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timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I dunno, this book has a lot of positives, but in the end I guess I'm tired of their constant dives into messes with nothing but their blissful confidence that they'll figure something out.
I am done with this series partly because I am tired of reading how
(1) if a ship's involved, they have the best pilot in the galaxy
(2) if a fight's involved, they have the best 1-1 fighter in the galaxy, who is a middle-aged person of quite small build
(3) if talking's involved, they have the smoothest talker this side of Sergeant Bilko
There are several OTHER interesting characters here, though, and Brooks develops them well. Except Kuai, whose story arc ending didn't bother me at all.
Then we get that ending. Did anyone REALLY think that Not to mention that final action scene just being a fair tad beyond plausible.
I am done with this series partly because I am tired of reading how
(1) if a ship's involved, they have the best pilot in the galaxy
(2) if a fight's involved, they have the best 1-1 fighter in the galaxy, who is a middle-aged person of quite small build
(3) if talking's involved, they have the smoothest talker this side of Sergeant Bilko
There are several OTHER interesting characters here, though, and Brooks develops them well. Except Kuai, whose story arc ending didn't bother me at all.
Then we get that ending. Did anyone REALLY think that
Spoiler
T would retire to a life of crime? I was expecting a clever piece of manipulation to spring them, not the sloppy ending we got. The buildup with Roman and Larysa and even Orlov himself was just too long and involved for the ending we were given. Indeed, the series really needs to end here, because Tamara has become way too much of a loose cannon. Brooks has firmly placed her in the group of people who end up saying, "I know youse told me not to kill them, bawss, but they just got on my tits, y'know what I mean? OK, maybe I shouldn'ta blown up the whole hospital to do it."quentin_eddington's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
treskjegg's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lib_britannia's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ferrusmannus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
erikbail's review against another edition
4.0
Good wrap up, certainly left space for a book 4. But enjoyable space adventuring.
alex_ellermann's review against another edition
4.0
'Dark Deeds' dropped me right into the third book of Mike Brooks's "Keiko" series, about a scrappy spaceship crew's adventures on the wrong side of the law. Think "Firefly," or maybe "Guardians of the Galaxy," but with lower stakes.
I hadn't read the first two books in the series, but it didn't matter. Brooks gave me enough information to come up to speed on who was who in the zoo, if you will, and we were off on an action-packed sci-fi page-turner featuring car chases, MMA fights, gunplay, spaceships, and, basically, the kitchen sink. I dragged myself through the first third or so, while Brooks set things up. Once the action kicked in with the book's second act, however, I was hooked and tore through the last two hundred pages in just a couple of evenings.
This book won't change your life. Brooks's prose style is functional, not revelatory. But by gosh, 'Dark Deeds' is a whole lot of fun. Well done, Mr. Brooks!
I hadn't read the first two books in the series, but it didn't matter. Brooks gave me enough information to come up to speed on who was who in the zoo, if you will, and we were off on an action-packed sci-fi page-turner featuring car chases, MMA fights, gunplay, spaceships, and, basically, the kitchen sink. I dragged myself through the first third or so, while Brooks set things up. Once the action kicked in with the book's second act, however, I was hooked and tore through the last two hundred pages in just a couple of evenings.
This book won't change your life. Brooks's prose style is functional, not revelatory. But by gosh, 'Dark Deeds' is a whole lot of fun. Well done, Mr. Brooks!
schyzm's review against another edition
4.0
In his third novel about the crew of the Keiko, Mike Brooks comes into his own. In Dark Deeds, he has brought a balancing act between the heist story of the first book and the action-adventure of the second, and created a satisfying adventure that keeps going right up to the end.
mcacev's review against another edition
3.0
Dark Deeds is the third book in the Keiko series, which has quickly become one of my favorite ongoing series ever. I was immensely looking forward to this book and am currently feeling very polarizing, conflicting emotions. The first half is an easy 5 star, but about 60% in, things take a major turn and the ending really threw me for a loop, and not in the good way.
If you have read my reviews of the previous 2 books, you know I said something similar about the first book Dark Run; there too I loved the beginning but halfway through I felt that the plot escaped Brooks, and the book turned into a completely different genre than what it started out as. Here, the problem isn't so much the plot, but the tone of the ending. But before we go over why I didn't like it, let's talk about the stuff I loved.
