Marauder's Compass

Outlaws of Aquilia, Book 3

By: M. D. Cooper

Narrated by: Christian Rummel, Amy Landon

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jax and the crew of the Lightning Runner have narrowly escaped Sinclair and her DSA fleet, but their troubles are far from over.

The flight from Iydra Station has depleted their antimatter reserves. Without resupply, they’ll have limited options should they run into trouble again - which they fully intend to do. With numerous parties hunting for their ship, Jax must choose their haven carefully. 

Penny knows of a secret city within a dwarf planet where they take refuge. However, it doesn’t take long to discover that their enemies have yet again increased in number. With several of the crew captured and the ship trapped, their options are few and drastic. 

The mission to infiltrate the Paragonian outpost is in dire jeopardy, and Jax must consider making the ultimate sacrifice in order to achieve victory. 

And if he fails, all Aquilia will be swept up in war.

©2020 Aethon Books (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Conclusion to 3 part series

This one wrapped up the story begun in 1 & 2 with goals accomplished & a definite ending that still sets up the possibility for a brand new series for the crew of the 'Runner's on whatever their next adventure may be. Lots of action, plot twists, etc. & even a pretty happy ending in that no main characters (the ones you love or the ones you loathe) bit it. This also leaves room for lots of other potential spin off series for prominent side characters, so lots of directions things could go. Even would be fun for some new books to feature some interesting bit players, like the woman who delivered the anti matter to the 'Runner on it's 2nd to last stop & helped get Callie & Penny back to the ship. couple of minor inconsistencies, like in the opening where Jax has told the crew about being from the beyond/otherside when it had sounded like that was part of his history he'd sworn to the Answan he wouldn't reveal. Another was an additional reveal about Penny's history that just didn't ring believable to me, at least, but those weren't t enough to ruin the whole fun of the story at all, just nitpicking really. Threw me for a loop, which, especially at the opening, kinda threw me for a loop because the hidden origins seemed like something that was going to be used as a reveal to somehow forward or enhance the plot & instead was just, oh, well, must've already spilled the beans on that already somewhere in space between books 2 & 3 & everybody's just cool with that. (i.e. instead of it being used as a device to rocky up the newly redeveloped romance between Jax & Callie. But, nonetheless it was overall a satisfying & action packed conclusion to a 3 part series. Of all the 3, this is the closest to what might be considered as a stand alone, in that it has a definite conclusion & doesn't end in the middle of a battle, etc. Though, already being familiar with the characters I don't really remember if there was enough of an introduction. Just that if you had a chance to pick this one up on sale, it would fare best as a standalone, but, as with any series always best to start from the beginning. Only complaint (still) is the female narrator. Hated her impressions of men, especially Jax & Finn. Didn't care for most of her women either. There was no need for 2 narrators, served no clear purpose, except to disrupt the flow of the story. She voiced a section with both male & female characters, just as Christopher Rummel did, so it wasn't like she did the females & he did the males. That would've made more sense and have been less disconcerting than hearing two completely different styles and accents being voiced for the same characters. That's down right confusing. To make matters worse, I didn't notice any rhyme or reason to when she would jarringly intrude. Everything would be just going along fine & bam! Like running into a brick wall. You have to stop, shake your head & say "what the heck just happened & where the heck am I?" Which character is this supposed to be? Just really annoying to have stop & figure out who is supposed to be who. I really, really hope M D Cooper doesn't do this or use that voice actress(?) again. PLEASE!!!! Wasn't bad enough to completely ruin the books for me, at least, as I knew Mr. Rummel's smooth voice would be back & all would be well again! That and not having paid a full credit helped too! Overall Summary: If you liked 1 & 2 you'll be very satisfied with 3. I haven't found any books by MD Cooper I haven't liked, though of course, some better than others. There's an occasional slow starter here & there, but this isn't one of them. 2 & 3 are my favorites of the 3. PS. If you like this review or find it helpful, please give it a click! Thanks. (Apologies if I spelled any names wrong, as haven't read the print version. )