What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Scrapper #13
Second Contact
With the threat of Twain defeated, something strange is happening at the edge of known space.
Ships are disappearing without a trace, and Hank's concerns are being dismissed as paranoia. But when an entire colony vanishes overnight, he knows he has to act. The problem is, no one wants to hear about a new threat so soon after the last war.
Working with his closest allies, Hank begins to uncover evidence of something far worse than Twain ever was. An alien force has been watching humanity for centuries, and now they're done just observing.
Can Hank survive long enough to find proof of this new threat?
Find out in Second Contact, the thrilling new entry in the Star Scrapper series from USA Today Bestselling Author J.N. Chaney and Matthew A. Goodwin.
Ships are disappearing without a trace, and Hank's concerns are being dismissed as paranoia. But when an entire colony vanishes overnight, he knows he has to act. The problem is, no one wants to hear about a new threat so soon after the last war.
Working with his closest allies, Hank begins to uncover evidence of something far worse than Twain ever was. An alien force has been watching humanity for centuries, and now they're done just observing.
Can Hank survive long enough to find proof of this new threat?
Find out in Second Contact, the thrilling new entry in the Star Scrapper series from USA Today Bestselling Author J.N. Chaney and Matthew A. Goodwin.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2025
196 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
J.N. Chaney
462 books9,612 followersIf you want to stay up to date on my releases, concept art, or speak to me directly - you should join my Facebook fan group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/67862...
We have discussions on everything from books, movies, shows, and all things scifi. Come join the conversation.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/67862...
We have discussions on everything from books, movies, shows, and all things scifi. Come join the conversation.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 19, 2025
What a ride!!
Really good book! I think I enjoyed this one more than most the previous ones I'm super excited to see what happens next. Definitely worth a read or if you got bored it definitely worth coming back to
Really good book! I think I enjoyed this one more than most the previous ones I'm super excited to see what happens next. Definitely worth a read or if you got bored it definitely worth coming back to
July 7, 2025
love this series!
So good!!! What’s happening with the new aliens is so creepy. Back to back engagements without any rest (physically and emotionally) is going to take its toll, eventually. Hank and crew are going to collapse if they don’t get relief soon.
So I’m used to writing raving reviews for this author(s) but, for the first time, I kind of have a couple of bones to pick. The first is the biggest. There are instances of items— character actions, (or in most cases, inaction in one way or another, atypical of their norm) in scenes that do not fit what would seem to be reasonable. They’re way too easy, too obvious, works well for the story but unfortunately it doesn’t really seem practical, nor what the team would normally do or have done in similar situations. I really don’t like it when scenes are written in this way. I’d much rather it progress as you’d expect and then twists thrown in to gain the author’s desired outcome. It simply is a fact that with a series this long and a writer who is great at character building, (like this author), we come to know the characters well and how they’ll they’ll react individually and as a group, so changing that up to fit an outcome doesn’t fit who you’ve made them to be. So whoever the author is utilizing as an editor (pro’s or beta readers, or both), they need to, at least, have someone who is good at: 1)really paying attention to the writing and not fall into the story, (which can be really hard to do when the writer(s) are great at storytelling,) and 2)willing to give honest, constructive feedback.
There’s also one other thing that bugged me in this particular book— the over usage of this phrase, “I couldn’t shake the feeling…” The author used it probably ~ 4 more than was appropriate. It seems like it popped up all the time. Perhaps just change up the wording a bit, “and there goes my gut again, something just doesn’t feel right about….” or “my body began reacting to the words he was saying, or maybe it was the way he paused in that weird way, but something about him was waving a red flag in my system,” “….but something was zinging my nerve endings, warning me.,“ or “the hair on my arm began standing up, something about his tone, or something…., just felt off,” or “my instincts began a subtle hum, then the next thing I know they’re screaming at me, telling me something isn’t right, doesn’t track.” I also don’t think you always have to directly link it to his instincts rather instead, simply noting the items his brain is cataloguing, and then adding his physical response versus stating about his instincts or gut, etc. I’m not a writer, but I think you get what I mean. 😉👍
Otherwise, the book was great as usual. I’m looking forward to the next, especially after the cliffhanger you set like a bomb.😱👍👍
So good!!! What’s happening with the new aliens is so creepy. Back to back engagements without any rest (physically and emotionally) is going to take its toll, eventually. Hank and crew are going to collapse if they don’t get relief soon.
