Space holds many secrets. He is one of them.
Starfighter mechanic Vance Brewer never thought he wanted to leave the safety of his starcraft carrier. But when his secret is discovered, he quickly finds himself in a deadly struggle for survival. Now he must draw upon all his skills to defeat two invisible enemies; one is in his head, the other is stalking him...
"A great space opera that feels like Top Gun meets Star Wars and is so much fun." -Heather Button
Vance looked back. “He’s still behind us. He’s almost got an angle. He’s loose on his left turn.”
Valerie broke left and hit her afterburner. “I can’t keep running from this blazar!”
“Yes we can, miss. We came out all fueled up. The Mori had to spend a bit of fuel getting over to the fleet. Their starcraft are also smaller. Guaranteed, he will run out of fuel before we do.”
Valerie rolled into a dive as red hot bolts of light streaked past the canopy. Vance watched out the back. “That’s good miss, make him pay for every inch he gains.”
READ MOREShe broke right and hit her breaking thruster. Vance’s helmet hit the side of the canopy. Red bolts streaked past as the starfighter flew by. “You did it, miss, bandit one overshot.”
“Blast it!”
A light flashed on his instrumentation panel. “Blast it is right, looks like we took a hit to the right aileron thruster. We can’t roll, so we’re gonna have ta stick close to the capital ships. We can use them to break line of sight.”
Valerie started her long circle around toward the destroyer. Vance looked out the canopy behind them. “Bandit one is comin’ around.”
“We’re not going to make it, are we?”
“Don’t talk like that, miss, of course we’re goin’ ta make it. We still have one missile left. We can use that idea of yours, usin’ its thrust to turn us quicker.”
She shook her head. “It’s on the wrong side.”
Vance opened his mouth to offer another suggestion, but nothing came to mind. He looked back at the trailing starfighter and then looked forward at their angle. “There’s gotta be somethin’ we can do…”
“Vance, if we don’t make it—”
“We’re goin’ ta make it,” he said, grumbling.
“—I want you to know I am very sorry for walking out on you.”
“Don’t worry about it, miss, I prob’ly had it comin’.”
She shook her head. “No, Vance. Loyalty is a very big deal for a Gun Star.”
Vance swallowed. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but if you need ta hear it, all is forgiven. I got no hard feelin’s.” He reached down and pulled a large red lever. “Sequence active. You ready to eject?”
She placed both hands on her seat handles. “What are the chances the Mori won’t see us?”
“I like ta think there’s always a chance,” Vance said in a weak tone.
Vance looked through the back of the canopy and saw the starfighter closing in on their six o’clock.
COLLAPSE5.0 out of 5 stars Top Gun + Star Wars
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2023The book seemed like a mash-up of "Top Gun" + "Star Wars". The characters were likable enough and the plot seemed to flow well. The author is a Brandon Sanderson fan and if you're in the same boat, you would probably like this book. This book also appears to be the first in a series, so it may be worthwhile to keep an eye out for the sequel.