Tenuous Defense

Mercenary Navy, Book 3

By: John J. Spearman

Narrated by: Joel Richards

The Union will stop at nothing to achieve victory. Will Swiftsure be able to withstand the relentless waves of attacks?

Cliff Rawlins, after recovering from the explosion that destroyed his headquarters, finds he has no time to rest. The Union is determined to wipe out anything that prevents them from absorbing the most economically powerful solar systems in settled space. They launch waves of attacks, devastating Rawlins' forces.

With his fleet down to its last ships, Rawlins launches a "Hail Mary" attack to buy his forces time that they need desperately. The Union, with too few ships to resume the offensive, offers bounties to the major criminal syndicates to prey upon the convoys Swiftsure protects. Swiftsure must find an answer.

The race is on. Whichever side manages to finish building new ships first will have a huge advantage. Swiftsure pulls just far enough ahead in the arms race to position itself on the cusp of victory, but its clients pull them back. They decide to negotiate with the Union, whose only intent is to buy time to rebuild its fleets.

The war between the Union of Free Planets and the mercenary navy is about to reach a climax. At stake is the fate of settled space.

©2024 John J. Spearman (P)2025 Tantor Media

Good series overall

There are some strong views in this book, not political per say but more regarding social engineering and manipulation. I had some issues with two subplots that served unrealistic regarding personal security but otherwise it was a competent trilogy. My only complaint was i never really got emotionally vested with the characters, maybe it was the voices or the writing but i was more analytically interested in the outcomes. All in all worth the credits, some of the takes on social sentiment is topical.

Good pacing

Early in the series, it often felt like an illustration story from a business school textbook. But, seeing as how I probably abandon 1/3 or half the books I start, I not only finished the first, but the second as well, so I must have enjoyed it.