Enemy Unseen

A "routine" diplomatic mission turns deadly as an unknown assailant attempts to subvert the process through any means possible, including murder. Meanwhile, Kirk is dealing with an old flame, and trying to juggle the three wives he has just been presented with.

V.E. Mitchell is a long-time Star Trek fan, and her Trek pro-novel “Enemy Unseen” shows that in the accurate characterizations of the original series’ regulars. Spock is written out early in the setup (which is disturbing to those of us who count him as a favorite), but his absence makes room for Mitchell’s original characters to take center stage and carry much of the action. (Unlike fan fiction, which merrily bumps off, marries off, or gender-switches TOS characters at show more random, the pro novels are bound firmly to returning all the beloved crew members to their original starting points by the last paragraph. Not surprisingly, this restriction can severely limit the dramatic action.)

The base plot is pretty straightforward – Enterprise is carrying a Federation diplomat as well as a party from an alien planetary system, to try to resolve a conflict over settlement rights on a disputed planet. But someone on the ship is determined to keep the accord from happening, even if it involves murder.

Mitchell gets props for creating an interesting alien culture, so driven by their particular codes of honor and “the harmony of all” that negotiations with them require a particularly deft hand, and the project looks pretty shaky, even before dead bodies start turning up.

Unfortunately, she’s also given Kirk's old flame a major role in the proceedings. Setting aside for the moment the fact that Kirk seems to have more old flames than a Zippo dump, Cecilia Simons remains pretty much a cardboard character – the sensuous, seductive Evil Bitch Queen, out to bend Kirk (and every other male she encounters) to her will. Because the reader is privy to information the novel’s characters lack, she emerges early-on as a prime suspect for the interference. The extra wives issue is never given more than a passing glance and is resolved as casually as it was introduced.

Eventually, the spy’s identity is figured out, largely through the skills of the original crew characters, and the discovery carries within it an answer to the settlement conflict. It also, however, reveals a gaping plot hole, which really can’t be discussed without violating the Reviewer’s Code, which essentially says “you can’t tell readers The Butler Did It when writing the review”.

Overall, “Enemy Unseen” is better than most of the pro-novels, but certainly has some flaws. show less

I found this fairly muddled - too many different plot threads going on, and too many new alien cultures to process! - but I did enjoy it, particularly the theme of misunderstanding alien cultures--something that I feel gets left out of Trek as much as it gets consciously put in.

An unmemorable but reasonably well-written tale of intrigue and murder aboard the Enterprise, with an old flame of Captain Kirk's a chief suspect. Something to pass a lazy afternoon, no more.

Too wordy.