Title: Three Card Monte
Author: Gini Koch
Series: The Martian Alliance #2
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Source: Publisher
Number of Pages: E Book
A risky gamble turns deadly when the galaxy's most feared terrorist arrives to up the ante.
When their favorite bookie pulls up stakes from Roulette and moves to Polliworld, the crew of the Hummingbird go to find out why, and hopefully get a cut of the action, but they end up caught in a high stakes game of chance that could destroy them.
I enjoyed this novella a lot. While it was short, it was full of action and had me laughing out loud at some of the antics that the crew gets into. We also get to know the crew a lot better, and I loved that while this was book two of a series, it worked well as a stand alone. There was just a touch of romance in this book, but it's mainly all about trying to figure out why Monte, a friend of the crew has decided to open a casino on the planet Polliworld and when they find out the answer, it's not a good one.
This is told from DeeDee's point of view, and as a shape shifter she is able to do a lot more then other members of the crew, and this does not make Roy, her love interest happy because he just wants to protect her. There's also major discord on the Hummingbird between crew members, and DeeDee works to figure out how it occurred, which is hard because she was gone for 3 months because of their last mission. I really enjoyed her trying figure out what happened while she was gone because it gives us more time with each crew member and I feel like we get to know everyone much better in this one then we did in The Royal Scam.
It's hard to choose which member of the crew I liked the best, but I think it's safe to say that Roy, the captain of the hummingbird is my favorite, just because I love how he tries to do the right thing and is protective of everyone, but at the same time realizes what their abilities are and lets them to do their thing, even if it's against his own personal interests, but works out better for the mission. To me, that's what makes him a great captain. :)
This series is just fun, and perfect for when you want to read something in one sitting.
