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Space Hunter War #4
Smuggler's Bounty
A tragic loss leads to a dead end… and the threat of a new war.
For Jack Bennet, thwarting catastrophe on his home world came at a price he wasn’t willing to pay. Unable to navigate the pain, he falls into a destructive lifestyle until his girlfriend—and Fleet Intelligence handler—uncovers reports of a new imminent one that can only be solved by a bounty hunter of Jack’s caliber.
Far removed from the safety of Commonwealth law, someone is smuggling weapons in the Tahni colony worlds. There, Jack finds a thin military presence presiding over a powder keg just waiting for a spark to set the whole thing ablaze. One bad decision could lead to a Tahni uprising, and a third war neither side is prepared to fight.
No plan survives contact with the enemy, and soon the line between friend and foe begins to blur. The hunt for the smuggler requires Jack to walk the firing line between apathetic military personnel and combative Tahni colonists, and to face a side of himself he thought he’d left behind him.
The war is over, but if Jack can’t capture the smuggler, it won’t stay that way for long.
Experience the fourth installment of the explosive Military Sci-Fi series from bestseller Rick Partlow, author of Drop Trooper, and debut author Pacey Holden.
For Jack Bennet, thwarting catastrophe on his home world came at a price he wasn’t willing to pay. Unable to navigate the pain, he falls into a destructive lifestyle until his girlfriend—and Fleet Intelligence handler—uncovers reports of a new imminent one that can only be solved by a bounty hunter of Jack’s caliber.
Far removed from the safety of Commonwealth law, someone is smuggling weapons in the Tahni colony worlds. There, Jack finds a thin military presence presiding over a powder keg just waiting for a spark to set the whole thing ablaze. One bad decision could lead to a Tahni uprising, and a third war neither side is prepared to fight.
No plan survives contact with the enemy, and soon the line between friend and foe begins to blur. The hunt for the smuggler requires Jack to walk the firing line between apathetic military personnel and combative Tahni colonists, and to face a side of himself he thought he’d left behind him.
The war is over, but if Jack can’t capture the smuggler, it won’t stay that way for long.
Experience the fourth installment of the explosive Military Sci-Fi series from bestseller Rick Partlow, author of Drop Trooper, and debut author Pacey Holden.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
466 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 28, 2023
About the author
Rick Partlow
290 books386 followersRick Partlow is that rarest of species, a native Floridian. Born in Tampa, he attended Florida Southern College and graduated with a degree in History and a commission in the US Army as an Infantry officer.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
His lifelong love of science fiction began with Have Space Suit---Will Travel and the other Heinlein juveniles and traveled through Clifford Simak, Asimov, Clarke and on to William Gibson, Walter Jon Williams and Peter F Hamilton. And somewhere, submerged in the worlds of others, Rick began to create his own worlds.
He has written over 70 books in over a dozen different series, and his short stories have been included in many different anthologies.
He currently lives in norther Wyoming with his wife and their dog. Besides writing and reading science fiction and fantasy, he enjoys outdoor photography, hiking and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 23, 2024
Throughout these books you’ll get glimpses of what then Lieutenant Commander Jack Bennett when through during the Human-Tahni war. Yes, he did some pretty heroic things along with his dedicated and professional team. But, I think he keeps drifting back to his former life a little too much. We shouldn’t have to be reminded that he was an S&R officer in every single book.
The first flash-back in this book does introduce another character, Marakit Almario, who will play a significant role in rescuing Jack during one of his coming exploits. It does seem like someone is always coming to Jack’s rescue!
In the last book we read that the *Anna* was destroyed which also caused the loss of Birdy, Jack’s friend and expert pilot. Jack was also thrown in jail while back at Eden, but Valery Bolesky comes to bail him out, again. She didn’t do this for free. She has another job for Jack. He’s to find a weapons smuggler name Ronnie Leiberg who’s last know location was on a Tahni colony world.
