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A Taste For Cerulean Blue: A Sci-Fi Noir Mystery with a Military Investigator
From TheReading Cafe.com: "a character driven, sci-fi thriller of murder and mystery; a noir-type story with less in your face violence and $ex; a dark and spirted tale of secrets and lies. The premise is dramatic; the characters are determined and dangerous. There is a slight romance developing for our story line heroine, but everything is implied."
First Sergeant Jill Tower is back from war and her problems are just beginning. Admiral Falkirk McGowan’s son-in-law has been murdered and Jill has a looming deadline to discover the killer. Everyone from his mistresses to his smuggling rivals had a motive.
Soon Jill and her sassy AI assistant, PENY, are pulled along a twisting trail of clues into the seedy underbelly of Nakon City following a bloody revenge plot decades in the making. Along the way, Jill ignites a sizzling affair with a young soldier. But killers lurk in every shadow, determined to bury the truth. Jill must fight for her life in this electrifying page-turner. In a neo-noir world where the stakes are high and betrayal runs deep, who can Jill trust?
A dark future thriller that will hook you into the world of the Nakon Trilogy.
First Sergeant Jill Tower is back from war and her problems are just beginning. Admiral Falkirk McGowan’s son-in-law has been murdered and Jill has a looming deadline to discover the killer. Everyone from his mistresses to his smuggling rivals had a motive.
Soon Jill and her sassy AI assistant, PENY, are pulled along a twisting trail of clues into the seedy underbelly of Nakon City following a bloody revenge plot decades in the making. Along the way, Jill ignites a sizzling affair with a young soldier. But killers lurk in every shadow, determined to bury the truth. Jill must fight for her life in this electrifying page-turner. In a neo-noir world where the stakes are high and betrayal runs deep, who can Jill trust?
A dark future thriller that will hook you into the world of the Nakon Trilogy.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 22, 2023
A TASTE FOR CERULEAN BLUE is the first instalment in Dale Sale’s adult NAKON dark, sci-fi, futuristic thriller focusing on former police detective / reservist first Sergeant turned Chief Warrant Officer Jill Tower. The NAKON trilogy is a spin off from the author’s MARTIAN TRILOGY but you do not have to have read the previous series to understand or follow along. Some of the characters including Admiral McGowan, Captain Grey and Gus Johansson cross over for cohesion and back story.
Told from several third person perspectives including Jill Tower A TASTE FOR CERULEAN BLUE follows in the wake of the murder of Admiral McGowan’s son in law, Captain Harrison ‘Hazy’ Grey, and a missing shipment of Cerulean Blue. First Sergeant Jill Tower has just returned from a one year starship mission, and upon her return will discover everything she left behind has changed including her job, her apartment and her current status in both the police department and the space military. When NCIS is ruled out as cooperative, and the local police refused to investigate the murder of Grey, Jill Tower is offered a temporary position as the Chief Warrant Officer, where she will have access across the board including off world and AI entry into information not usually granted to civilians. With the help of PENY, Jillian’s new AI bot assistant, our heroine will begin to uncover a multi-layered conspiracy, taking revenge for sins of the past.
The world building follows the search for the truth; the revelation of underworld crime in the import/export business, and the high price for investigating anyone who gets in the way. As Jillian Tower begins to unravel the truth, her life and those around her, will become targets of the those who want their business and intent to remain in the shadows.
We are introduced to several interesting secondary and supporting characters including Admiral McGowan, Captain Grey and Gus Johansson; AI bot PENY; Captain Grey’s widow Mitzi, Head of police operations Brit Bashara; head of Port Security Charlie Burns, singer Dell Laster; loader in charge Midge Han; house cleaner Geris Platman; Freddy Sneakers; and security guard Cal MacGillivray aka MG aka Jill’s love interest. The requisite evil has many faces.
A TASTE FOR CERULEAN BLUE is a character driven, sci-fi thriller of murder and mystery; a noir-type story with less in your face violence and $ex; a dark and spirted tale of secrets and lies. The premise is dramatic; the characters are determined and dangerous. There is a slight romance developing for our story line heroine, but everything is implied.
Copy supplied for review
www.thereadingcafe.com
Told from several third person perspectives including Jill Tower A TASTE FOR CERULEAN BLUE follows in the wake of the murder of Admiral McGowan’s son in law, Captain Harrison ‘Hazy’ Grey, and a missing shipment of Cerulean Blue. First Sergeant Jill Tower has just returned from a one year starship mission, and upon her return will discover everything she left behind has changed including her job, her apartment and her current status in both the police department and the space military. When NCIS is ruled out as cooperative, and the local police refused to investigate the murder of Grey, Jill Tower is offered a temporary position as the Chief Warrant Officer, where she will have access across the board including off world and AI entry into information not usually granted to civilians. With the help of PENY, Jillian’s new AI bot assistant, our heroine will begin to uncover a multi-layered conspiracy, taking revenge for sins of the past.
The world building follows the search for the truth; the revelation of underworld crime in the import/export business, and the high price for investigating anyone who gets in the way. As Jillian Tower begins to unravel the truth, her life and those around her, will become targets of the those who want their business and intent to remain in the shadows.
We are introduced to several interesting secondary and supporting characters including Admiral McGowan, Captain Grey and Gus Johansson; AI bot PENY; Captain Grey’s widow Mitzi, Head of police operations Brit Bashara; head of Port Security Charlie Burns, singer Dell Laster; loader in charge Midge Han; house cleaner Geris Platman; Freddy Sneakers; and security guard Cal MacGillivray aka MG aka Jill’s love interest. The requisite evil has many faces.
A TASTE FOR CERULEAN BLUE is a character driven, sci-fi thriller of murder and mystery; a noir-type story with less in your face violence and $ex; a dark and spirted tale of secrets and lies. The premise is dramatic; the characters are determined and dangerous. There is a slight romance developing for our story line heroine, but everything is implied.
Copy supplied for review
www.thereadingcafe.com
November 28, 2023
I saw there was a spin-off series so I downloaded the first book. I was disappointed in this one.
My major issue was with the willing suspension of disbelief. At multiple points in the book bad guys try to kill the main character. I found her responses unbelievable.
My lessor issue was that she's working for a massively corrupt Admiral and facilitating a criminal empire for the man's daughter. She isn't my idea of a hero.
I don't recommend the book unless you can turn off all critical thinking.
--spoilers--
Example of unbelievable behavior:
A small time crime boss lets a loser get into debt. The loser is the boyfriend of the main character. She's a police detective off doing national guard training when all this happens. The crime boss decides it's a good idea to accept the policewoman's motorcycle as repayment for the loser boyfriend's debt. I could let that one slide a little, but it still seems stupid. When the detective gets back she tracks down the crime boss and wants her bike back. He decides to have his thugs try to kill her rather than just give up on it. Unbelievably stupid (i.e. I can't suspend disbelief that far). The detective, of course, gets the better of them. After the fight she bebops out, leaving the boss publicly humiliated and screaming death threats at her. That encounter should have ended with body bags, long prison sentences, or at least some kind of explanation why she can't kill. They deserved it and she didn't even have to lie about the circumstances. In any believable world they would come back to get retribution and bad stuff will happen to people she cares about.
My major issue was with the willing suspension of disbelief. At multiple points in the book bad guys try to kill the main character. I found her responses unbelievable.
My lessor issue was that she's working for a massively corrupt Admiral and facilitating a criminal empire for the man's daughter. She isn't my idea of a hero.
I don't recommend the book unless you can turn off all critical thinking.
--spoilers--
Example of unbelievable behavior:
A small time crime boss lets a loser get into debt. The loser is the boyfriend of the main character. She's a police detective off doing national guard training when all this happens. The crime boss decides it's a good idea to accept the policewoman's motorcycle as repayment for the loser boyfriend's debt. I could let that one slide a little, but it still seems stupid. When the detective gets back she tracks down the crime boss and wants her bike back. He decides to have his thugs try to kill her rather than just give up on it. Unbelievably stupid (i.e. I can't suspend disbelief that far). The detective, of course, gets the better of them. After the fight she bebops out, leaving the boss publicly humiliated and screaming death threats at her. That encounter should have ended with body bags, long prison sentences, or at least some kind of explanation why she can't kill. They deserved it and she didn't even have to lie about the circumstances. In any believable world they would come back to get retribution and bad stuff will happen to people she cares about.
August 29, 2023
It's hard to believe that these books just keep getting better, but they do. I was hooked by the first Corvus book and have eagerly read all that came after, including this new one. I find that if I start one in the evening I end up staying up very late. In this latest one the new characters are engaging and entertaining, with some welcome appearances of people from the earlier books as well. These books are just plain fun to read and I hope Mr. Sale keeps writing them!
December 6, 2023
Insanely good.
This first in a trilogy doesn't pull any punches it starts with a bang and continues to keep you franticly turning pages till the unexpected twist at the end. You may just think that this is just another murder mystery in a sci-fi setting but it's so much more than that, so with the obligatory murder snark humour and some cool tech these amazing characters bring the story to life on the page. I guarantee you will love this as much as I did, Baz.
This first in a trilogy doesn't pull any punches it starts with a bang and continues to keep you franticly turning pages till the unexpected twist at the end. You may just think that this is just another murder mystery in a sci-fi setting but it's so much more than that, so with the obligatory murder snark humour and some cool tech these amazing characters bring the story to life on the page. I guarantee you will love this as much as I did, Baz.
September 1, 2023
Murder, smuggling, treachery. Captain Harrison "Hazy" Grey is murdered. There are a surplus of suspects. Former police officer and newly promoted Inspector Jill Tower is assigned to the case. After being shot at, mugged, and trading in a motorcycle for an air car, she slowly unravels the threads. With the help of an AI, she connects the clues around all the suspects and solves the case.
May 14, 2026
great story and a nice way to start a series
Good luck working out who did it as there’s a lot of false leads and misinformation but great characters looking forward to the next one
Good luck working out who did it as there’s a lot of false leads and misinformation but great characters looking forward to the next one
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews