Tek Vengeance

TekWar #4

by William Shatner, Ron Goulart (Contributor)

With his fiancée in danger, Jake Cardigan is tricked into taking a deadly trip to Brazil.

A man in Berlin has just learned something that could save Jake Cardigan’s life. But before he can pass on this vital information, he dies under suspicious circumstances—setting off a chain reaction that will change Cardigan’s life forever, threatening to destroy every person he loves.

Cardigan’s fiancée, Beth, goes to Berlin to testify against the ruthless drug cartel controlled by Sonny Hokori and the Teklords. Cardigan plans to be there to protect her against the nefarious assassins of the Teklords, but an urgent case calls him to Rio. By the time he realizes the Brazilian case is no more than a set-up to take him away from Beth, it may be too late to save her—and prevent a new round of TekWars from engulfing the earth.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, Star Trek, Mystery

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

William Shatner is the author of nine Star Trek novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Ashes of Eden and The Return. He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including Get a Life! and I'm Working on That. In addition to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, he stars as Denny Crane in the hit television series from David E. Kelley, Boston Legal -- a role for which he has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.

Reviews

[Brandon Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might be the weakest so far, the opening is not great but is used to set up everything that follows.

The woman in refrigerator issue is highly prevalent here and not the first time for the same character. They are trying to flesh out Dan, the son of Jake, but he still feels one note and shallow to me.

it has a ton of characters. It is a globe hopping adventure and seems to have a few less we already know Jake and Gomez. Many people in this one are meeting them for the first time.

Overall this was just not that good in my opinion. The whole series has been ok, not great, but this is likely where I stop. It's the last one my wife got me a few years ago.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself enjoying this book more than I anticipated. It moves at a good pace [despite having a "stupid" beginning that was probably meant to be either clever or humorous but comes off as forced and contrived]; it did have some "twists" and twists scattered throughout the book. The author(s) tried to force too many "cliff-hanger endings" in too many chapters; I mean, seriously! The book's not even halfway done and you're resorting to "cliffhangers"? Really?!? The book does have some surprising moments, though, so perhaps the "cliff-hangers" were meant as switchbait to throw the reader off the scent? The character development was decent, I guess; Dan had the best development, in my opinion.

The story moves between Southern California, Northern California, Brazil, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland [not necessarily in that order]. Cardigan and Gomez have an amazing number of contacts scattered all across the globe, that is for certain! It is funny; while moving at a "good pace" that story did seem to slow down, in parts. Also, with so many "witnesses" and individuals who were complicit in Beth Kittridge's murder, I was wondering if Gomez and Cardigan were going to get to the bottom of the case and solve the mystery.

In my opinion, the "dumbest" part of the book had to do with the stooge who claimed he was the one who murdered Beth Kittridge. Granted, in retrospect, the claims may have had to do with the false memories inserted into the young man's mind to further bolster his claim that he and Beth were in love before Jake Cardigan came along. It just reeked of idiocy, shabby writing, and a weak imagination for the stooge to claim that he wanted to "purify" Beth by killing her. He claims "I pleaded with her to renounce the sinful life she lived with him, yet she refused. When I realized she would never give him up, I knew there was only one way to save her immortal soul" (110). He goes on to say, "Yes, her body . . . had to be sacrificed in order to save her spirit. . . . She's safe now" (111). Fine, whatever - there are plenty of whackjobs out there. When Goldberg is asked if he was working in conjunction with one of the cartels to murder Beth, Goldberg says, "I am only working to do God's blessed will" (111). Really? Really?!?!? This was the weakest, dumbest, most stupid line of the book, and was completely unnecessary; I felt it took away from the narrative. I realize there are confused nutjobs who justify their heinous acts by claiming "God told me to do it", but the authors did not need to go down this road in this book, or this series. I felt it did not fit, and was completely unneeded. It is not like religions seem to play much of a part in this dystopic view of the future; the authors did not need to go down this road. Enough, though, of this stupidity. I've already spent too much time on it.

The "second" weakest part of the book was the very beginning. It starts off with a man being murdered, some kind of agent. His name doesn't matter, because he dies shortly after being introduced. But it is because of his death that Jake does not get the information needed that would have prevented the rest of the novel from taking place. I do not know if it was meant to be "funny" or somehow "ironic" but it came across as . . . not quite "stupid" but stronger than "lame" as the intro to this novel. It was just . . . weak and not as strong as it could have been. It seemed like it was supposed to be "funny-ironic" but failed miserably.

If there is a "third" weak part of the novel, it is how often "glo-" is thrown in front of some word to make it look or sound "futuristic" to today's reader. It is funny, though, because it took me a few times of coming across it to start reading the words correctly from the getgo. Like "glopants" - I read it as "glop-ants" and not "glo-pants". hahahah pretty stupid, I know, but sometimes I am a little slow on the uptake. Also, throwing "laz-" or "plas-" in front of numerous nouns to create "future words" does not future words make; it starts to sound and look funny, after a bit. Ah, well. I am sure it is harder to create "future words / adjectives" for a future society than I realize.

I did like the interplay between Daniel Cardigan and Molly Fine as their "relationship" developed in their periodic parts in the narrative. I found myself hoping that she continues to be a part of the series and the two become a "long-term" couple; she seemed to be the perfect fit for Dan [on the one hand]. She was very intelligent, outgoing, aggressive [or assertive], self-confident, and had a great sense of humor. I would say she was one of the better-written characters in this novel. It was amusing to see how she kept "one-upping" Daniel in her efforts to assist him in his "clandestine" investigation. We shall see if she continues to show up in the subsequent novels in this series.

I did enjoy the "capture scene" at the end of the novel. I thought it was well done, and it did take me completely by surprise. I loved that Jake used an android "actor" that closely resembled his appearance to take Jake's place in entering the tunnels of the villain's hideaway. This provided the necessary distraction for Jake to enter the "stronghold" wearing the costume of a Brazilian soldier unnoticed and both rescue Dan and Molly while arresting the murderer of his beloved Beth. I suppose I should not have been surprised; there were numerous "android doubles" scattered throughout the book, including the various kamikaze androids used to murder various individuals. So I am sure what I felt was "clever" was probably obvious to other readers, but I still enjoyed Jake doing unto others what they had done to him.

I would say that there was some character growth for Jake over the course of the novel, as he was forced to process the murder of his beloved and the accompanying guilt [he wanted to be there with her in Berlin to protect Beth from the Tek cartels but was tricked into taking what should have been a "simple job" in Brazil, which prevented him from being in Berlin to save her]. He goes from self-destructive behavior to intending to solve the case [which, no doubt, Beth would have wanted]. I also liked the fact that Sid was there for him, constantly, looking out for him and giving him stern lectures when necessary to keep Jake from wallowing too much in guilt, sorrow, and self-loathing over Beth's death. He is a good friend, a solid "rock" (as it were) for Jake that Jake needs. As a result, I felt there was some good character development for Sid, as well.

I imagine some of my "delight" in "how good this book was" stems from low expectations for it. I was very disappointed with the third book. It was not anywhere near as depressing as the third book; it did not have the "pro-pedophilia/child prostitute stance" that the third book seemed to take. It actually had some surprising twists in it as well as "cliffhangers" at the end of chapters that were so bad that they made me laugh. I felt like it was a better book than the third novel; I definitely enjoyed it more. I liked it enough I will take a chance with at least the fifth and maybe sixth book in the series [at which point I will probably go ahead and finish the series]. I am glad that I read it.

[⚜️XAR the Bookwyrm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had an interesting twist that first time readers of the series won't see coming. The remainder of the book is spent dealing with the repercussions of that twist. For me, this marks the turning point in the series, because I feel that quality of the stories takes a serious downturn due to the repercussions of that twist I mentioned. The books become more hard-boiled detective stories, more so than the romantic angle that had been pursued in previous stories. This story was good, don't get me wrong, but also saddens me at the same time.

[Matthew Leeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as ever! I really liked this book. I hated that Beth died though. I really liked her character in the first two and then she kind of faded out in three and then she died in four... so, yeah. This book is suspenseful and very futuristic, some things in the book I wish that we had in real life. Like the andy's that clean houses... those would rock! I think Shatner is going to bring in another main girl in the next one, which I have started reading. REALLY GOOD! Real the whole series! :D

[Jeremy Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do have a spot in my heart for this man's writing style. It's like candy. I know it's no good, but I can't stop myself from eating more of it.

[Troy Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Good Book

This book was pretty good. The set up for the story kind of sucked, it made the story sad. Jake's son may already be moving on to a new girlfriend. This is surprising since he was almost killed trying to save the last girlfriend. I can't go into too much detail because of spoilers. The story overall was good and was well written. There are times where the language is more from the 40s and 50s, especially the terms used to describe women. Shatner was born in1931, so his youth was spent growing up in that era, so take that into account when reading this book.
Overall it was a good book and I still would recommend it.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still very much like the several characters, Jake, Dan, And Gomez, and their special adventures, but there are more than a few times that while reading the book I felt that someone took the remote and changed the channel on me, some of the jumps are a bit to abrupt, but the story still stays mostly intact, and I do enjoy the stories. This is still a good read, looking forward to reading the next book Tek Secret which is already on my shelf waiting for me to start.

[Karen Wrobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welp. For this outing the thought of the day is - save us from idiotic teenagers, moronic men and mud wrestling melodies. Upon reread, I’d forgotten how goofy these books can be. The main love interest is killed off, leaving Jake room to be broody and sad, and once again the kid is in peril. It all works out in the end though. 2.5 stars.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than than the last book. This is number 4 in the series.
These won't be winning mystery awards anytime soon, but they're fun books to read. I like the characters and the world that has been created.

[Jeffrey Greek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Call me crazy, but it sure seems like kamikaze robots would be an extremely expensive and inefficient means of killing people, particularly considering they rely entirely upon their targets being massive dumbasses. Luckily for them, we're in the Tekverse, baby!

[Manchanko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got nothing left to say

[Kay Iscah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I apparently try to read in my sleep sometimes. Towards the end I felt like several chapters were missing, so I went back and found and read the missing chapters. Flowed much better then.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghost written by Ron Goulart

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in early 90's - don't really recall anything about it.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a weak payoff at the end.