Val introduces Jack to the “Lost Horizon” and it’s pilot, Gary “Chip” Gorski. Chip is part of Fleet Intelligence just as is Valery, but he’s volunteered to fly the *Lost Horizon* because it is a unique ship. On the outside, it appears in worse shape than the *Anna* did, but on the inside is where Fleet Intelligence has spent a lot of money on tech upgrades. This ship should get Jack out of trouble no matter what he goes up against, well, maybe!
Val needs Jack and the *Lost Horizon* to got to Hudson Bay and contact Rhonda Lebeck, a Fleet Intel Agent he’s previous worked with. Jack’s also accompanied by Kan-Zin-Tel, the Tahni Intel Agent who used to partner with Lebeck, but has been working with Jack for a time now.
At Hudson Bay, which is a colony world settled by the Tahni, Jack has to report in to the Fleet Base and Commander Evard Greig. Greig is not happy to have a Bounty Hunter roaming around the colony. He thinks Jack will cause trouble that might rile up the Tahnis. Jack doesn’t say anything about him working for Fleet Intel but Val has told him this place has something to do with illegal weapons shippments.
Kan-Zin-Tel is going into Tahni Town to ask questions hoping that the Tahni will be more open with him about what might or might not be going on in the colony. Some don’t like Kan-Zin-Tel because he’s working with the humans. Things don’te start off well with Jack and Kan-Zin-Tel getting into another fight. It wasn’t going too against other Tahni’s, but then Predecesor Cultist start showing up. These guys are tough to take down due to their genetic alterations.
Just as things were going south for Jack and Kan-Zin-Tel, a former Search and Rescue Corporal named Marakit Almario shows up and pretty much stops the fight. Jack remembers her as the Corporal that got blown-up during the war. She lost most of her limbs and one eye and was in for a long rehabililtation. Jack had lost touch with her until now.
It turns out that Almario had been rebuilt with a lot of prosthetics, but she seemed to have maintained her sanity. She didn’t feel comfortable around “normal” humans any more so she had come to Hudson Bay to start a new life. Almario does tell Jack that she has seen Ronnie Leiberg so she knows he’s somewhere on the planet.
So, if Leiberg is on this planet and he’s smuggling weapons in, does that mean there’s a potential for a Tahni uprising? Jack isn’t sure. Even Kan-Zin-Tel isn’t sure even after meeting with the leader of the Tahnis at Sanctuary. That Tahni, Xin-Phan-Ton, tells them to just leave before they stir up trouble.
Meanwhile, Chip and Lebeck have been asking questions at other places on the colony only to get arrested by Fleet Security. Jack has another confrontation with Commander Greig with the only way to get his two people released was to admit they were working for Fleet Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Kan-Zin-Tel has found a female Tahni name Matlin-Sen and she knows what’s going on, but they must talk to the Tahni Matriarch. There are secrets on this planet that she will reveil that could throw a wrench into everything.
This story is kind of following along with all the other books in that Jack finds himself fighting everyone he meets. He’s lucky to be rescued in the nick of time, but that might not always be the case. More will be told in the next book, “Double-Cross Bounty” avialable on Amazon now.
The first flash-back in this book does introduce another character, Marakit Almario, who will play a significant role in rescuing Jack during one of his coming exploits. It does seem like someone is always coming to Jack’s rescue!
In the last book we read that the *Anna* was destroyed which also caused the loss of Birdy, Jack’s friend and expert pilot. Jack was also thrown in jail while back at Eden, but Valery Bolesky comes to bail him out, again. She didn’t do this for free. She has another job for Jack. He’s to find a weapons smuggler name Ronnie Leiberg who’s last know location was on a Tahni colony world.
Val introduces Jack to the “Lost Horizon” and it’s pilot, Gary “Chip” Gorski. Chip is part of Fleet Intelligence just as is Valery, but he’s volunteered to fly the *Lost Horizon* because it is a unique ship. On the outside, it appears in worse shape than the *Anna* did, but on the inside is where Fleet Intelligence has spent a lot of money on tech upgrades. This ship should get Jack out of trouble no matter what he goes up against, well, maybe!