Following the events of Dark Sky, Sergei Orlov kidnaps the crew as punishment for failing to deliver his information from Uragan. He keeps Tamara Rourke as a hostage and gives Ichabod 2 months to collect an abnormal sum of money or else he kills her and sends his goons after the Keiko. To get the money, the crew decide to pull a heist on Zhongtu, a Red Star planet completely controlled by the Triax, and inevitably things get complicated.
In terms of plot, this was probably my favorite one. I have been expecting the crew to pull an honest to God real heist since book 1, and finally they do. The plot is tight and focuses entirely on the different crew members and their plan; there isn't a revolution or a military operation they have to compete against. At this point, Brooks is very comfortably writing his babies, that it's pure joy just reading about their scheming and simply interacting with each-other. There wasn't a single crew member that I felt was irrelevant or underdeveloped, and I found the pacing satisfying and without his usual problem of rushing the conclusion.
One thing that did bother me, were the lose ends. I know we are probably getting book 4, but in terms of the plot of this book, multiple things were left unresolved. The main one I will talk about at the end, but for a lesser one, the introduction and development the 3 leaders of the Dragon's Sons goes nowhere. They felt like characters that should be more important than they end up being, and yet they don't really do anything.
I did enjoy their interactions, and once again Brooks excels at character and world building. I enjoyed spending time both on Zhongtu and New Samara; with Zhongtu, learning about how the Triax controlled the police and bureaucracy was fascinating and again, oddly familiar. My favorite scene was Jia infiltrating the meeting room via the cleaning service; I can see the scene play out like in a movie.
The new characters we get are as interesting and diverse as always. I really liked the dynamic between the 3 Triax leaders and Chief Han, especially the rivalry between Gao and Song. What I found absolutely unbelievable was a specific moment pertaining to Gao. There is a character introduced by the name of Chen who is an events manager and goes by ze/zir pronouns. This is excellent (zir is also not the only gender neutral character we get in the book, but I'll get to the other one later); what isn't excellent is that I refuse to believe that a man like Gao, who is disguising, sexist, crude and old would call both of the women he works with Song and Han bitches, but would bother to use the correct pronouns when referring to Chan. #tmw a sexist Triax boss is more woke than most politicians.
On Orlov's side, I enjoyed learning more about him and the host of characters we get, especially Larysa and Roman were great. I loved their interactions with Tamara, especially Roman trying to keep everyone's emotions in check.
Now onto our main cast. Let's start with Ichabod, because surprisingly, he gets very little screen time. He is caught playing the role of Aparna's manager Perez, but other than that he is very much a background player. I did like his conversations with Jenna and Aparna about life and relationships, and the ending really made me feel for him. He was mostly a soundboard for the others in this book, and that didn't bother me, though I would have liked to see more of him since he's my second favorite character after Big A.
Likewise, Jenna gets little time to shine as well. She gets a scene with Ichabod and a scene alone where she has to pilot the Jonah, but mostly her time is spent with Aparna. I loved seeing their relationship; they are so cute and supportive of each-other and just a beautiful couple.
Aparna gets a lot more time to shine as we see more of his thoughts and feelings on the whole thing which I love, since he's my favorite character. He is incredibly kind and observant, he puts all the other characters at ease and he is very smart in terms of emotional intelligence and knowing people. He gets to pretend to be a proper fighter and Brooks clearly has a lot of fun describing the fight scenes.
Muradov gets more time to shine and I absolutely love him. He is incredibly entertaining especially when he interacts with the twins. He is a great character; I love that everyone calls him Chief, how his faith is a big part of his life, as well as his military background. I really enjoyed his conversation with Drift about guilt and friendship at the end; I feel like the two balance each-other really well.
The twins were also amazing. I always loved Jia and like I said she really gets time to shine here, not only in her solo scene but also in her interactions with Kuei. Which brings me to Kuei himself. I never made a secret of the fact that he was my least favorite character on the crew; he never really had much of a personality and it always felt like his cowardice and passive aggressiveness were informed traits. This time around I really liked him. For once I found his interactions with Jia entertaining and he actually got to do things, like threaten people (badly) and seduce people (a little better). The scene with him, Jia and Muratov in the bar was incredibly entertaining, especially Kuei and Muradov's conversation about waiting until marriage.
And finally Rourke. Without a doubt, this book was hers, and she owned every moment she was on the page. We got to see so much more of her as a character, especially being separate from the crew and having to do her own thing. I loved all of her interactions with Orlov's people, the way she thinks and acts and approaches situations. Her dilemma at the end felt motivated and real, and I really didn't expect the direction it took. Which leads me to... the elephant in the room.
