Thieves of Destiny

A Military Space Opera Series (Gravity City, Book 1)

By: C.J. Valin, Artie Cabrera

Narrated by: Pete Bradbury

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A daring rescue. Interstellar war. Reality-shattering conspiracy...

In the midst of fighting a reignited war with the deadly Nimic, Lt. Commander Johnny Rangers of the Confederation of Aligned Planets is dragged into a rescue mission by mysterious agent Koya Nyrus.

With his best friend’s life at stake, he finds himself on a restricted world full of secrets that could alter the course of the war.

Meanwhile, Rangers’ father, Inspector Frank Branza of the Gravity City Police Force, sets out to uncover a vast conspiracy with plans to affect the very fabric of reality.

Little do the estranged father and son realize they’re on the same deadly path that will change the galaxy forever.

Don't miss the start of the Gravity City series by CJ Valin and Artie Cabrera. Space will never be the same after this rip-roaring adventure across the stars!

©2022 CJ Valin and Artie Cabrera (P)2022 Recorded Books

a interesting story

the story for me kept jumping over to different places, and I had to attempt to keep track of what was happening in each area.

Easily one of my Favourite Books this Year!!

Thieves of Destiny is one of those superb books in which there are those gritty powerful characters that provide that wonderful dialogue that is both witty, humourous (there are some of the best one-liners in this book!), and a storyline that is full of intrigue and leaves you wanting more, all wrapped around this breathtaking world building that is just stunning.
Set against the back drop of the infamous Gravity City, Thieves of Destiny follows our intrepid hero Johnny Rangers, a Commander on the starship Scimitar. Rangers is head of security, and at the start of this book, he is investigating the unfortunate death of an Ensign who died from going out an airlock. (We already know what happened to the poor Ensign thanks to a cut scene at the start of the book, so know her death is suspicious, but not the why or who of it all).
There is a lot of intrigue and a very ‘Noir’ feel to this story, it has that old-fashioned Detective story to it, like Rangers should be wearing a Fedora as he moves around the halls of the starship, there is just this class to the dialogue and descriptive work that moves it to a whole new level and makes the story something special as you engage with these characters.
The crew of the Scimitar (and the rest of the fleet), are fighting a war against an alien race known as the Nimic. There was a truce, but then an incident happened at the Khovalt Sector and the war restarted. This incident involved a Captain Adair, and Rangers’ current Captain Braddock, but there is some contention about the actual facts involved
Onboard the ship, there is are several other outstanding characters, Captain Braddock, who thinks highly of himself, but Rangers sees straight through him. There is the XO, Ballister, who Rangers does not get along with (No Spoilers), and then there is Gabrielle Delage, the comms officer, who is also a bit of part time girlfriend for Rangers.
As Rangers is investigating the death of the young Ensign, he makes a discovery about the incident, and contacts a friend, Walton ‘Walt’ Cayde who works at CDF Intel, and asks him about the Khovalt incident, as he doesn’t know anything about it. This is where the story gets really intriguing, as by contacting Walt, and using ‘Khovalt’, a word that is taboo, Rangers sets in motion a series of events. Walt has to go on the run, but is picked up by another CDF agent, agent Koya, and they start to investigate things, that together with Rangers’ investigation, could shake the very core of the Confederation.
There is also a second storyline that runs through this book, that follows Rangers Father, Frank Branza, a touch old Detective back in Gravity City where Johnny Rangers grew up. Det Branza is the legendary old Cop, tough as nails, on the edge, but loves his city. Surrounded by corruption and city officials and Cops on the take, Branza refuses to take a dime, one of the last of the Untouchables. Branza does have a little bit of hope, a new Detective Beta, who idolizes Branza, and as such, hasn’t been tainted by the corruption, and is still keen and sharp. Branza fears for the kid, but still takes the time to train him – and it is here we follow the two of them as they are investigating a strange case in which high end drones dried to kill someone after an accident. This is a clever tie in with the first story, but it also sets Branza on a dangerous path, as the investigation is one he shouldn’t be looking into.
As with the first story, this is beautifully written, with rich dialogue, and if anything, the world building here is better, as the descriptive work of Gravity City is just exceptional. Branza’s character is wonderful, as is the young Beta.
There are several other brilliant characters here, but I don’t want to give away spoilers.
This is a captivating and compelling book, with several storylines that are cleverly intertwined together to produce this wonderful overall story that is not just intriguing, but leaves you wanting more. The great thing about this book is the exceptional character work, and the inspired dialogue between the characters that is just outstanding. This book captures those gritty, intelligent, Noir storylines that we used to see a lot of, but are not as prevalent these days unfortunately. This is Masterful Storytelling at its absolute best and should not be missed. It is easily one of my favourite books I have read/listened to this year, and I can’t wait for part 2.
Peter Bradbury has a nice clear voice to listen to, and is easy to understand. He is clear and concise, and provides a good range of both male and female character voices that are also easy to understand. His male voices are really excellent and distinguishable, so that each male character has distinctive voice of their own. His female voices were not ‘feminine’ as such, but each had their own distinctive character voice so you could separate them. To be fair, given Bradbury’s voice, it would be difficult for him to produce a truly ‘feminine’ high pitched voice didn’t sound forced, and his voices were easy to understand and recognise. He used a lower tone for female voices to differentiate female characters.
The other thing Bradbury did do really well was capture the emotional state of the characters when telling this story, from Braddock being angry or egotistical, to Walt being worried, and Rangers going through a gambit of emotions at various times in the story. Bradbury did this aspect well, so we understood how the characters felt during particular parts of the story. Overall, I thought the Narration was pretty good – I will be getting the next audiobook that comes out.