Val needs Jack and the *Lost Horizon* to got to Hudson Bay and contact Rhonda Lebeck, a Fleet Intel Agent he’s previous worked with. Jack’s also accompanied by Kan-Zin-Tel, the Tahni Intel Agent who used to partner with Lebeck, but has been working with Jack for a time now.
At Hudson Bay, which is a colony world settled by the Tahni, Jack has to report in to the Fleet Base and Commander Evard Greig. Greig is not happy to have a Bounty Hunter roaming around the colony. He thinks Jack will cause trouble that might rile up the Tahnis. Jack doesn’t say anything about him working for Fleet Intel but Val has told him this place has something to do with illegal weapons shippments.
Kan-Zin-Tel is going into Tahni Town to ask questions hoping that the Tahni will be more open with him about what might or might not be going on in the colony. Some don’t like Kan-Zin-Tel because he’s working with the humans. Things don’te start off well with Jack and Kan-Zin-Tel getting into another fight. It wasn’t going too against other Tahni’s, but then Predecesor Cultist start showing up. These guys are tough to take down due to their genetic alterations.
Just as things were going south for Jack and Kan-Zin-Tel, a former Search and Rescue Corporal named Marakit Almario shows up and pretty much stops the fight. Jack remembers her as the Corporal that got blown-up during the war. She lost most of her limbs and one eye and was in for a long rehabililtation. Jack had lost touch with her until now.
It turns out that Almario had been rebuilt with a lot of prosthetics, but she seemed to have maintained her sanity. She didn’t feel comfortable around “normal” humans any more so she had come to Hudson Bay to start a new life. Almario does tell Jack that she has seen Ronnie Leiberg so she knows he’s somewhere on the planet.
So, if Leiberg is on this planet and he’s smuggling weapons in, does that mean there’s a potential for a Tahni uprising? Jack isn’t sure. Even Kan-Zin-Tel isn’t sure even after meeting with the leader of the Tahnis at Sanctuary. That Tahni, Xin-Phan-Ton, tells them to just leave before they stir up trouble.
Meanwhile, Chip and Lebeck have been asking questions at other places on the colony only to get arrested by Fleet Security. Jack has another confrontation with Commander Greig with the only way to get his two people released was to admit they were working for Fleet Intelligence.
Meanwhile, Kan-Zin-Tel has found a female Tahni name Matlin-Sen and she knows what’s going on, but they must talk to the Tahni Matriarch. There are secrets on this planet that she will reveil that could throw a wrench into everything.
This story is kind of following along with all the other books in that Jack finds himself fighting everyone he meets. He’s lucky to be rescued in the nick of time, but that might not always be the case. More will be told in the next book, “Double-Cross Bounty” avialable on Amazon now.
August 8, 2024
Read Smugglers Bounty and be amazed as Rick Partlow, Pacey Holden and Ryan Kennard Burke as this trio pull off another fun action-packed adventure. And I find myself eating it up, every minute of it. And yes downloading the set was a great idea on my part, because like potato chips you can't eat one. I'm gonna happily dive back in and listen to Double-Cross Bounty!
December 28, 2023
Not disappointed
An other good read. I really like the this series of books so far.looking foreword to the next one in the series
An other good read. I really like the this series of books so far.looking foreword to the next one in the series
July 10, 2025
Another solid story in the series. Not great but entertaining enough.
September 3, 2025
Great book loved the story can’t wait to read the next one I highly recommend it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍
October 31, 2024
His relationship with Val is unhealthy, she's using him. He knows but puts up with it. I don't know what to think of this series, all of the characters are seriously flawed. The Church of the Ancients are a joke. Jack is psychotic, he really doesn't try hard to avoid killing.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews