A review by lacunaboo
In the Black by Sheryl Nantus
1.0
A step above your standard sexy-times fanfiction...but not a very big step.
What I did like about this book: our kickass protagonist, Sam Keller; and the world in which spaceship brothels travel from place to place to service clients throughout the galaxy, an idea that was new to me and thus caught my interest. As far as some of the details of this world, other readers seem to think the author has borrowed heavily from Firefly, so perhaps it's not as original as I thought.
What I didn't like: characters make some really nonsensical decisions in this book, most notably during the murder investigation. A lot more research into police procedurals and how such things are actually conducted would have made this much more enjoyable.
Another point that lacked a degree of realism - turning gravity on in this space ship apparently costs more money (why?) and so should only be done when it's really worth paying the greedy corporate overlords extra for a luxury (such as taking a shower rather than twirling yourself around in floating blobs of water); the crew of the ship, at least the two who aren't courtesans, have a limited supply of clothing, ratty bath towels, and must trade their few dog-eared paperbacks for new ones when they make landfall - and yet, you can tell the ship's AI that you want a coffee or a warm wet washcloth or an ice cold water, and it's delivered to you immediately.
Another point that needed research: arthritis. How it was used in this book just wasn't realistic.
The romance was full of cringeworthy innuendos that turned into love within 24 hours. A couple of hot scenes, but not quite "fleshed-out" enough (heh heh.)
I've certainly read worse, but was glad when I made it through to the end of this one, and won't be continuing with the series.
What I did like about this book: our kickass protagonist, Sam Keller; and the world in which spaceship brothels travel from place to place to service clients throughout the galaxy, an idea that was new to me and thus caught my interest. As far as some of the details of this world, other readers seem to think the author has borrowed heavily from Firefly, so perhaps it's not as original as I thought.
What I didn't like: characters make some really nonsensical decisions in this book, most notably during the murder investigation. A lot more research into police procedurals and how such things are actually conducted would have made this much more enjoyable.
Another point that lacked a degree of realism - turning gravity on in this space ship apparently costs more money (why?) and so should only be done when it's really worth paying the greedy corporate overlords extra for a luxury (such as taking a shower rather than twirling yourself around in floating blobs of water); the crew of the ship, at least the two who aren't courtesans, have a limited supply of clothing, ratty bath towels, and must trade their few dog-eared paperbacks for new ones when they make landfall - and yet, you can tell the ship's AI that you want a coffee or a warm wet washcloth or an ice cold water, and it's delivered to you immediately.
Another point that needed research: arthritis. How it was used in this book just wasn't realistic.
The romance was full of cringeworthy innuendos that turned into love within 24 hours. A couple of hot scenes, but not quite "fleshed-out" enough (heh heh.)
I've certainly read worse, but was glad when I made it through to the end of this one, and won't be continuing with the series.