Review: It's a let down from the first series.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2014
I read the whole first part of the series and thought the story was original and held within plausibility.  I really liked it. But, in the first part of the book two I think the author stretched the "Oh come on" factor to the breaking point.  Our hero "Cain" blackmails a race of people to install a highly sophisticated and secret device into himself so that he would have more power, promising faithfully to keep the fact a secret. And, the reason he did it was to have it, not for some altruistic reason. Of course it turned out in the story that it's good thing he did.  But, like a little boy with a secret he really can't wait to share it with his girl friend. He's virtually telegraphing "I've got a secret" to her. With just the slightest urging he has to demonstrate his new power. He has shown that he really has no honor, no more than the bad guys he's fighting.Then we have the big fight between himself the "bad" earthling, which he wins by use of the new power. Of course the bad guy has now developed the secret of the new device and because, with the sketchiest of information, been able to develop the device in a matter of months. Not so sophisticated as all that apparently. Letting this man live could potentially set of a war between two races if he reveals the secret of the "Speakers" power.  And, he will.  He wants that war. He has personally killed some of Cains own men and  tried to kill him several times. So why did our hero let him live?  Good question. Cain has no moral stance against killing, in fact he's very good at it.The book ends with this criminal, who is complicit in the deaths of billions of humans, the abduction of humans for the Klin before that, and is wanted for various other crimes being transported back to Earth to stand trail in a luxury suite in a star ship with only two humans aboard. This criminal is a highly trained and deadly assassin, able to kill almost any human, let alone aliens with his bare hands. The Captain of the star ship is easily coerced into letting him go free, for the promise of great rewards in fame and fortune.In any plausible scenario this man would have been transported in the manner of Hannibal Lector, with a large guard detail of armed men watching him all times. Nobody would be allowed to be the same cell with him alone at any time.Of course the author wanted him free so that he can wreck havoc with the the federation and, of course, with Cain, in future books. But, I think a much better plot line should have been developed more in keeping with what might have happened in the real world of the novels universe.This is far from the authors better attempts.It looks to me like the author just got lazy.