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Temporary Duty [Kindle Edition]

Ric Locke
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (199 customer reviews)

Digital List Price: $2.99 What's this?
Kindle Price: $2.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet

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Book Description

A pair of enlisted sailors are assigned to an alien spaceship, to clean and prepare quarters for the real human delegation. Once there, they find that there's a little more to it...
Alien worlds, exploding spaceships, IRS agents, derring-do, and a little sex. Oh, and mops, brooms, and dustpans. Truly there are wonders Out There.


Product Details

  • File Size: 933 KB
  • Print Length: 554 pages
  • Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00531CPHC
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Enabled
  • Lending: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,746 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

The story line is interesting and the characters are fairly well developed. kathy  |  48 reviewers made a similar statement
I look forward to more books by Ric Locke! Michael C. Emard  |  40 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
136 of 146 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great irreverent fun June 3, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I came upon this while browsing around during a slow time of day. At first I was hesitant due to the fact that the Product description is incredibly useless, but I took a chance with the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book is about two enlisted men going to space. Their interactions with the officers who command the rest of the detachment and the alien crew. This is not a military action book, while there are some action scenes they are short and mostly used as ways to meet new people. This is more a book about peaceful trade and exploration.

The main character is interesting and it was fun to watch his development throughout the book. The supporting characters were enjoyable and fulfilled their roles being easy to dislike if that was their role.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed books such as The Solar Clipper Trader Tales.
[...]
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74 of 81 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars first book by an up and coming writer June 11, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
As the other reviewers have said, i picked this book not knowing exactly what to expect (there is an incredable amount of sci-fi sh** on kindle). while a little slow in spots, he does a fine job. The characters are believable, the science is good, and he writes a believable near future of the U.S.
As the others said, i will not give away the storyline but I do say, buy it and read it. I have been reading sci-fi since the first Ace double book and have a very low cut-off for bad writing. This is good. Buy it, The auther is on my buy list and I wait for the next in the series.
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52 of 59 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars New for me Author Great book. June 10, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
As with others I was not sure about buying this book as there was only
a one line decription. If this was changed I think alot more would sell.
This is an interesting story of a young low rank Navy guy assigned
to a spaceship from afar after first contact. He and his friend were sent
to prepare for a flight group. They were to learn the language and get
things ready.
Meeting new aliens at each new stop adds interesting folks. The whole
trip is 2 years and does not turn out as everyone expected. I don't
want to give away any of the plot.
As an avid SciFi reader I applaud the author and wait for Ric Locke
to add another to the Amazon list. I don't do 5 star often either.
Thanks Ric.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea, Wasted Potential September 5, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The premise of Temporary Duty is interesting. It tells of humans in contact with aliens, but from a point-of-view of the lower-echelon worker-bees, in this case, enlisted sailors. However, the potential of the story never really develops.

John Peters and Kevin Todd are two lower-ranking sailors who are suddenly sent to an alien ship which has appeared over the US and has invited humans to board in order to create trade for whatever humans can offer. The two sailors are ordered to prepare the ship for the arrival of a Navy squadron of Hornets and Tomcats, which will be the main human offering.

Peters and Todd have no real briefing on what they are supposed to do, but they get on with the tasks, getting to know the alien crew as well as prep for the arrival of the squadron. For the rest of this rather lengthy story, the ship travels to various planets where most are amazed b the prowess and technology of the humans. A few battles ensue, Peters and Todd try to deal with buffoonish officers while endearing themselves to the aliens, and interspecies sex abounds.

But the tale just has too many holes in it to be believable.

One glaring example is that the aliens are almost human, as are most beings of the "kree." The various peoples of this section of space are very similar in looks, what they can eat, how they think, how they live (every planet has resorts with bars which serve beer, for example), and using gestures like using a thumbs up. The different beings are barely more different than say a Japanese factory worker and a Brazilian lumberjack. This is really beyond belief, but taking the "kree" origin to heart, it could be almost accepted. However, then there are huge differences.
... Read more ›
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Started great - then got pretty bad. October 11, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book for a while. As one reviewer mentioned, it did throw a lot of navy terminology at me, and I had to google/wikipedia a few things to figure out what was going on, but I don't mind a book testing me that way. And I really did like peters; the hillbilly accent writing got a little bit grating at times, but not enough to tone down what was otherwise a good story.

Until about 85% of the way through.

At that point, I can only assume the author experienced a religious conversion to scientology. I can come up with no other explanation for why the author would decide that a single traumatic experience would convert the protagonist from a likeable, reasonable, and responsible gentleman into some sort of supposedly-likeable caricature of L.Ron Hubbard mixed with James T. Kirk and a bit of James bond. The females in the story at one point seem to be reasonably intelligent beings, then suddenly they're either pliant sexual subordinates (such as the protagonist's near-mindless baby factories, who seem to possess only enough intelligence to endlessly worship him) or antagonists (such as the female officer who is humiliated and accused of being a sexually abusive lesbian, or the IRS agent who is willing to have Washington turned to a crater because a man has bested her).

The story is fantastic, but in an honestly fun and exciting way for the majority of the book. Then the above misogyny gets in the way, and the story devolves into incomprehensible anti-governmental gibberish. Suddenly we go from a perfectly followable space opera about alien worlds and galaxy-spanning conspiracies into some completely mind-numbing conflict that seems to relate to the authors political perspectives than anything I've read about the story so far.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars ENJOYABLE STORY
ANOTHER STORY THAT AS AN EX-NAVY MAN I ENJOYED. U.S. NAVY PERSONNEL ARE ABOARD AN ALIEN SHIP BY INVITATION AND THE ACTIVITIES THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Sam
5.0 out of 5 stars Gem of a Story!!
If you love the true Space Adventure genre, this book is a MUST. It has a great story/plot line and is simply well written. Read more
Published 1 month ago by christopher r mcmillen
4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable yarn
The style reminds me of Robert Heinlein in his young adult series. The story is told from the point of view of a young sailor posted to the first ship of interstellar traders to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jay Stermer
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic
This book was epic. My aunt loaned it too me and I thought it was going too be boring. But it was in one word epic. Read more
Published 2 months ago by DeaMonte' Terrill Jones
4.0 out of 5 stars Quite thought provoking!
This novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic time where the Earth is dystopian, but outer space is fairly utopian. Especially if your idea of utopia is a male dominated harem. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Russell T. Barr
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Space Opera!
This book starts off quickly and never slows down! I was very impressed with the story and the author kept the plot in focus throughout the entire book! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michael C. Emard
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Entertaining
Read it first in the summer of 2011, then again last year and would love to read more about the space adventures of the two sailors John Peters and Kevin Todd. Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. Naguib
5.0 out of 5 stars Temp duty
Just extremely well written, low stress to read. I will say I served in the military 10 years and never ran across officers like that but ... Still loved the book
Published 3 months ago by Anthony Hill
4.0 out of 5 stars Very nice read
Loved this book. Not a hard-science type of sci-fi book but the story line and characters are deep and interesting, and the writing and editing are excellent. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dave W.
5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable read
This book covers some interesting territory like cultural conflicts and government overreach, friendship and duty. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ehren David
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Topic From this Discussion
Is there going to be any sequels?
Unfortunately, Mr. Locke apparently passed away this week from recently discovered lung cancer. He was working on another book in the Temporary Dury universe, but It was unfinished at the time of his death.
Jul 26, 2012 by Robert Crosley |  See all 3 posts
Italics issues
I just finished it on my iPad 2 and didn't have any trouble. Where has this guy been all my life?
Jul 23, 2011 by T. Deveson |  See all 5 posts
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