Without some knowledge of Star Trek canon, this book might be difficult to follow. I regularly feel like I’m missing some subtext with the books set after the Dominion War. I missed that part of Deep Space Nine and nearly all of the Voyager seasons due to being in college and not having time to watch, and then being out of college and too poor to buy a TV or pay for cable. Luckily for me, those events aren’t nearly as important in the book as events that took place during The Next Generation years.

The book begins by laying down the back story that both provides the motivation for later events, as well as the characters involved. The events that occur in the “present” are set shortly after events seen in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis in which the Enterprise E is nearly wrecked by trying to prevent the mentally disturbed Romulan Praetor Shinzon from destroying humanity and the Federation. Picard is overseeing repairs of his ship while also dealing with the changes in her crew. Of those who served with him in the early and later missions, only Worf and La Forge remain on the ship, but the one he misses most is Beverly Crusher.

Crusher has taken up her old post as head of Starfleet Medical, but soon she embarks on a covert mission that takes her into Romulan territory. When Starfleet loses communication with her, Picard and a small team are sent in to complete her mission and rescue her if possible.

Meanwhile, turmoil and intrigue plague the Romulan Empire, which has been weakened by Shinzon and his successor. The usual suspects (Tomalak and Sela) show up, do their thing, and it’s all settled in typical Romulan fashion by the end of the book. What I appreciated most about this was how Friedman wrote the minds-eye perspective of all of the main Romulan characters in such a way that I found myself rooting for all of them at some point, even when they were at odds with each other.

The book ends on a high note, and should please many fans. That’s all I am going to say about it, although it wouldn’t be much of a spoiler if I did. ( )

http://defcons-treklit.livejournal.co... ( )

A well-written "Next Generation" Star Trek story, from late in the pantheon, after many life-altering events have taken place, and it's not clear to me which of them have taken place late in the TV series, a later movie, or one of the books I haven't yet read. Data is dead, Riker and Troi are married and departed from the ship, Beverly Crusher has just taken a position as head of Starfleet Medicine. Picard is deeply in love with Beverly, but their relationship has settled into a comfortable one of close friends. This is until her departure, and subsequent secret mission of mercy to a plague-ridden outworld of the Romulan Empire, where she is reported missing, possibly captured and dead. Picard mounts a small contingent to complete Beverly's mission, and to rescue her once this is done. A good story, although sometimes the protagonists seem to rely more on luck than skills. The best part is the further examination of Picard's developing relationship with Beverly and the conclusion thereof; probably the most disconcerting is learning about the many changes I have missed by not being a more diligent Star Trek reader. But one could easily read nothing but Trek novels to the exclusion of all else, if one were of a mind to. ( )