon suffered all manner of calamity, including murder, treachery, and unexpected Russian hitchhikers. Thanks to Hadfield’s knowledge of history and spaceflight, this turned out to be quite the gripping read, and The Apollo Murders ended up being one of my top debuts for 2021. As such, I have been eager to see how Hadfield planned to follow up his first book, and I was quite excited when I saw that his second novel was a sequel to The Apollo Murders. This book, The Defector, was an excellent and compelling thriller which I had a brilliant time getting through.

Israel, 1973. On the eve of the Yom Kippur War, a Soviet test pilot makes the bold decision to fake a crash in his state-of-the-art MiG fighter and secretly land in Israel. Claiming that he wants to defect to the United States, the pilot, known by his codename, Grief, and his plane are traded to the Americans, who desperately want to know the secrets of the MiG and how it achieves such impressive altitude.

Having witnessed Grief’s defection while on holiday in Israel, NASA flight controller and former Navy test pilot Kaz Zemeckis is quickly drafted in to take carriage of the captured MiG and to work with Grief to fully understand the plane’s limitations and capabilities. Their unlikely partnership eventually takes them to the most secure and secret location in the United States, Area 51, where Grief looks set to provide all the information the Americans have ever wanted about the MiG. However, not everything is as it seems, and it soon becomes apparent that Grief has his own reasons for wanting to defect to the United States. Can Kaz get to truth before it is too late, or has he let a wolf right into the heart of America’s most secret air base?

This ended up being an excellent and exciting novel from Hadfield that successfully follows up his original debut and provides a cool and intense new story that proves very hard to put down. Hadfield tells a pretty tight and compelling story in The Defector that starts strong with the mysterious Grief defecting right in the middle of the Yom Kippur War. This initial excitement morphs into an intense and gripping game of cat and mouse, as Kaz attempts to utilised Grief’s knowledge and keep his defection secret from the Soviets, while the Russian pilot works to initiate his own plans.

This continues for much of the book, and I thought this ended up being a much more focused and well-structured thriller narrative than we previously saw from Hadfield in The Apollo Murders. The focus on espionage and military secrets was a great centre for the plot, and Hadfield did a good job on also utilising some intriguing characters, especially Kaz and the mysterious Grief. The inclusion of a couple of fictional supporting characters from The Apollo Murders, namely a cosmonaut and a major Soviet antagonist, was also quite interesting, although as they were mainly there to set up a future entry in the series it did disrupt the narrative flow a little. Everything leads up to the big conclusion, which Hadfield set up nicely throughout the course of the story. While I do think that Hadfield might have considered utilising a twist to change the antagonist around, it was still really fun to see the full plan unfold, as well as the real reasons behind the defection. Watching the manipulation and the resulting violence unfold was very impressive, and it led to a satisfying, if slightly predictable, final showdown with the protagonist that ended everything on a high note.

I really enjoyed how well The Defector came together, especially as Hadfield reused all his best writing elements from The Apollo Murders, while also strongly utilising his own personal experiences and knowledge as a test pilot. The constant switching between perspective characters, as well as several interludes and flashback sequences, helped to produce a complex, multilayered storyline, and I liked seeing the various players in the plot attempt to work out what everyone else is doing. It also allowed Hadfield to hide some good hints about the antagonist’s true motivations and feelings, which came out perfectly at the end of the book. There was also some great character growth around the protagonist Kaz, especially as Hadfield successfully built on his personality and relationships from the first book, and it is clear that the author has some future adventures planned for him.

However, the real strength of The Defector lies in Hadfield’s encyclopaedic knowledge of military airplanes, Cold War espionage history and spaceflight, which was masterfully inserted into the plot. Much of the plot revolves around the desire for both sides of the Cold War to get a better understanding of their opponent’s aircraft capability, and Hadfield expertly examines the history and mechanics around this. The discussions about aircraft, fighter capabilities and more, are all quite fascinating, and Hadfield does a wonderful job of exploring them in a highly detailed way that readers unfamiliar with aircraft can easily understand. His experience also allows for some highly realistic and intense aerial combat sequences, and I really enjoyed the elaborate scenes that resulted, especially the cool conclusion. This grasp of aircraft, the history surrounding their development, and the espionage involved, are well worked into the plot of The Defector, and I loved how much it increased the authenticity of the book, making it so much better.

Overall, The Defector was an outstanding second novel from Hadfield that I had a wonderful time reading. Containing a clever and well-paced spy thriller narrative loaded with intriguing details about aircraft and the cold war, The Defector had me hooked from its first awesome scene, and I managed to power through this book in no time at all. Compelling and action packed, The Defector was an outstanding follow-up to The Apollo Murders and I cannot wait to see what Hadfield writes next.

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Red Winter by Marc Cameron (based on the series by Tom Clancy)

On December 20, 2022March 21, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller3 Comments

Red Winter Cover

Publisher: Sphere (Trade Paperback – 13 December 2022)

Series: Jack Ryan series

Length: 419 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for another adventure from classic spy thriller character Jack Ryan as Marc Cameron once again visits Tom Clancy’s iconic universe for an amazing read with Red Winter.

Now, I am the first to admit that I have more than a few gaps in my reading knowledge, especially when it comes to some of the classic, long-running crime fiction or thriller series. Perhaps one of the most significant of these are the works of Tom Clancy, whose books, particularly those featuring protagonist Jack Ryan, are very highly regarded and have resulted in many films and other adaptations. The Jack Ryan novels have continued for years, even after Clancy’s death, with several authors contributing great new stories to the wider series. Well, I am about to dip my toe into Clancy’s universe for the first time by checking out the new Jack Ryan novel, Red Winter. Written by established thriller author Marc Cameron, who has already contributed several recent entries to the series, Red Winter was an intriguing and enjoyable read with some great spy thriller elements to it.

Berlin, 1985. The crushing stalemate of the Cold War continues as the East and the West engage in their usual espionage games. The most valuable piece on the board is an apparent Stasi source embedded deep within the CIA, providing invaluable information to the East Germany intelligence agency. However, the espionage balance is about to tip once again, when a young American embassy worker is handed a note in mysterious circumstances, apparently from a high-ranking member of the Stasi who wishes to defect to the West with a trove of information.

Unwilling to trust the CIA team in West Berlin, the traitor requests that a new face journey to East Berlin to discuss his upcoming defection. Forced to look outside the box of their usual operatives, the CIA decide to send Jack Ryan to make contact. Accompanied by a talented agent and shadowed by a deadly CIA killer, Ryan begins the dangerous journey to East Berlin to determine the legitimacy of their new source. However, there are few places more dangerous for a CIA agent like Ryan than East Berlin, and he soon finds himself surrounded by tricky foreign agents, deadly assassins and desperate informers, all of whom pose a dire risk to Ryan and his mission.

However, the plan gets even more complicated when an experimental US military aircraft crashes down in the Nevada desert, right in front of an undercover Stasi agent. Securing a vital piece of military hardware, the Stasi agent flees across America, aiming for an extraction by his masters while the FBI, Air Force and local police hunt for him. Desperately needing information on the Stasi agent in America before it is too late, Ryan must work hard to bring the defector to their side and find out where the fugitive is going. But with the KGB, Stasi, and the CIA traitor moving in for the kill, can Ryan escape East Berlin with the information he needs, or will the stolen technology allow the East to once again heat up the Cold War?

Red Winter was an excellent and highly exciting spy thriller novel that takes readers back to the classic Tom Clancy setting of Cold War Europe. Marc Cameron has produced a very entertaining and compelling read here, and I was swiftly sucked into the awesome story. The narrative itself has a lot of moving parts to it as Cameron focuses on several closely related storylines or character arcs at the same time. While much of the focus is on Ryan and his comrades as they attempt to infiltrate East Berlin and make contact with the defector, you also get familiar with several other great characters in the vicinity. This included the CIA mole, an East German singer who is being abused by a Stasi agent, members of the various spy agencies working on both sides of the Wall, and a deadly American operative who is shadowing Ryan to keep him alive. The book also shows the hunt for the fugitive Stasi agent in America, who is attempting to flee with the stolen military equipment. This American part of the book is further split between different perspectives, with the reader seeing events from the eyes of both the Stasi operative and the FBI agent hunting them.

