CROOKED V.3: A Sci-Fi Crime Anthology

Reliance Sinclair #.9 (On Ignition)

by Jessie Kwak

Introduction (Crooked V.3: A Science Fiction Crime Anthology) • essay by Jessie Kwak
Love of Mine • [Eurynome Code: Shadow Host] • novelette by K. Gorman
Rogue Negotiator • [Starhawke Rogue • 0.6] • short story by Audrey Sharpe
Second Breath • [Jupiter's Eye] • short story by Peter J. Foote
On Ignition • [Reliance Sinclair • 0.9] • novelette by Heather Texle
Mad Dog • [The Devil and the Dark] • novelette by R. M. Olson
The Old Ship Job • [Space Station Noir] • novelette by Arthur Mayor
Proof of Life • [Forgotten Fodder] • short story by MJ Blehart
Fool's Gold • [Nanshe Chronicles] • short story by Jessie Kwak
Ransomware • [Cadence Turing Mysteries] • short story by Robin Jeffrey
The Alshaita Uplift Job • [Maisiverse] • novelette by Mark Teppo

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Crime

300 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2024

About the author

Jessie Kwak has always lived in imaginary lands, from Arrakis and Ankh-Morpork to Earthsea, Tatooine, and now Portland, Oregon. As a writer, she sends readers on their own journeys to immersive worlds filled with fascinating characters, gunfights, explosions, and dinner parties. When she’s not raving about her latest favorite sci-fi series to her friends, she can be found sewing, mountain biking, or out exploring new worlds both at home and abroad.

She is the author of supernatural thriller From Earth and Bone, the Bulari Saga series of gangster sci-fi novels, and productivity guide From Chaos to Creativity. You can learn more about her at www.jessiekwak.com, or follow her on Twitter (@jkwak).

Reviews

[Barbara]

Most of the stories in this anthology were outstanding, with a couple that were so so and 1 stinker. Here are my thoughts on the stories:
Love of Mine by K. Gorman - Captain Soo-Jin Dokgo has met the woman she wants to marry, too bad things don’t always work out the way you think they will. I liked Soo-Jin, despite the way things went in this story, she seems to be a strong, resilient character and I’d like to see more of her. 5 Stars

Rogue Negotiator by Audrey Sharpe - An introductory short introducing Natasha Orlov and Isin. He had just signed on with the crew of the Sphinx as they go on a supply run. Isin shows his negotiating skills, while thoroughly irritating Natasha. If you haven’t read Rogue yet, another short story in the Starhawke Rogue series, I recommend it. 5 Stars

Second Breath by Peter J. Foote - An interesting look into a Martian settlement, where stealing O2 is a crime punishable by suffocation. The characters were likable and although what they do might be considered a crime, it is also the right thing to do. 4 Stars

On Ignition by Heather Texle - I’m glad I read this prequel story first and now I can’t wait to read On Impulse. Reliance Sinclair is a fascinating character, a former agent for the Department of Enforcement of Criminal Affairs, now working as an insurance claims officer. She’s smart, strong, tough, and determined. While investigating a series of claimants that had increased their insurance right before their homes burned down, she figures it all out, and solves the case. Reliance finally hears from Jarrett, her best friend, who messages her to meet him on his home world. She then rushes off and this brings us to the events in On Impulse. 5 Stars

Mad Dog by R.M. Olson - I really enjoyed this story of pirates who take on a new crew member, Mad Dog, and the job she’s hired to do isn’t what it’s made out to be. Several crew members that have been looking for a way out decide to take a chance on her and it pays off. I look forward to reading the series this story is a prequel of, The Devil and the Dark. 5 Stars

The Old Ship Job by Arthur Mayor - This one was a bit confusing, I couldn’t really relate to the aliens and the human wasn’t much better. It was narrated by two viewpoints, Clive the alien and Gunny the human. It was about a heist that went south, with another crew showing up, and the conclusion was pretty funny, which saved the story a bit. 3 Stars

Proof of Life by Mo Blehart - Feroz Jones must complete a heist and it all goes smoothly, which is nice for him but not at all exciting for me. There were a lot of details that didn’t really add anything to the story, and nothing much happened except a mission with absolutely no problems or excitement. A lot of the stories in this anthology make me eager to read more of that author, but unfortunately, not this one. 3 Stars

Fool’s Gold by Jessie Kwak - This author is a favorite and it was lovely to revisit well-loved characters as they help out a favorite restaurant/bar owner who is being harassed to sell to an unscrupulous restauranteur. I love the way they work together to fool, scam and get the best of the bad guy with such finesse and artistry. 5 Stars

Ransomware by Robin Jeffrey - A teenager is held for ransom and Cadence insists Chance help her rescue him and stop the bad guys threatening the boy's father. I liked the two main characters but didn’t learn a lot about them in this short story. 4 Stars

The Alshaita Uplift Job by Mark Teppo - I’m sorry I even bothered to read this snippet of a story. The author left a message at the end with "…oh, look! A place to sign up for his mailing list, where he’s got the exciting conclusion to The Alshaita Uplift Job.” Even if I was interested in the conclusion, I won’t be coerced into signing up for a mailing list to get it. This was a mishmash of a story, with lots of confusing slang, characters that did nothing for me, and then it went nowhere. It’s too bad this brought the whole anthology down, what a waste! 1 Star

[Riju Ganguly]

Out of the ten tales here, four were near-complete misses. They were wordy and overlong, without going anywhere particular. But the remaining six were very good, if not excellent. They were~
1. K. Gorman's "Love of Mine";
2. Peter J. Foote's "Second Breath";
3. Heather Texle's " On Ignition";
4. R.M. Olson's "Mad Dog";
5. Jessie Kwak's "Fool's Gold";
6. Robin Jeffrey's "Ransomware".
Thanks to these tales, my overall experience with this book was 'Good'.
What about you?