SPOILERS for the ending of Dark Deeds.
Like I said before, tone is the main issues here. I had a feeling Kuei was going to die in this book since Brooks spent so much time developing him and unfortunately I was right. I didn't expect to get hurt as much as I did when he died, but I genuinely felt pain, the same kind as when another character I really love dies at the end of Serenity. While I personally didn't like this decision, what really bothered me was it's resolution. I understand why Jia left the Keiko, but with her leaving, Kuei dead, Tamara almost leaving (and then killing not just Orlov, but also all the other characters we spent a whole book getting to know in cold blood, in front of Ichabod!) and her relationship with Ichabod irreparably damaged, the book ends on such a dower note that it really feels like what I started reading and what I finished reading are two separated entities. None of the other books are this dower, not even Dark Run which also has a major character death and the revelations about Ichabod being Gabriel Drake. The ending felt really incomplete; we get a new pilot, Spark, but ze is barely introduced. Rourke ends up killing 3 people she spent 2 months with and also was willing to leave the Keiko for and we don't really get any resolution on that either. I really hope this isn't the last we see of Jia, and that Rourke and Ichabod actually sit down and talk.
All in all I feel very conflicted. That ending broke me, but not in a good way. It honestly felt like it came out of nowhere and while I can't fault the book for it, I can't in good conscience give it five stars, even though I loved the first two thirds. I just hope the next one resolves at least some of what transpired here, because I really need some closure.
If you have read my reviews of the previous 2 books, you know I said something similar about the first book Dark Run; there too I loved the beginning but halfway through I felt that the plot escaped Brooks, and the book turned into a completely different genre than what it started out as. Here, the problem isn't so much the plot, but the tone of the ending. But before we go over why I didn't like it, let's talk about the stuff I loved.
Following the events of Dark Sky, Sergei Orlov kidnaps the crew as punishment for failing to deliver his information from Uragan. He keeps Tamara Rourke as a hostage and gives Ichabod 2 months to collect an abnormal sum of money or else he kills her and sends his goons after the Keiko. To get the money, the crew decide to pull a heist on Zhongtu, a Red Star planet completely controlled by the Triax, and inevitably things get complicated.
In terms of plot, this was probably my favorite one. I have been expecting the crew to pull an honest to God real heist since book 1, and finally they do. The plot is tight and focuses entirely on the different crew members and their plan; there isn't a revolution or a military operation they have to compete against. At this point, Brooks is very comfortably writing his babies, that it's pure joy just reading about their scheming and simply interacting with each-other. There wasn't a single crew member that I felt was irrelevant or underdeveloped, and I found the pacing satisfying and without his usual problem of rushing the conclusion.
One thing that did bother me, were the lose ends. I know we are probably getting book 4, but in terms of the plot of this book, multiple things were left unresolved. The main one I will talk about at the end, but for a lesser one, the introduction and development the 3 leaders of the Dragon's Sons goes nowhere. They felt like characters that should be more important than they end up being, and yet they don't really do anything.
I did enjoy their interactions, and once again Brooks excels at character and world building. I enjoyed spending time both on Zhongtu and New Samara; with Zhongtu, learning about how the Triax controlled the police and bureaucracy was fascinating and again, oddly familiar. My favorite scene was Jia infiltrating the meeting room via the cleaning service; I can see the scene play out like in a movie.
The new characters we get are as interesting and diverse as always. I really liked the dynamic between the 3 Triax leaders and Chief Han, especially the rivalry between Gao and Song. What I found absolutely unbelievable was a specific moment pertaining to Gao. There is a character introduced by the name of Chen who is an events manager and goes by ze/zir pronouns. This is excellent (zir is also not the only gender neutral character we get in the book, but I'll get to the other one later); what isn't excellent is that I refuse to believe that a man like Gao, who is disguising, sexist, crude and old would call both of the women he works with Song and Han bitches, but would bother to use the correct pronouns when referring to Chan. #tmw a sexist Triax boss is more woke than most politicians.
On Orlov's side, I enjoyed learning more about him and the host of characters we get, especially Larysa and Roman were great. I loved their interactions with Tamara, especially Roman trying to keep everyone's emotions in check.
Now onto our main cast. Let's start with Ichabod, because surprisingly, he gets very little screen time. He is caught playing the role of Aparna's manager Perez, but other than that he is very much a background player. I did like his conversations with Jenna and Aparna about life and relationships, and the ending really made me feel for him. He was mostly a soundboard for the others in this book, and that didn't bother me, though I would have liked to see more of him since he's my second favorite character after Big A.
Likewise, Jenna gets little time to shine as well. She gets a scene with Ichabod and a scene alone where she has to pilot the Jonah, but mostly her time is spent with Aparna. I loved seeing their relationship; they are so cute and supportive of each-other and just a beautiful couple.
Aparna gets a lot more time to shine as we see more of his thoughts and feelings on the whole thing which I love, since he's my favorite character. He is incredibly kind and observant, he puts all the other characters at ease and he is very smart in terms of emotional intelligence and knowing people. He gets to pretend to be a proper fighter and Brooks clearly has a lot of fun describing the fight scenes.
Muradov gets more time to shine and I absolutely love him. He is incredibly entertaining especially when he interacts with the twins. He is a great character; I love that everyone calls him Chief, how his faith is a big part of his life, as well as his military background. I really enjoyed his conversation with Drift about guilt and friendship at the end; I feel like the two balance each-other really well.
The twins were also amazing. I always loved Jia and like I said she really gets time to shine here, not only in her solo scene but also in her interactions with Kuei. Which brings me to Kuei himself. I never made a secret of the fact that he was my least favorite character on the crew; he never really had much of a personality and it always felt like his cowardice and passive aggressiveness were informed traits. This time around I really liked him. For once I found his interactions with Jia entertaining and he actually got to do things, like threaten people (badly) and seduce people (a little better). The scene with him, Jia and Muratov in the bar was incredibly entertaining, especially Kuei and Muradov's conversation about waiting until marriage.
And finally Rourke. Without a doubt, this book was hers, and she owned every moment she was on the page. We got to see so much more of her as a character, especially being separate from the crew and having to do her own thing. I loved all of her interactions with Orlov's people, the way she thinks and acts and approaches situations. Her dilemma at the end felt motivated and real, and I really didn't expect the direction it took. Which leads me to... the elephant in the room.
SPOILERS for the ending of Dark Deeds.
Like I said before, tone is the main issues here. I had a feeling Kuei was going to die in this book since Brooks spent so much time developing him and unfortunately I was right. I didn't expect to get hurt as much as I did when he died, but I genuinely felt pain, the same kind as when another character I really love dies at the end of Serenity. While I personally didn't like this decision, what really bothered me was it's resolution. I understand why Jia left the Keiko, but with her leaving, Kuei dead, Tamara almost leaving (and then killing not just Orlov, but also all the other characters we spent a whole book getting to know in cold blood, in front of Ichabod!) and her relationship with Ichabod irreparably damaged, the book ends on such a dower note that it really feels like what I started reading and what I finished reading are two separated entities. None of the other books are this dower, not even Dark Run which also has a major character death and the revelations about Ichabod being Gabriel Drake. The ending felt really incomplete; we get a new pilot, Spark, but ze is barely introduced. Rourke ends up killing 3 people she spent 2 months with and also was willing to leave the Keiko for and we don't really get any resolution on that either. I really hope this isn't the last we see of Jia, and that Rourke and Ichabod actually sit down and talk.
All in all I feel very conflicted. That ending broke me, but not in a good way. It honestly felt like it came out of nowhere and while I can't fault the book for it, I can't in good conscience give it five stars, even though I loved the first two thirds. I just hope the next one resolves at least some of what transpired here, because I really need some closure.
illuminated_frogs's review against another edition
4.0
Another good book in this series. I've always enjoyed fun space stories, but they often suffer from a lack of female characters, and I like the diversity in this series.
The ending was unexpected , and much more emotional than I was prepared. I would be interested to see what happens next if there is another book.
I also enjoyed that didn't push too much unnecessary romance onto the characters (although I can't say I was that keen on the age gap in the relationship that is there). It's been listed on the aro and ace database with a character as asexual with no specified romantic orientation, but honestly, pretty much all of the main characters could be read as arospec in one way or another.
The ending was unexpected , and much more emotional than I was prepared. I would be interested to see what happens next if there is another book.
I also enjoyed that didn't push too much unnecessary romance onto the characters (although I can't say I was that keen on the age gap in the relationship that is there). It's been listed on the aro and ace database with a character as asexual with no specified romantic orientation, but honestly, pretty much all of the main characters could be read as arospec in one way or another.