So I’m used to writing raving reviews for this author(s) but, for the first time, I kind of have a couple of bones to pick. The first is the biggest. There are instances of items— character actions, (or in most cases, inaction in one way or another, atypical of their norm) in scenes that do not fit what would seem to be reasonable. They’re way too easy, too obvious, works well for the story but unfortunately it doesn’t really seem practical, nor what the team would normally do or have done in similar situations. I really don’t like it when scenes are written in this way. I’d much rather it progress as you’d expect and then twists thrown in to gain the author’s desired outcome. It simply is a fact that with a series this long and a writer who is great at character building, (like this author), we come to know the characters well and how they’ll they’ll react individually and as a group, so changing that up to fit an outcome doesn’t fit who you’ve made them to be. So whoever the author is utilizing as an editor (pro’s or beta readers, or both), they need to, at least, have someone who is good at: 1)really paying attention to the writing and not fall into the story, (which can be really hard to do when the writer(s) are great at storytelling,) and 2)willing to give honest, constructive feedback.
There’s also one other thing that bugged me in this particular book— the over usage of this phrase, “I couldn’t shake the feeling…” The author used it probably ~ 4 more than was appropriate. It seems like it popped up all the time. Perhaps just change up the wording a bit, “and there goes my gut again, something just doesn’t feel right about….” or “my body began reacting to the words he was saying, or maybe it was the way he paused in that weird way, but something about him was waving a red flag in my system,” “….but something was zinging my nerve endings, warning me.,“ or “the hair on my arm began standing up, something about his tone, or something…., just felt off,” or “my instincts began a subtle hum, then the next thing I know they’re screaming at me, telling me something isn’t right, doesn’t track.” I also don’t think you always have to directly link it to his instincts rather instead, simply noting the items his brain is cataloguing, and then adding his physical response versus stating about his instincts or gut, etc. I’m not a writer, but I think you get what I mean. 😉👍
Otherwise, the book was great as usual. I’m looking forward to the next, especially after the cliffhanger you set like a bomb.😱👍👍
August 11, 2025
book 13
Every book gets shorter because of the story recap . I guess after so many the story will become ALL recaps and just an Epilogue 😁 Ha
Every book gets shorter because of the story recap . I guess after so many the story will become ALL recaps and just an Epilogue 😁 Ha
October 12, 2025
A good story falls flat
The Star Scrapper series was never a masterpiece, but it was still pretty good. It was good enough for me to read 13 of these books back-to-back. But this is the last one for me. A big part of the appeal of this story is the world building. For it to be effective, it has to be consistent. For whatever reason, this installment felt like it was written by someone else who was only vaguely familiar with the story so far. Having come this far, it's incredibly frustrating to see well established mechanisms casually ignored or seemingly forgotten. It's tough reading about characters that you've come to know behaving oddly for no apparent reason. And while the plot armor and deus-ex-machina has always run a bit thick with this series, this time it's too much to ignore. The last book wasn't a horrible place to end the story. Maybe stop there.
The Star Scrapper series was never a masterpiece, but it was still pretty good. It was good enough for me to read 13 of these books back-to-back. But this is the last one for me. A big part of the appeal of this story is the world building. For it to be effective, it has to be consistent. For whatever reason, this installment felt like it was written by someone else who was only vaguely familiar with the story so far. Having come this far, it's incredibly frustrating to see well established mechanisms casually ignored or seemingly forgotten. It's tough reading about characters that you've come to know behaving oddly for no apparent reason. And while the plot armor and deus-ex-machina has always run a bit thick with this series, this time it's too much to ignore. The last book wasn't a horrible place to end the story. Maybe stop there.
August 27, 2025
Top Notch Science Fiction!
October 20, 2025
This is probably my least favourite of the the series so far, felt like it was lacking something. I still enjoyed it but it wasn't as good as the previous books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews