Customer Reviews

Deadly Enterprise

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From the future with an advanced technology but a damaged starship the Iskander, the crew must adapt to the old war ravaged earth of Gaia. The Iskander leaders wish to broker a peace between the emperor and his opponents so all can prosper. The best choice to work with is considered the merchant-banking Felger family. Although she is young and a rogue, Lieutenant Gisel "Wildcat" Matah, is chosen to make first contact with Yohan Felger; as she bends rules but always accomplishes the mission because she never loses focus as to who she portrays under cover.

Gisel's assignment is to work a trade deal that will benefit her people and his family. However, in his world, women are subservient and not equal let alone superior. To negotiate, Gisel must dress and act as if she is a man. As troopers search for outside operative Wildcat, her superiors switch her mission when another stranded space traveling species surfaces. However, the hardest impediment to staying in character is her attraction to the man who sees her as a male but her heart is all female.

The key to this terrific alternate earth science fiction thriller is the heroine who comes from a future in which a woman can be all she can be, but in this past, a female has restrictive roles. Fast-paced throughout, readers will enjoy Gisel's efforts to broker a peace between two adversarial groups who have been fighting a Hundred Years War while another joker enters the fray. Although the support cast can seem overwhelming as there are so many players providing diverse limited roles, Deadly Enterprise is an enjoyable action-packed tale (see Wildcat's Victory and Arrival for other thrillers starring Gisel).

Harriet Klausner

Deadly Enterprise, by Christopher Hoare, is his first in the series of Gaia, an alternative 17th century Earth. The starship Iskander was to use a worm-hole to travel to a distant colony in this universe but ended up at Gaia instead. Trying to build themselves a place in Gaia by promoting social change and starting the Industrial Revolution, they became enemies of the Empire, which were also star travelers marooned over 200 years ago.

Deadly Enterprise introduces us the Gaia, and to Gisel Matah. The 20ish Gisel is a combination of James Bond and Red Sonja and is the top field agent for the Iskanders.

The story is a light, action-packed adventure full of fighting and espionage with light romance thrown in. The story rings true with the politics of European countries, City-States and the banking families of that time period.

If you enjoy fast-moving, sci-fi type books, you will like Christopher Hoare's Deadly Enterprise. It's about Gisel Matah, a lieutenant from another galaxy, who is trapped on an alternate Earth in the 17th Century. Her mission is to play bodyguard to banker Yohan Felger, while escorting him across a country poised for war. The journey will require patience, skill and plenty of subterfuge - Gisel's specialties (except for the patience part).

This book moves quickly, with plenty of action to carry the plot forward. The characters are not all that original, but the main cast members are sympathetic and likeable. All in all, it's a good, engrossing read that will appeal to fans of both adventure and sci fi/technological thrillers.