[Bruce]

I like anthologies of short stories by different authors. They give one a place to stop at night so you can get some sleep. They also introduce you to authors you may or may not want to continue reading. The ten stories in this volume deal with crime in one way or another. K. Gorman's 'Love of Mine' has a woman run salvage team going after an illegal salvage with romantic intrigue added. 'Rogue Negotiator' by Audrey Sharpe introduces Natasha Orlov in such a way as to entice one to readthe series. Peter J. Foote's 'Second Breath' has a Mars theft occurring for a good cause. Heather Texle puts insurance fraud in the forefront with Reliance Sinclair an insurance investigator checking out suspicious fires. The story encourages one to start the series. 'Mad Dog' by R.M. Olson has one crook conniving to turn another crook over to authorities. Sometimes a crime can be turned to some good while it is being committed in the Space Station Noir story the The Old Ship Job' by Arthur Mayor. MJ Blehart introduces a special agent and political intrigue in 'Proof of LIfe'. Reminding one of the TV show 'Leverage' Jessie Kwak has a spaceship crew helping a friend who owns a bar get out of a sticky situation, part of the Nashe Chronicles series I want to read more. Robin Jeffrey paints a noir episode in 'Ransomeware' where thugs pick the wrong person to fleece because he has a friend, Cadence Turing, who can help, another series to add to my to read list, 'The Alshita Uplift Job' by Mark Teppo has a religious/penal facility as a plot device but with an interesting ending. BTW each short story ends with links to other works by the author of the story,

[OldBird]

2.5 stars, rounded up.

Anthologies are always hard to rate overall, and this one was no exception for me. I found I didn't enjoy or understand a few of the short stories, and maybe would have had I already been familiar with the series they related to. My favorites were ones that it didn't matter if/how long ago I'd read the authors' work.

I bought this anthology purely for Heather Texle's short prequel to her Reliance Sinclair series, On Ignition. Being familiar with the series, this was the one I enjoyed the most (and that's without adding that Texle writes a very good gritty space-crime caper).

Big shout out for Fool’s Gold by Jessie Kwak being another author I've read before and enjoyed, though this story has so many of the Nanshe crew involved I think it'd go best being read alongside the series to refresh the memory. I intend to come back to it when I start that marathon read through.

As for the others, I enjoyed Love of Mine by K. Gorman and Mad Dog by R.M. Olson as I didn't feel I was missing anything about the characters or world by not having known about their related series.

An interesting selection of oddball space shenanigans, great for current fans of the authors and their series.

[Ron]

Are you looking for a taste of crime set in a science fiction setting? Then step into this volume and snack on these 11 stories that cover both side - criminal planning a heist or "good guys" preventing a crime. Or maybe it is criminals preventing a worse crime. Sometimes it hard to tell since everything seems tinged in gray. I learned about this volume from a mention by R. M. Olson (her story was interesting) and then of course I devoured the whole volume. And I like the suggestions of other stories that would be similar to the tale you had just read. Will be borrowing the first 2 volumes from local library - Thanks Hoopla!

[Amanda]

VA - Crooked 3 - Crooked v 3 • A Science Fiction Crime Anthology (2024)

Intro by Jessie Kwak
Love of Mine by K. Gorman - Shadow Host
Rogue Negotiator • Prequel [Natasha Orlov] by Audrey Sharpe - Starhawke Rogue 0.6
Second Breath by Peter J. Foote - Jupiter's Eye
On Ignition by Heather Texle - Reliance Sinclair Space Opera 0.9
Mad Dog by RM Olson - The Devil & the Dark
The Old Ship Job by Arthur Mayor - Space Station Noir
Proof of Life by MJ Blehart - Forgotten Fodder
Fool's Gold by Jessie Kwak - Nanshe Chronicles
Ransomware Robin Jeffrey - Cadence Turing Mystery
The Alshaita Uplift Job by Mark Teppo - Maisiverse

[MJ Blehart]

Diverse sci-fi

As an author in this anthology I'm biased. But I can still assure you that this is a collection of fun sci-fi crime stories you should not miss.

[Bill]

A great anthology of sci fi crime stories. good variety.

[Liza]

This is volume 3 of (so far) 3 collections of sci-fi short stories - 10 stories of about 25 pages each. I liked the range of known and unknown authors.

[Maria]

I am not usually a short story reader, but I was very glad I received an ARC of this book, without obligation, this is my voluntary review. As must be expected some of these stories resonated more than others, my personal favourite was Jessie Kwak's, it was like catching up with old friends! But all of them were worth reading. I tried but had a hard time following the crooked path, and found it a challenge to figure what what I'd read so I opted to read them in the order they are listed in the contents... I know, boring!! I colour inside the lines too LOL A fun book to pick up when you don't have a lot of time to get involved in a book, but want high quality inventive sci fi from some excellent authors.