Customer Reviews

Gabriel's Ghost

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The victim of a sham court-martial, Imperial Fleet Captain Chasidah "Chaz" Bergren is stripped of her command and transported to the hostile prison world of Moabar. Life sentence, no parole. Three weeks after her arrival, Chaz defends herself against an overly amorous alien guard, killing him. Ready to run, she turns, only to find herself face to face with Gabriel Ross Sullivan -- former nemesis, mercenary, smuggler and almost-lover -- a man she thought had been dead for two years.

Sully/Gabriel is part of a secret, deadly mission to destroy an illegal genetics lab that is breeding Jukors, a species of monsters nearly impossible to kill and thought to be extinct and banned ten years ago by the Empire. Sully needs Chaz's knowledge of the military base where the Jukors are and her expertise in navigating the intergalactic space lanes. He offers her the option of joining his cause in exchange for her freedom from Moabar. They enter into a business arrangement, neither one aware of the incredible bond it will forge.

Disguised as members of a religious order, Chaz, Sully and Sully's best friend, Brother Ren Ackravaro, set off on the dangerous journey -- a journey of self-discovery, hidden truths, trust, deception and betrayals.

Ms. Baker is a master at creating multilayered characters and placing them in near impossible situations. Chasidah works on a strictly professional level, never backing down from an injustice or a challenge. Sully/Gabriel is a tormented soul, harboring a dark secret he entrusts only to Ren. Chaz is only allowed to see the playful, teasing Sully, not the deep, dark Gabriel, until it's too late to turn back. Ren is an aquatic creature, an intriguing gentle giant of a humanoid, soft-spoken and intense in his loyalties and friendships. As the three travel together over a long period of time, they form a tentative allegiance and friendship, counting on each other for their survival. The sexual tension and growing love between Chaz and Sully is both heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking.

Megan Sybil Baker hooks readers from the first page, then teases at the end of each chapter with a surprise, a twist, or a turn. Fast-paced, suspenseful, tension-filled and highly emotional, GABRIEL'S GHOST is an addictive tale of adventure and romance that readers will be hard pressed to put down. The breathtaking, exciting climax left this reviewer eager for Ms. Baker's next release.

Buckle up, hold on tight, and prepare for a wild ride you won't soon forget!

Captain Chasidah Bergren was stripped of her command and sent to Moabar, a harsh prison world. The LAST person she expected to rescue her would be a mercenary named Gabriel Ross Sullivan! Chaz had been one of the Fleet's officers that often hunted his ship and caused him endless troubles.

Sully had rescued her for more than one reason. The only one he told her of, though, was his need for her knowledge of the system. Chaz had the inside information, know-how, and codes that was needed to complete his extremely dangerous mission.

Sully's other reason was personal. His feelings for her! However, Sully had a deep, dark secret. Anyone who found out, even his closest friends, would instantly loath him! To gain Chaz's heart he planned to keep his secret from her forever. Yet, little-by-little, Chaz saw pieces of what Sully tried to hide. Now he could only shield her as much as possible or pray for a miracle!

**** Wonderful story! There is a couple of times it slowed down too much for my personal taste, but not enough to ever dampen my interest. Everytime I thought I knew all of Sully's personal secret, I was proved wrong.

The author added spicy co-characters, a few of which are almost as fascinating as the main characters! In fact, it is so well written I could almost believe these characters existed out in space somewhere! Recommended! ****

This is a fantastic SciFi Romance. The characters are very well developed and the plot is even better developed. The previous reviews go into detail but I loved this book. I've read it three times since I bought it in the electronic version.

Chasidah "Chaz" Bergren was on her way up the ladder of the Federated Fleet. She was captain of her own ship and well respected by those under her command as well as her superiors. Or so she thought. When Chaz was accused of ignoring orders which led to the deaths of fourteen of her crew, she couldn't believe it. She was stunned during her trial when her friends deserted her and data was created to convict her. Condemned to spend the rest of her life on the prison planet, Moabar, Chaz has her hands full just trying to stay alive. When Gabriel "Sully" Sullivan shows up to rescue her, Chaz is stunned. He supposedly died two years ago. And why did he want to rescue her, anyway? It is true that both of them enjoyed sparring verbally and there was an undeniable physical attraction, but they had always been on opposite sides of the fence: she a Fleet captain, he a smuggler out stealing whatever he could whenever he could. Still, going anywhere with Sully had to be better than staying on Moabar.

Chaz reluctantly agrees to help Sully track down an illegal jukor lab on Marker, her home planet where her older brother still runs the shipping yards. She doesn't quite believe Sully when he insists that the Federation is breeding jukors there. After all, the Federation had cancelled the jukor project years ago, hadn't they? Who would be stupid enough to keep created animals that could not be controlled and were extremely difficult to kill?

It soon becomes obvious to Chaz that Sully is right - there is a jukor lab on Marker and another lab is being built on a space ship somewhere. Gradually Sully wins Chaz' trust and they are close to becoming involved when Chaz discovers that Sully is a powerful empath/telepath and can change people's thoughts, read minds and kill with the power of his mind alone. The whole Federation has been educated to hate and fear the Solorths because they have this power, but Chaz never expected to encounter a human who wields power like a Stolorth. How can Chaz trust Sully when he swears that he has not tricked her into going along with his plans? He has already altered a memory and invaded her mind when he wanted to gain information about her ex-husband. However, Chaz soon realizes that Sully hates and fears what he is, too. He fears that he will never gain acceptance from anyone, especially Chaz, whom he has loved for years and years. Little by little, Sully opens up to Chaz and tries to show her that he is not the monster that the universe thinks he is and little by little Chaz comes to believe him, but how much of the truth can Chaz take? How much is love willing to overlook and accept? As Sully and Chaz try to sort out their feelings and fears, they realize that the jukor conspiracy reaches up much higher than they hoped - all the way to the leaders of the Federation itself...

