10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable classic Trek read, July 13, 2001
After two rather disappointing novels (Rogue and Shadow), the Section 31 novels take a dramatic upturn in terms of quality and storytelling with S.D. Perry's third Trek novel in as mnay months, Cloak. Set firmly in Trek's third season, this novel does what the best Trek novels can and should do--take threads from various episodes and weave them into an interesting, intellignet story. The book succeeds in large part because we get to see some background to events that occur during the third season--most notably McCoy's finding out about his illness that we'll hear about in "For the World is Hollow...." and his coming to grips with that. We've got some nice character work done with Kirk and Perry attempts to explain just why Kirk had so many relationships the third season and does a pretty good job of it.
All of the original series characters are in fine form here. Each gets to contribue a little something to the storyline and the premise. Slipping into and out of Cloak is like seeing old friends--you get to remember things about them you'd forgotten. It's a wonderful and enjoying book that's just right for the summer reading season.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not on par with "Rogue" nor "Abyss," but quite good., July 1, 2001
The last in the "Section 31" series I read of the four, "Cloak" brings Section 31 to the Star Trek original series era. Now, I feel it only fair to warn that I have truthfully read nearly none of the original era books in the Star Trek line, and don't often pick them up.
The strengths of "Rogue" and "Abyss," however, made me decide to take the plunge and I'm glad I did. "Cloak" is a good novel, has an excellent place in the Star Trek continuum, but fell short in a few ways.
The characters were very well written, and with a depth I must admit I'd not attributed to the original series characters before. The author's choice to place this story in a timeframe near to some major events in the original series television episodes was a good one, especially on the front of Dr. McCoy.
However, "Section 31" barely seems to be involved in the book. Kirk and company find a runaway starship with a dead crew aboard, and try to unravel the mystery of its sabotaged state, but you don't even get a ghost of Section 31 until the near end of the book, and I was left feeling a little bit shortchanged - I'd rather expected to get a little bit more into the origins of Section 31 with this book, but this book delves the shallowest into the organization of all four books in this series.
All of that aside, I did enjoy this book. The inclusion of such things as the Omega Particle was excellent for continuity, and Spock's brush with the Romulan Commander was very well placed. If I could, I'd give this a "3.5" stars, not just 3.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good effort, October 3, 2001
This Section 31 story is pretty routine stuff but the thing about the book that did impress me was author S.D. Perry's firm knowledge of Star Trek continuity. Eagle-eyed fans will notice elements of the book that tie in directly with episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager as well as various episodes of Classic Star Trek. The foreshadowing of McCoy's illness also gives the book a feeling that it is a Classic Star Trek episode placed firmly in the series's third season. I would have enjoyed a little more exploration of Section 31's activities in the 23rd century but all in all the book is a satisfying romp. A good effort that had the potential to be great.
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