These diverse storylines come together extremely well, and I really liked the interplay of different characters and plot lines in the second half of the book. There are some great storylines going on throughout the plot, with my personal favourite being the compelling fugitive scenes in America. The sequences set in Germany are also very intriguing, especially as Cameron provides some excellent descriptions of tradecraft and the various counterplays by the spies, as both sides battle it out for espionage supremacy. I really appreciated the dark dive into life within East Germany during this period, and the compelling looks at several East German characters who are attempting to survive added some intensity to the book. There is also an excellent look at the traitor with the CIA and their complex position and their reasons for betraying their country are an excellent part of the plot. While the first half of the book is pretty intense, everything kicks up a notch once Ryan and his colleagues arrive in East Germany. There are a ton of destructive and high-impact action sequences here which really get the blood pumping and keep the story going at a very fast pace. I deeply enjoyed the cool action sequences, especially as Cameron does a great job of writing them realistically, showcasing the talent of the professionals and Ryan’s lack of fighting ability. There are a few good twists towards the end and Cameron keeps the conclusion hopeful, but dark, highlighting that there are very few heroes in the Cold War. Red Winter was an amazing and very fun spy thriller, and I loved how this compelling narrative came together.

I also had a lot of fun coming into to this series as a Tom Clancy newbie. My only experience with Tom Clancy and the Jack Ryan books comes from some of the film adaptations, such as The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games. However, I found that this was more than enough to enjoy Red Winter, and my lack of any real knowledge of Tom Clancy’s original books didn’t really hamper me at all. While I am sure that I missed out on a bunch of clever throwbacks, Cameron did a great job of reintroducing all the key characters so that new readers can follow their storylines. There are multiple references to some of the previous events that occurred canonically before the events of Red Winter, but none of them have any major impacts on the story, and I felt that any thriller fan could dive in here with a minimal amount of knowledge and still enjoy the fantastic story within. Red Winter also apparently serves as a bridging novel between The Hunt for Red October and The Cardinal of the Kremlin, with Ryan meeting several of the supporting characters from The Cardinal of the Kremlin in advance here. I felt that this was a very clever inclusion by Cameron, and fans of Clancy’s original work are going to love seeing some of the intriguing hints of the events that are to come. This also ends up being the first canonical time that recurring character John Clark sees Jack Ryan, having travelled to Berlin to help him, although Cameron uses circumstance and training to make sure they don’t actually talk. Personally, I thought this was a great introduction to the wider world of Clancy’s writings, and I will have to try and read some of his earlier works when I get a chance.

Overall, I had a wonderful time reading Red Winter and I really enjoyed Marc Cameron’s latest addition to Tom Clancy’s spy universe. Cleverly adding to the well-established Jack Ryan series, Red Winter features some awesome spy action while perfectly showing off the dangers of Berlin during the Cold War for all spies and government agents. Fast-paced, action-packed, and loaded with some classic Tom Clancy moments, Red Winter was an intriguing and captivating novel that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

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The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

On December 13, 2021November 30, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller9 Comments

The Apollo Murders Cover

Publisher: Quercus/Hachette Audio (Audiobook – 12 October 2021)

Series: Standalone/Book One

Length: 15 hours and 14 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for one of the most impressive and complex debuts of 2021, with the exciting alternate history science fiction thriller, The Apollo Murders, by former astronaut Chris Hadfield.

In 1973, former test pilot turned government liaison officer Kazimieras “Kaz” Zemeckis arrives at Huston to supervise NASA’s latest voyage into space for their 18^th Apollo mission. On paper, NASA plans to send three astronauts to the moon, seemingly on a scientific expedition. However, Kaz is also under orders to prepare the military astronauts on board for a covert operation to investigate the Russians’ recent rover mission to the moon as well as a secret spy satellite orbiting Earth that could give the Soviets an invaluable advantage in the Cold War.

As the crew prepares for their mission, tragedy strikes when a helicopter crash results in the death of one of the astronauts. Forced to take on a new crew member at the last minute, the team launches and begins to make for their primary mission, the spy satellite. However, the Americans are unprepared for the satellite to be manned by Russian cosmonauts determined to defend their station. The encounter results in a terrible accident and a cosmonaut being trapped aboard the Apollo craft as it hurtles towards the moon.

As the American and Soviet governments argue over the unfortunate events, the Apollo crew attempt to undertake a moon landing with limited crew and resources. Forced to work together with their Russian stowaway, the crew begins to descend towards the moon on an apparent joint venture. However, back on Earth, the Soviet government is determined to turn this to their advantage by any means necessary, even if it means utilising a long-hidden intelligence asset. Worse, it soon becomes clear that the helicopter crash that killed one of the astronauts was no accident. Forced to contend with the knowledge that an Apollo astronaut in space might be a murderous saboteur with nothing to lose, Kaz and the flight team at Huston can only watch helplessly as events unfold and the future of space travel is changed forever.

