Humanity has spread into space. There are colonies on the moon, Mars....even Europa. To protect the outposts, resupply ships and travellers, there is a fleet that patrols space. Their job is to patrol, offer help to space freighters, conduct search & rescue missions when needed, and give aid to stranded or damaged ships. It's an important job -- without the resupply ships, the outposts would be completely cut off. Most of the time the work is routine.....until it isn't. When Captain Shann and her crew respond to a distress signal, things get dicey. One of her crew is murdered, and then the ship is attacked.... Their job just got very non-routine quite quickly!

This book has some awesome action scenes and definitely kept my attention. I love Captain Shann as a main character...she is intelligent and incredibly capable. The story is told from multiple points of view. Normally, I really don't care for that sort of plot -- but for this Space Opera, it worked perfectly. I can't wait until this comes out in audio format -- this is the perfect sci-fi novel to listen to! I loved reading it -- but I think I will enjoy it even more in audio!

This is the first book by Allen Stroud that I've read. I'm definitely going to be reading more. Best Sci-Fi adventure I've read in quite awhile! I love the front cover art for this book....so awesome!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

Stroud, Allen. Fearless. Flame Tree P, 2020.
Allen Stroud, a young English lecturer, has written a near-future space opera that shows real promise. The Khidr is a search and rescue ship in a solar system with a handful of permanent, though not self-sufficient, colonies, stretching from Luna to the gas giant moons. Typical travel time from Earth to Mars has been cut from six months to two. Propulsion and navigation technologies are treated realistically, and the characters of the crew are nuanced and well-developed, though occasionally given to unnecessary psychobabble. The plot involves a ship-to-ship rescue that is hampered by third ship of pirates with complex political motives. Action and suspense are tense. So far so good. But. Someone needs to tell Stroud that it might be OK to begin a story in medias res, but it is not so OK to end it that way. No sequel has been announced, but one would hope that is an oversight. If there is a sequel, I would also hope it will be given a less off-the-shelf title. ( )