Starfist: Double Jeopardy [Hardcover]

David Sherman (Author), Dan Cragg (Author)

Book Description

Series: Starfist | Publication Date: December 29, 2009

The thrilling pace of the Starfist space epic quickens as the explosive series rockets to dazzling new heights, packed with the hell-for-leather action only two battle-hardened and decorated combat vets like David Sherman and Dan Cragg can provide.

The Confederation has finally disclosed the existence of Skinks, fierce aliens bent on wiping out humankind, and announced its plan to find and destroy their home world. While the rest of the universe grapples with the news, the Skink-savvy Marines of the Confederation's Thirty-fourth Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) have their own take on the situation.

Though they're no longer in danger of being exiled to a ghastly netherworld for spilling the beans about the deadly aliens, the men still can't transfer out of the unit where they've been confined since they first laid eyes on the Skinks. The reason is obvious: Who else but the legendary Thirty-fourth FIST has the skills and experience to spearhead the invasion of the Skinks' home world?

Morale isn't improved by a report of Skinks on the uncolonized world of Ishtar near a mercenary force engaged in slave-driven mining operations there—which means that FIST must turn around and head right back into the jaws of hell with no downtime. But none of that matters to Lieutenant Charlie Bass and the third platoon of Company L. They're Marines, they're the best, and they've got a job to do. 

The Marines will find a planet ripped apart by all-out war, with enemies on all sides. The only certainty is that the fighting will rage red-hot and relentless, and Charlie Bass and his men will be right in the thick of the action.
 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sherman and Cragg (Starfist: Wings of Hell) develop their real-life military experience into the realistic undertones of the accessible 14th Starfist novel. Following previous adventures, the Marines of the 34th FIST are now the most active, most highly decorated unit in the entire Confederate Marine Corps. With enlistments extended for the duration and the promise of more combat soon, morale is at an all-time low. When word comes of what might be a Skink attack on planet Ishtar, the 34th is promptly deployed, only to be drawn into battle with the indigenous Fuzzies and an illegal human mining operation. The verisimilitude of quiet moments and combat scenes alike makes for quality military SF. With such a large cast, very few characters get significant screen time or development, and the emotional beats will undoubtedly hold more resonance for longtime fans. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The title of the fourteenth Starfist military sf adventure has a double meaning, referring to Lieutenant Bass’s domestic arrangements with the two women committed to him and to what faces the war-weary 34th FIST when it is deployed to the planet Ishtar to face what is believed to be a new threat from the alien Skinks. The 34th becomes caught between the mercenaries of the Sharp Edge corporation and Ishtar’s amiable, intelligent, extremely tough native inhabitants, the Fuzzies. Convincing the Fuzzies that the marines are on their side develops into a life-or-death matter in the best book in the series since Lazarus Rising (2003). Enjoy. --Roland Green

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345501012
• ISBN-13: 978-0345501011
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Sherman is a former United States Marine and the author of eight previously published novels about Marines in Vietnam, where he served as an infantryman and as a member of a Combined Action Platoon. He is an alumnus of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and worked as a sculptor for many years before turning to writing. Along the way he has held a variety of jobs, mostly supervisory and managerial. Today he is a full-time writer. He lives in Philadelphia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Starfist Novel Thus Far, January 4, 2010

By 

M. Clark (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starfist: Double Jeopardy (Hardcover)

This latest entry into the Starfist canon is by far the best so far. Having read all of them (some of them more than once), I feel the entire series is well worth the reader's investment, but Double Jeopardy puts our favorite Confederation Marine platoon, Third Platoon of Company L, 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team, into a very tough spot, along with some very engaging and exciting action. I usually try to spread my reading of a new book out over a week or so, but I became so engrossed in the story that I finished the book the day after I got it. Excellent work, and I can't wait for the next installment. But a story this good takes some serious craftmanship, and the wait is always worth it.

A major part of the story deals with the best intelligent extraterrestrial species to appear in the series thus far: the Fuzzies. Unexpectedly sophisticated and primitive at the same time, Sherman and Cragg leave one wanting to know more about these people, and hopefully future volumes will give us more!

For the sake of some matters of story continuity, new readers of the Starfist series should normally start with book one and move forward, but this book should be quite accessible for someone who hasn't yet been there.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad but not their best..., February 19, 2010

By 

C. Fong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Starfist: Double Jeopardy (Hardcover)

The book was well written like all of their other books of the Starfist series however much like "A World of Hurt" I found this to be a filler book. It has lots of technical and procedural background that previous books had but it is much less action and character driven like their earlier books and has too many unimportant side stories.

