Better than some of the ST:TNG books I have read. An interesting story of an alien race which kidnapps other races, wipes thier minds, and uses them as entertainment somewhat like the Romans did. Several Enterprise crew members get captured and the Enterprise must find and rescue them. The only real "believability" part of the story I had this time was the number of captured aliens on the planet listed at the end of the story. The capture of 18,000 aliens on a planet which is way off the beaten path and does not currently travel in space is quite a stretch. Also, the Enterprise was able to take all of these freed aliens aboard ship and on a 6 day journey at max warp to the closest starbase. Seems way over the limit the starship could carry aboard and take care of. ( )