This was a pretty impressive debut from Chris Hadfield, who really showed a lot of talent in this book. Hadfield, a former astronaut known for his excellent rendition of ‘Space Oddity‘ filmed aboard the ISS, was able to construct a compelling and fast-paced novel with an amazing story to it. Combining detailed science with a complex alternate history thriller, The Apollo Murders ended up being an excellent and powerful read that I deeply enjoyed.

At the heart of this novel lies a captivating and multilayered narrative surrounding a doomed mission into space. Set in the 1970s during the golden age of spaceflight, The Apollo Murders follows a fictional 18^th Apollo mission that goes very differently than intended, with fantastic espionage thriller elements combining with the science and historical fiction storyline. Told from a huge range of different perspectives, this book initially focuses on the planning for an Apollo flight, which intends to both explore the moon and disable a Soviet spy satellite. However, the story takes a turn when one of the astronauts is killed, and from there the story ramps up as the astronauts blast off into space while the other characters, both American and Russian, attempt to follow them while also conducting their own investigations and espionage missions. The novel has an explosive middle, in which the American and Soviet astronauts encounter each other in space with disastrous results. The consequences of this encounter lead into an epic second half filled with lies, deceit, sabotage and backstabbing, as two characters in space attempt to manipulate the situation to their advantage, while everyone on the ground, including Kaz, the astronauts, mission control, the Russians and a variety of other characters try to influence what is happening. This all builds to one hell of a conclusion, with interesting consequences for several of the characters, and one surprise after another.

I really enjoyed this cool story, and I loved the fun blend of genres that Hadfield featured throughout it. On paper, a thriller and murder mystery set around a fictional historical space flight seems a bit too complex for its own good, but Hadfield made it work, and the story is crisp and easy to follow, with none of the component parts overwhelming any of the others. The reader is swiftly drawn into the story and it was fun to see everything unfold, especially as Hadfield ensures that you can see all the various angles and treacheries as they occur. The author made excellent use of multiple character perspectives to tell a rich and captivating story, and it was extremely fun to see how the various characters viewed the situation and reacted to certain events. Each of the characters featured in this novel is set up extremely well, and the reader quickly get to see their unique personalities, history and motivations surrounding the events of this book, which makes them extremely relatable and easily to follow. While the identity of the person responsible for the murder at the start of the novel was a tad obvious, Hadfield uses this to its full advantage, helping to establish the book’s main antagonist, turning him into quite an arrogant and unlikable figure whom the reader really starts to root against. It was really fascinating to see all the various character arcs and storylines come full circle by the end of the narrative, and The Apollo Murders ended up being a brilliant and compelling self-contained novel.

Easily one of the best things about The Apollo Murders was the incredible amount of detail about space flight and the science of space featured within. Throughout the narrative, Hadfield spends an amazing amount of time explaining all the relevant science and technology that is relevant to the plot as the protagonists encounter it. At the same time, the author also features a ton of relevant anecdotes or discussion about the history of spaceflight up to this point, which often serves to highlight the scientific information being provided at the same time. All of this is worked into the plot extremely well, and the reader is soon given insight into what the characters are doing and the significance of their actions. While all this information had the potential to be extremely overwhelming, Hadfield manages to dole it out in appropriate snippets, ensuring that there is never too much science or history in one scene, only enough for the reader to follow what happens. This information is usually very easy to follow, and Hadfield’s writing style ensures that all the relevant facts are explained appropriately as the reader requires. As such, the reader is never left confused at any point, and it leaves them open to enjoy some of the epic scenes. I really must highlight some of the great spaceflight sequences featured throughout this book, including some of the epic take-off and landing scenes. Hadfield really paints a beautiful picture here with his writing, and the reader gets a detailed understanding of every element of the flight and what the astronaut characters are experiencing or attempting to do. These spaceflight elements are extremely well written, and I really must commend Hadfield for the work he put into making them seem as realistic and accurate as possible.