*Bit of a spoiler* On a rumor of Skinks, our heroes are sent to go to a distant world to find and fight them. But instead it is the native aliens fighting against human slavers. This is like those acid trees from "A World of Hurt". Sherman and Cragg seemed to had started a Skinks War Arc which was interesting in some of their previous books but then that seems to only show up sporadically now. We don't learn a lot about the Fuzzies and none of them really develop any significant character unlike the aliens and villains in "Technokill"(which I thought was one of their best ones even if it didn't have the Skinks in it either because they made all the marines, aliens and villains have a deeper character and individuality).

The short new development with Hammer is interesting but only for people who have been reading the series and had gotten to know him. No marine really sticks out in this one, not even Bass or Dean. It kinda saddens me.

It was an ok book but I'm glad I didn't buy it as soon as it came out at full price.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fast Turnaround, January 30, 2011

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starfist: Double Jeopardy (Mass Market Paperback)

Double Jeopardy (2009) is the fourteenth military SF novel in the StarFIST series, following Wings of Hell. The initial works in this series is First to Fight.

In the previous volume, Confederation forces discovered that the Skinks on Haulover had aircraft armed with railguns. Sergeant Alphonse scrapped berms with his dozer to protect the airfield. Lieutenant Trotte shot down nine Skink aircraft before they got his Raptor.

The Navy ships spotted two dozen hidden tunnels mouths and Marine Recon units scouted the tunnels. Lieutenant Bass rode a Dragon to the end of one tunnel. Then the Aguinaldo Taskforce moved in force against the Skink base.

In this novel, Roger Borland is a Commodore in the Confederation Navy. He commands the CNSS Grandar Bay, a Mandalay Class Amphibious Landing Ship, Force. The 34th FIST has traveled on the Grandar Bay before.

Theodosius Sturgeon is a Brigadier in the Confederation Marine Corps. Ted is commander of the 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team.

Lewis Conorado is a Captain in the CMC. He commands L company within the 34th FIST infantry battalion.

Mercury is a native of Ishtar. That is not his name, but the masters can't pronounce his real name. Mercury is a male and a warrior among his own people.

In this story, Mercury and five others in his clan squeeze out of the cage where they are kept at night. They sneak out of the camp and crawl until they are out of sight of the gate. Then they run to a weapons cache near the camp.

The six natives fetch back as many rifles and knives as they can carry and hide them near the camp. Then they slip back into the camp and re-enter the cage. The next day, they are tired as they break cloudy stones from the rock within the mine.

That night, they take eight more warriors with them to get the weapons. Their rifles may not fire as fast as those if the Naked Ones, but they can see better in the night. When the time comes, they start shooting the Naked Ones.

They kill all the Naked Ones and collect their weapons. They leave the Naked Ones lying where they fell. They set up booby traps of lethal gas in the mine and compound. Then they escape into the brush with the other freed captives.

Confederation Military Intelligence hears rumors of creatures living in the ground and using lethal gas and immediately think of Skinks. The other parts of the rumors -- captives, fur and hot planet -- are lost in transmission. So the 34th FIST is sent orders to check for Skinks on Ishtar.

The 34th FIST has just returned from Haulover. The Marines have only had a few days of liberty. Then they are ordered to assemble for an announcement. They are told that their unit is deploying within a week.

Everyone is disgruntled, from Sturgeon on down to the newest private. They are also wondering whether their opponents are Skinks or something else. The reported creatures don't really match the characteristics of Skinks.

The information available on Ishtar is very slight. Supposedly, the largest fauna is much smaller than the rumored creatures. So the ship stops at Opal -- another planet within the same system -- to learn more about Ishtar.

The government officials on Opal claim to know nothing about such creatures. They provide all existing data on the planet. But Borland and Sturgeon mistrust several of the ministers.

When the Grandar Bay reaches Ishtar, they have trouble reaching the man in charge. Finally, they land and talk to the leader of the mercenary troops on the planet. They are told that the natives are animals, but are somewhat smarter than chimpanzees.

The Confederation officers soon begin to suspect that the natives are much more intelligent than they are being told. Borland orders the mercenaries to discontinue all operations and to let the natives go. But their leader disregards these orders.

This tale soon has the Marines caught between hostile mercenaries and angry natives. They scout the native burrows and find an underground civilization. Then some of the mercenaries refuse to fight against the Marines.

At least the natives are not Skinks. The next installment in this series has not yet been announced.

Recommended to Sherman & Cragg fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien contact, armed combat, and human folly. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin