Phobos Station

Phobos Station was provided to me by the author. What follows is an original opinion. This book picks up where Armstrong Station leaves off. Having read that book will help, but everything you need to know is provided in the story. In our future, man has gone to the stars, but he has not changed. While many are team players, there are many who would not think twice about injecting you with nanites that need to be fed to keep them from killing you, all so that you can be controlled. The good people seem to be better, and the evil people worse. Melanie Destin comes into the situation trying to save a young woman who has the nanites in her, ones she was injected with so that she would be forced into prostitution. She will come face to face with the person behind this, one of the most evil men she has ever met. She will also learn what it means to be a team player, and what family means. My only problem is Mel is the future star of the 'Mother of Mars' series. Because of that we can assume she will survive. It is kind of like watching Star Wars I, II, and III. We know Anakin is going to live, it is just how is he going to turn. Still, it does have its moments where we think maybe we got it wrong. There is marginal violence in the book, the amount needed to move a story along. Mel also seems to have a bit of a potty mouth dropping the f bomb a lot. I see it as necessary character essential but she does seem to do a lot less of it in future stories of her. Maybe it is where she is at in this time of life. I think the author may have cleaned things up a bit. For those two reasons, I can not recommend this for pre-teens and on the age of YA readers. Still the story is good, and has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing who all the players are. Bottom line, the future is dangerous, and Mel is there to help.

Continuing on the prequel adventures of Melanie Destin, Phobos Station is yet another excellent read from the pen of D.M. Pruden. Mel is a multifaceted character and it's really easy to identify with her. Sure, sometimes you'd start to wonder what more could go wrong! But, she's highly intelligent, dedicated and resourceful. Her shipmates on the Requiem are equally easy to identify with and you feel like you could join them all and call them friends. Mel clearly has her demons but that's part of the appeal. It makes her believable. As always, the dialogue is excellent and the world building is right up there too. It's really easy to picture the ship, her crew and the other characters, along with the other sites included in the book. The pacing is great, and it's the kind of book you just can't put down. I highly recommend this series and the author's other works. I received a copy of the book from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This second book follows seamlessly from Armstrong Station. Lots of twists and turns, lying, drama and intrigue all the way through, and everybody has at least one thing to hide. It really is a grand space opera that really makes you feel you are actually there. I receuved an ARC of this book.