The Returned: Part 2

Article by Richard Smith

The second part of Peter David's three part New Frontier Adventure begins where part one ends. Captain Calhoun and the crew of the Excalibur are searching for the race that annihilated  Calhoun's native planet, killing all of his people. The crew is concerned that a rescue mission for Starfleet Personal held by the offender is turning into a quest for vengence. Meanwhile, Mark McHenry shows up to protect Robin Lefler and her young son from an assassination attempt, and Admiral Shelby is worried about everything that's going on.

As you might expect, this middle piece of the three part book, spends nearly all of it's time setting up the following book. That doesn't mean though that it is devoid of  surprises. I won't let anything out of the bag, but as the puzzles pieces come together you'll find the story hard to put down.

David doesn't disappoint when it comes to further developing characters that we've come to know and love from over a decade of novels. We feel the pain and concern for Calhoun, we experience the intrigue Robin finds around each corner. He has once again allowed the characters to leap off the page and you are on the bridge, the planet, where the action is happening. The story moves along at a good pace and you are not bored. It could easily we a one day read. You find yourself wanting the final story right away.

My final take on this, Keep in mind I've been a fan of this series for many years and was waiting with baited breath for this book. I'm going to give it a 4.5 of 5. It's not his best story in the saga (yet) but I really enjoyed it. This is one ebook I can't wait to be published in paperback so I can add it to the collection. I'll take a look at the final piece next time.