The third Cassandra Kresnov novel finds Callay’s population coping with occupation by a powerful minority faction of the Fleet looking to maintain Earth’s control of the Federation in the face of President Neiland’s bid to have it relocated to Callay’s capital city. The young Callayan Defense Force (CDF) headed up by Major Vanessa Rice and Commander Cassandra Kresnov, a battle-droid who broke free of her programming, are all that stands between the might of the Fleet and Callay’s political aspirations. Cassandra has overcome many obstacles since her arrival on Callay including mistrust on a massive scale and justifying her existence as a sentient being, so taking on the Fleet is just another large hurdle standing between her and the quiet life she longs for. President Neiland and others are looking to use Cassandra for their own ends while Special Agent Ari Ruben, Cassandra’s love interest, stumbles onto a plot to kill her. Years earlier, her creators at the League secretly equipped Cassandra with a killswitch in her brainstem and now that she is actively fighting against everything they hold dear, it’s time to get rid of her. Cassandra must go into hiding while working with the CDF to destroy the Fleet’s blockade and foil some devious plans as she faces Jane, her nemesis and sister battle-droid.
Plenty of rough and tumble action full of high-tech weaponry and battle savvy female warriors keep readers engaged as Cassandra and all of Callay become mired in the endless political machinations that come with social upheaval. Indeed, there are so many layers of politicking that it slows the storyline to a mere crawl in places. Cassandra’s continued development remains an interesting subplot although her inability to destroy Jane leaves one wondering if perhaps she has been hardwired with more then just a killswitch. Definitely a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy with enough wiggle room for more to come from this series that serves up social commentary with military action in equal doses.
USA
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