Books

Books : reviews

Myke Cole.
Sixteenth Watch.
Angry Robot. 2020

rating : 4 : passes the time
review : 12 May 2020

Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver must lead her newly acquired troops to prevent the first lunar war in history…

Having served as a Search-and-Rescuewoman for thirty years, Captain Jane Oliver is ready for a peaceful retirement. But when tragedy strikes, Oliver’s plans are shattered, and she finds herself thrust into a role she’s not prepared for.

Suddenly at the helm of the Coast Guard’s elite SAR-1 lunar unit, Oliver is the only one who can prevent all-out war on the surface of the Moon, a conflict that will surely consume the Earth as well…

The US Coast Guard is a branch of the military, but the branch that saves lives, not that takes lives. When friction arises between US and Chinese miners on the moon, the Coast Guard and the Navy vie for jurisdiction. Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver finds herself at the centre of the conflict.

When I started reading this, I read the first chapter, put the book down, and didn’t pick it up for a week, as it hadn’t grabbed me. But when I picked it up again, I devoured the rest in a couple of sittings, as the action hotted up, and the plot went off in unexpected directions. This gives a view inside the Coast Guard and their ethos, and Oliver is an interesting protagonist, not implausibly super-competent or super-heroic, but a dedicated and capable leader thrust into an impossible situation.

Although there is a conclusion, there is more definitely room in this universe for a continuation of the story. What does Oliver do next?