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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (sf) Zahn, T. 2008 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In this noir thriller set on the interstellar Quadrail, former government agent Frank Compton can't catch a break. After a successful mission against the Modhri, the coral polyp-based group mind that is attempting to take over the galaxy, Frank arrives at his New York apartment. A young woman is waiting for him, pointing a gun at his face. She tells him that someone on New Tigris is holding her ten-year-old sister. Compton takes her gun and orders her out, only to berousted out of bed and accused of her brutal murder. After Frank's ally Bruce McMicking posts his bail, Frank travels to New Tigris with his assistant, Bayta, and locates the sister, who is part of a key resistance group that is fighting the Modhri throughout the galaxy. Compton must get the girl to a hidden refuge planet via the Quadrail to ensure the continued efforts of the resistance. But can he do it before the Modhri gets to her first? Compelling characters, hard-boiled sleuthing, and non-stop action make this a hard SF thriller that will grab the reader and not let go until the last page.
Author Notes
Timothy Zahn was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 1, 1951. He received a B.S. degree in physics from Michigan State University in East Lansing in 1973 and a M.S. degree in physics from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1975. In 1975, Zahn began writing science fiction as a hobby. When his thesis advisor died in 1979, effectively wiping out three years of work, he decided to try making a living at writing. Since then, Zahn has published short stories, novelettes, novels, and short fiction collections. He is best known for writing the Star Wars the Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. The novella, Cascade Point (1984) won a Hugo Award. He also writes numerous series including Cobra, Blackcollar, Dragonback, and Conquerors' Trilogy.
Zahn co-authored with David Weber A Call To Duty, the first book in the Manticore Ascendant Series, which made the New York Times bestseller list in October 2014.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Mysterious deaths, encounters with oddly named aliens, chases and shootouts form a skeleton of a story that never quite gets fleshed out in Zahn's weak third Frank Compton adventure. Former spy and planet-hopping PI Compton, worn out by the events of 2007's The Third Lynx, gets home to find a woman in his apartment. She needs help rescuing her little sister, Rebekah, from the group mind that Compton just got back from battling. After he turns her down in classic cynical-hero fashion, she's promptly killed. Compton, framed for the crime, acquires a new identity and heads off to find Rebekah with the assistance of ex-Marine ex-bounty hunter Bruce McMicking. The usual sort of mayhem leads to Rebekah's rescue, the discovery of her secret and a classic confrontation/explanation scene with the mastermind, who asks, How did you learn this? Clumsy back-references and a blatant setup for the next book will thoroughly discourage new readers. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
In the third novel of Frank Compton, PI on the interstellar Quadrail system, he's in classic trouble. He opens the door to his apartment to find a young lady insisting that he help her. More or less politely refusing, he shows her out, only to be awakened a few hours later and arrested for her murder. After bailing out, he must jump the Quadrail to another planet to clear his name. A thriller with all the chases, mysterious aid, and red herrings intrinsic to the breed, this isn't quite as fresh as The Third Lynx (2007), its immediate predecessor, but those who've gotten hooked on the Quadrail won't cry.--Murray, Frieda Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In the not-so-distant future, in which civilized races wage a secret war against a coral polyp-based group mind known as the Modhri, ex-government agent Frank Compton arrives home to find an armed woman in his house asking him to rescue her ten-year-old sister. When the woman is later found murdered, Compton, now a suspect, travels to distant worlds in search of the girl who is part of the resistance group fighting the Modhri. Compton's third noir sf thriller set on the interstellar Quadrail (after Night Train to Rigel and The Third Lynx) expands on the secret war and gives a closer glimpse into Zahn's imagined future. For most libraries where hard sf is popular. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.