This is the first book that I have read by Megan Sybil Baker and she is now up there at the top with my other favorite authors. This book was simply amazing. It had a very engrossing plotline with a lot of details about the technologically advanced futuristic world that Sully and Chaz live in. Religion, politics, military, you name it, it was discussed and figured into the plot. The world was very real and I loved Baker's characters. Sully was a gorgeous, tortured, dark hero who desperately needed someone to love him despite who and what he was. Chaz was a strong female character, but not obnoxious and not too independent to want to have friends and a special someone she could lean on. The supporting characters included people from all races and types including Ren, a blind Stolorth who was forced to hide from his people or he would be killed; the giant, hairy takas, who were raping and killing human women in retaliation for the federation experimenting on their women; Philip, Chaz' ex-husband, who still loves her and yet cannot change his rigid Fleet training to win her back; Sister Berri, a very devout, almost insane priestess who believes she is on a holy quest, and many, many more. The romance between Sully and Chaz was a wonderful subplot and handled so well by Baker, I was truly impressed. A simply wonderful book that is well worth any price that you pay for it! Buy this and pray that Ms. Baker is writing a sequel - I know you will love it!

Megen Sybil Baker aka Linnea Sinclair is one heck of a writer. I loved this book.

Chasidah Bergren is a captain in the Imperial Fleet. She is stripped of command in a sham court-martial and sent to the planet Moabar. Moabar is a penal colony, one where nobody lives long. She is a pawn in a power play that includes her family.

Gabrial Sullivan is supposed to be a dead man. But he turns up very much alive to save Chas and get her to help him put a stop to a terrible genetics experiment. They have been on opposite sides for a long time and he now must convince her of his true purpose and gain her trust.

Someone is raising jukors, metal monsters who only know how to kill. For every one born, a Tava dies. The females are forced to carry the implanted jukor and when it is born it virtually rips its way out of the mother. Jukors have been outlawed by the Imperium for years, yet she and Sully must fight one to escape Moabar.

Not only are the jukors a threat, but Sully has his own secrets. Secrets that practically everyone in the universe would kill him for. This is a very exciting book and I hope she will write more in this universe.

This is a great story! Cannot wait for the follow-up. Get it! Get it! Get it!
Keep up the great work Megan!

I just loved the book. It is the most entertaining I have read in quite some time. The world and mythology that Ms. Baker has created is highly imaginative and the chemistry between the heroes is very believable, not to mention the hot scenes!

If you're up for a good read, Gabriel's Ghost is your book. Great sci-fi romance

Gabriel Ross Sullivan (aka Sully) is a space pirate of long acquaintance with Captain Chaz Bergren of the imperial fleet. He's now unexpectedly coming to her rescue to save her from the prison planet of Mobar where she has been exiled for crimes she didn't commit.

However, Sully is hiding secrets from everyone he knows, including Chaz. These secrets could destroy them both, and when Chaz finds out what Sully doesn't want known will her growing love for him enable her to survive and overcome life-long prejudices?

This is billed as a straight out romance so you know it is centred around love. However, it is also a well written fantasy-sci-fi novel that moves along at a good pace. It is peopled with interesting characters in a universe far from perfect. It is also a novel that deserves a sequel to finish what is very obviously the start of what could be an interesting story to counter the corruption at the heart of power that Chaz and Sully encounter in this book. If a sequel is written, then I'll be reading it!

Captain Chasidah Bergren was stripped of her command and sent to Moabar, a harsh prison world. The LAST person she expected to rescue her would be a mercenary named Gabriel Ross Sullivan! Chaz had been one of the Fleet's officers that often hunted his ship and caused him endless troubles.

Sully had rescued her for more than one reason. The only one he told her of, though, was his need for her knowledge of the system. Chaz had the inside information, know-how, and codes that was needed to complete his extremely dangerous mission.

Sully's other reason was personal. His feelings for her! However, Sully had a deep, dark secret. Anyone who found out, even his closest friends, would instantly loath him! To gain Chaz's heart he planned to keep his secret from her forever. Yet, little-by-little, Chaz saw pieces of what Sully tried to hide. Now he could only shield her as much as possible or pray for a miracle!

**** Wonderful story! There is a couple of times it slowed down too much for my personal taste, but not enough to ever dampen my interest. Everytime I thought I knew all of Sully's personal secret, I was proved wrong.

The author added spicy co-characters, a few of which are almost as fascinating as the main characters! In fact, it is so well written I could almost believe these characters existed out in space somewhere! Recommended! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I first read Gabriel's Ghost in it's current Bantam edition and enjoyed it greatly. It's a story that has characters that draw you in and a story that's intriguing. After some online research on the author, who is now writing under her own name, Linnea Sinclair, I learned that an earlier version of this book was available. I was mainly interested in it because I'm a writer that's just starting to get published and wanted to do some revision comparisons to get ideas about how to work with my own fiction. Not only did I get to see the process I was interested in, I was re-reading this book and learning things about the characters I'd so enjoyed that while those details didn't make the next draft (and I understand why). I very much enjoyed the darker, less self-assured Sully with all of his additional "baggage."

This book went from an educational experience to being one of the volumes that stays on my nightstand with other books that I constantly re-read.