Thursday, August 7, 2014

In the Devil’s Nebula (The Phoenix Adventures #2) by Anna Hackett

Science Fiction Romance

What Goodreads says:

He lost it all.


His career, his woman, his sanity.

Two years ago, on a deadly mission to the lawless Devil’s Nebula, Commander Zayn Phoenix’s life imploded. Now the former Strike Wing pilot fills his days with dangerous adventures alongside his treasure hunter brothers.

But his nights are another story: haunted by nightmares of one unforgivable act.

Until an assassin lures him into a hunt. A hunt for her freedom from the Assassin’s Guild. A hunt for a derringer used in an ancient and infamous assassination—of old Earth president, Abraham Lincoln.

Zayn is compelled to join the perilous adventure with Ria Dante that will take them straight into the heart of the Devil’s Nebula, but not for money, fame or treasure.

He joins because Ria has the face of the woman he left for dead in the Nebula years before.

There is some science In the Devil’s Nebula but it is mostly a good adventure story set in the future and filled with romance.  Once again the Phoenix bothers are off on a treasure hunt but someone keeps getting to the treasure before them. 

Ria Dante needs their help and beating them to the treasure is how she gets their attention.  It was easy to see that Zayn and Ria would become a couple.  It was harder to see how they would make it work long term.

Much of the world building, character development and back-story is in the first book of the series, At Star’s End (click here for review).  As a result In the Devil's Nebula starts by dropping in on Zayn speeding through a ventilation shaft and continues the action almost non-stop.  Zayn’s troubled past is fleshed out bringing him to life.  Ria is a mystery from the beginning but I suspected that she was not what she seemed.  That mystery leads to an exciting finish.  There is another new character.  Watch for Lastite Lala, a 15 year old bomb maker who joins the crew.  Of course both of Zayn’s brothers and Eso are there to lend a hand.

Once again we met that other mystery woman, Darc. She makes a brief appearance and then disappears again.  The tension between she and Niklas is still there but we still do not have their story.

In the Devil’s Nebula is a fun read with a lot of romance set in a Science Fiction Universe. Just don’t look for that much science in the fiction part.


You can read In the Devil’s Nebula as a stand-along but there are things you will miss in the story if you have not read At Star’s End first.

Anna Hackett published In the Devil's Nebula in 2014.

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