I must also highlight the great historical elements featured in this novel. I rather expected this to be one of the weaker spots of the book, especially with so much focus on the spaceflight or the thriller parts of the book. Instead, the reader is treated to a detailed and compelling discussion about the state of the world in the 1970s, especially surrounding the Cold War and the capabilities of both America and the Soviet Union. A lot of this history relates to space travel, which is probably why Hadfield knows so much about it, and he uses it to great effect throughout the novel, giving the story an appropriate feel. However, Hadfield also takes the time to examine the competing nations of America and the Soviet Union, and there are some brilliant scenes set in both, especially when it comes to the covert geopolitical battle occurring between them. Hadfield portrays this period perfectly, and I especially liked his great use of multiple real historical characters, including politicians, NASA flight crew, espionage heads and even a few famous astronauts such as Alan Shepard, all of whom played vital roles in fleshing out the espionage elements of the plot. While a lot of this book is based on historical events and facts, it is set around a fictional 18^th Apollo mission. This alternate history element is a fun part of the book, and I really appreciated the way in which Hadfield tried to envision how the various governments would react to such as disastrous mission to the moon. I feel that Hadfield captured the political and social elements of this period extremely well, and I really appreciated this examination into history, especially as it combined with the thriller and space faring elements of the book extremely well to produce an outstanding and compelling narrative.

While I did receive a physical copy of The Apollo Murders, I was unable to resist the audiobook version, which proved to be really impressive. With a run time of just over 15 hours, I was able to power through this audiobook quickly, especially once I got engrossed in the cool story. I felt that the audiobook format was very conducive to following the various scientific elements featured throughout the novel, and I had a wonderful time imagining the elaborate space manoeuvres brought to life by the narration. However, the main reason that I wanted to listen to this book was due to its narrator, Ray Porter. Porter is one of the best audiobook narrators in the world today, and I am a big fan of his voice work in the thrillers of Jonathan Maberry (such as Code Zero, Deep Silence, Rage, Relentless and Ink). Porter ended up providing an excellent narration for The Apollo Murders, with each of the various characters presented with a compelling and fitting voice that fit their personalities and nationalities. While it was a bit weird in places to hear a voice from one of the other books I have heard him narrate, Porter was able to produce an excellent flow throughout The Apollo Murders, and the story swiftly moved across at a great pace. This ended up being an excellent way to enjoy this novel and I would strongly recommend checking out this audiobook version of The Apollo Murders.

The Apollo Murders is a brilliant and powerful literary debut from former astronaut Chris Hadfield, who blew me away with this amazing first novel. The Apollo Murders contains a fantastic and complex story that blends several genres into an exciting and clever read that takes the reader on a wild and thrilling adventure into space. Featuring a deeply fascinating look at historical space flights and based around a fictional 18^th Apollo mission, The Apollo Murders was one of the best debuts of 2021 and I had a fantastic time listening to it. This is a great novel to check out and I cannot wait to see what Hadfield writes next.

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Star Trek: Agents of Influence by Dayton Ward

On October 15, 2020August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Tie-in Novel4 Comments

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 9 June 2020)

Series: Star Trek: The Original Series

Length: 11 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading figures in the Star Trek expanded universe, Dayton Ward, returns with another exciting and compelling novel about the Enterprise, Star Trek: Agents of Influence.

For years, the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire have been engaged in a dangerous cold war, with each side trying to gain an advantage over the other through any means necessary. Starfleet Intelligence has launched an ambitious secret plan to infiltrate the Klingons with surgically altered spies. Thanks to radical surgery, advanced technology and intensive cultural and linguistic training, these undercover agents have managed to infiltrate the highest echelons of the Klingon government, obtaining some of the most sensitive intelligence about Klingon technology, military plans and political ploys.

However, Starfleet’s three most highly placed agents have somehow been discovered. With their cover blown, the agents manage a daring escape from the Klingon home world and engage their emergency extraction procedure. The agents successfully make their rendezvous with the USS Endeavour at the edge of Klingon space before everything goes terribly wrong. A Klingon warship suddenly engages them in combat while mysterious energy fluctuations ensure that both ships are destroyed.

With hostilities between the Federation and the Klingons building, Starfleet dispatches Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise to the crash site in the hope of salvaging the situation. Forced to comb through some of the most dangerous territory in the entire galaxy, Kirk hopes to find the remnants of the Endeavour and any survivors of their crash. However, mysterious events are occurring within the border zone and the Enterprise soon encounters unnatural conditions, pirates, Klingon warships and a top-secret weapons experiment. Kirk and his crew must navigate through all these dangers carefully if they are to avoid another destructive war. However, it soon becomes clear that Starfleet are not the only ones with highly placed spies and Kirk must find a way to uncover an enemy agent if his crew are to survive.

