Veena’s review of Last Chance (Sunscapes Trilogy, Book 1) by Michelle O’Leary
Space Opera published by The Wild Rose Press 12 Apr 17
Hotshot Del is offered a chance of a lifetime – a job flying a shadow ship that people would kill to fly at a very generous salary, plus a buyout of his crappy contract with his current employer, plus the female half of his current employers makes his body sit up and take notice. Are things too good to be true with all these pluses? Del looks for the other shoe to drop as readers get ready for a wild ride in a brand new galaxy we’ve never visited before.
On the flip side, Del finds that the courier service he’s joined is a very special team at Shay Enterprises who have the best-of-the-best ships and a camaraderie that comes from having once been a part of the core. Are the Shays plotting against Quasicore or are they even bigger criminals and the courier service is their secret weapon? As readers will soon see, the Shay twins are definitely plotting something and put on a public persona that is quite different from what their special courier team sees.
In the meantime Del is assigned his own shadow ship, a luxury accommodation fully equipped with an Artificial Intelligence to help him organize and manage his personal life. To top it all off, his brother, whom he hasn’t seen since he set off on his quixotic mission to pay off his father’s debt, is on the station visiting, combining a personal trip with an assignment to dig into the Shays’ enterprises.
Sinsudee Shay, his boss, makes all his senses sing, even though he knows she’s forbidden fruit. Perhaps in her own way the untouchable Sin reciprocates some of Del’s feelings, even as she navigates the cutthroat world that exists at the top of the food chain where the Shays play. As the team goes out on assignment, Del and Shay team up for a suicidal mission to strike a blow at Quasicore.
Many scenes in this book reminded me of Hunger Games with the criminal mastermind who is Quasicore taking over all the assets from the various planets and subjugating people. There are the very rich who enjoy a glittering lifestyle where others starve and die and the hidden thrust and parry between the Shays and Quasicore. The AI was a great addition with the tips on the care and feeding necessary to keep one’s AI healthy. I am definitely looking forward to the additional books in the series.
Grade: B
Summary:
Trapped in the criminal mega-corporation, Quasicore, Del tries to escape only to become entangled with the dazzling, dangerous Shays. Sinsudee Shay’s offer of protection and employment seems too good to be true. He has to find out if Shay Enterprises is a rival of the Core or a partner in crime.
Sin needs a pilot for her courier service. Rescuing Del from the Core is an added bonus, but he’s more than she bargained for. She’s too drawn to her new employee who’s intuitive enough to question her motives. He could ruin her and her brother’s plans.
Del’s wild attraction for the enigmatic Sin Shay only complicates matters. He can’t resist her lethal beauty, even as he fears the worst about their company. Is Sin’s offer of a new life his last chance for redemption or just another version of hell?
No excerpt available.
