No good deed goes unpunished.Kay Ellis is looking forward to returning from a six-month supply run. She’s looking forward to being back in the safety of Union space. And she’s looking forward to her wedding with Captain Magdalene Landon.But when the Black Flag receives a distress signal from a scuttled alien transport, their return is temporarily postponed. The mission of mercy enters troubled … of mercy enters troubled waters as a mysterious pursuer appears.
The longer the new guests stay onboard, the more Kay begins to question their hard luck story. And the more she wonders if the Black Flag will survive to see Union space again.
(Cover by May Dawney Designs)
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Troubled Waters (Black Flag, #3), my eleventh read from author Rachel Ford. This book is so well-written & enjoyable, no matter the genre a Rachel Ford book can be counted on to be entertaining & enjoyable. I have to say there’s something to be said about reading a series back-to-back-to-back that increases the enjoyment as you’re in the mindset of the books going in. I look forward to No Quarter (Black Flag, #4) the next book in the series that came out today. “I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.” (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
Kay Ellis is an intergalactic space engineer just trying to plan her wedding during an easy space run when things take a turn. She and the crew get tangled up in saving the ruler of another alien race. Lots of action, twists and turns. Good book!
I like this series more with each book. I love when that sort of things happens.
After the events of book 2 (Lee Shores), the Black Flag crew is taking it easy on their way back to Union space (and Kay is mostly obsessed with planning her wedding to Maggie), when they get a distress signal from an alien ship. The rescue mission turns into a diplomatic mess, and Captain Magdalene Langdon has to make difficult choices.
I really like this crew. Even the less important characters have some kind of depth. It’s really cool to be able to get to know better in each book. I also like the atmosphere a lot, the nods towards popular sci-fi stuff (some things remind me of Star Wars, others of Star Trek), it’s like it’s all part of a huge universe, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kay and Maggie had a drink on Mos Eisley or crossed path with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Well, I would be surprised, but neither would be out of place.
This instalment is the most intense so far, and probably my favourite. In book 2, the characters were a bit passive, as they were accused of murder and spent quite a long part of the story first waiting to be released then waiting for the investigator to prove their innocence. Also, despite the rather tragic circumstances, it often fell on the side of comedy. There’s a lot more action in this one, and it also feels more adult. Yet the humor is still there. As I said, it gets better and better. I’m looking forward to book 4!
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This novel continues the worldbuilding and character development of the first two novels and it doesn’t disappoint the reader. You will feel the action and try to figure out the plot along with the crew. Enjoy this novel, I did.
Good space opera sci-fi with women at the helm and a robot who can think independently – 4 stars
Captain Maggie Landon is a privateer, not a pirate, who works under a contract with the Union. She is engaged to the Chief Engineer who is the story’s narrator much of the time. There are two related races, previously unknown to the Union, who want nothing more than to erase each other out of existence: Korinthians and Denari.
Technology for far in the future is handled gracefully from Jump drives that blow up to cloaking that works spectacularly.
Half truths and unexpected emotional attachments breathe life into a convoluted plot. With only one exception, readers will not guess plot turns which change nearly “obvious” expectations.
The author presents several non-human races, planet systems and deep space way stations. People (generically) are still people; some have leadership skills and some are technically proficient. The collective crew of the Black Flag come together when the pressure is on and collapse later.
I was not able to figure out the connection of the title to the story–there were lots of troubles but no waters; nevertheless I found Troubled Waters interesting and entertaining.
Our crew receives a distress signal while returning from a routine supply run and pauses to investigate. But all is not as it seems.
This is book three in the series. The story works well as a standalone, but you won’t understand all the relationships if you start here. I recommend you start from book one (or at least book two).
This is an SF space adventure, somewhere along the lines of Firefly. The science is there, but the ship and crew are the heart of this story. They have that wonderful mix of personalities that provides depth to a story. The story is well written with a solid plot and plenty of twists and turns which keep the reader guessing. I truly got sucked in the moment I started the book
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.
Troubled Waters is the third book in Rachel Ford’s Black Flag series and, while this PG15 space adventure could be read by itself in a day, I urge you to read the series in order for the excellent character development.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I have read several other books by this author, but neither of the other Black Flag books. So I did not really know what to expect with this series.
Overall, this was a pleasant trip and kept me turning pages. There were a few strange things that did not really detract from the read, but DID make “my eyebrows climb up my forehead,” which is a description used QUITE frequently. Must be a LOT of untamed eyebrows, with this crew!
There were some incorrect word choices and misspellings – at one point, the ship is in a “precocious” state. I am not sure how that would even be possible. I am quite sure the author meant “precarious.” “Faux paus” instead of faux pas. Again…these are more distracting than detracting. Those were the only two instances I highlighted, as they were the most glaring to me.
This is mostly a clean read. There are fade out scenes of intimacy, but nothing that would faze a young adult reader.
I had a sense throughout the whole book that the relationship between the two main characters was not realistic. Let me clarify…the “professional relationship” between the characters. Yes, this is a private ship and not a “Union ship.” That being the case, there is perhaps less expectation that the crew will act “professionally.” But the informality was often jarring. Having not read the other two books, maybe this is just a newbie sense. But people in life and death situations NEED that professionalism to stay alive. In this book, there is a LOT of informal bantering, even in very serious situations. When on the job or in a life and death situation, a little less “Mags”…and a lot more “Captain” would not go amiss. This is just a subjective beef, on my part, though.
Much of the action was a bit telegraphed and predictable. The ending was satisfying, though. And even though this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone book very easily. I hate books where you either need to read the prior books to understand ANYTHING of what is happening, or you need to read later books to have any kind of resolution. This avoids that, which is a very positive thing. If I could rate this 3.5, I would do so. It was an easy read and not a bad one.
I was given a free review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review. This is my own honest opinion.
**** SPOILER ALERT ****
In “Troubled Waters”, Ford continues the action packed adventures of the Black Flag’s crew. The author continues her fine job of world building and character development.
I really enjoyed this book.
Q: How are the wedding plans coming along for both of the intended couples?
Q: Will Frank finally find love?
Q: How will the Black Flag prevail against four to one odds?
A: Buy the book to find out!!
In the interest of transparency: I was given a free review copy of this book and I am voluntarily sharing this review. This is my own honest opinion.