Dayton Ward is a veteran science fiction author who is easily best known for his work on the Star Trek expanded universe. Ward has written a significant number of Star Trek novels over the years, which tie-in to several of the different Star Trek television series and movies. I have so far only read one of his books before, Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Available Light, which I really enjoyed. This new novel from Ward, Agents of Influence, is a brilliant standalone novel that follows the Enterprise during the period that Star Trek: The Original Series was set.

One of the things that I really like with Star Trek extended fiction is the amazing range of different stories that the authors can produce within the expanded universe. Agents of Influence is a really good example of this, as Ward has come up with an excellent story that highlights a very interesting aspect of life in this universe: espionage between the various alien races. This proves to be a really cool plot basis which the author utilises to his full advantage by producing an exciting and action-packed narrative. This is a fast-paced book that sees the various characters involved in all manner of danger and intrigue as they attempt to extract the spies and thwart the efforts of their Klingon opponents. There are several excellent action sequences designed to get the blood pumping, including a couple of fights between starships and one particularly cool pitched battle between two large opposing forces in spacesuits in the bowels of an asteroid. There is also a really compelling storyline that sees the protagonists attempt to locate a spy aboard their ship, with a number of potential suspects adding in intrigue and drama as a result. The author makes effective use of multiple narrators to tell his story and this ensures that the reader gets to see every side of this exciting and enjoyable narrative, including from several antagonist characters. This helps to really pump up the intrigue and action, and I really appreciated seeing the different sides of the conflict, especially as you get to see rival plans go up against each other. The various character perspectives also helps to build up all the major side characters present throughout the book, allowing the readers to get a good idea of who they are and what their stakes in the plot are. All of this comes together into an exciting and compelling overall read that is very easy to enjoy.

Agents of Influence was also excellent piece of Star Trek fiction, set during the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. Ward once again does an incredible job capturing the tone and feel of the original Star Trek television series into this book and it actually felt like I was watching an episode of the original show. The author is really talented at bringing iconic Star Trek characters to life in his novel and each of The Original Series characters featured in this book gets their chance to shine throughout the narrative. Like most novels that tie in to a particular media franchise, Agents of Influence is a book that will mainly appeal to dedicated Star Trek fans, who will appreciate Ward’s latest contributions to the extended universe. There are a variety of fun references to various episodes of The Original Series, including some of the episodes that featured characters using plastic surgery to alter their appearance and disguise themselves as members of other species, such as the iconic episode The Trouble with Tribbles. Ward also makes several references to some of the other novels in the Star Trek expanded universe, especially those featured in the Star Trek: Vanguard series of books. This includes the USS Endeavour and its crew, who previously appeared in these novels, with some of their previous adventures and their interactions with the Enterprise explored throughout the course of the book. However, all of these references are really well explained to the reader and even people who have less familiarity with Star Trek and some of the expanded fiction should still be able to enjoy this novel without any issues.

I ended up checking out the audiobook version of Agents of Influence, which turned out to be an extremely fun and easy way to enjoy this fantastic book. The Agents of Influence audiobook has a run time of nearly 12 hours and is narrated by Robert Petkoff. This is a fairly typical length for a Star Trek audiobook, and I found that I was able to power through this one’s intriguing narrative in rather short order while getting a feel for the plot and the characters. One of the main reasons for this is the exceptional narration provided by Robert Petkoff, who is easily the most prominent narrator of Star Trek fiction. Petkoff is an amazingly skilled narrator whose work I have really appreciated in a range of previous Star Trek audiobooks, including The Unsettling Stars, Picard: The Last Best Hope, The Captain’s Oath and The Antares Maelstrom. Petkoff has the amazing ability to replicate the voices of the various cast members of The Original Series (as well as the cast members from The Next Generation), and this is on full display in the Agents of Influence audiobook. Petkoff once again did an outstanding job bringing all the key Enterprise crew members to life, and at times you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between some of the voices he did and the original crew. This, combined with the amazing species specific voices that Petkoff produces, really helps to bring the reader into the story, and I had an awesome time listening to the story unfold.

Star Trek: Agents of Influence is a compelling and clever standalone Star Trek tie-in novel that takes the reader on a bold new adventure back with the cast of The Original Series. Dayton Ward has produced a slick and enjoyable Star Trek novel chock full of action, intrigue and references, that I had an amazing time listening to. A highly recommend read for those fans of the Star Trek franchise which will also appeal to more casual viewers and science fiction readers.

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