Black Hole Guns For Hire

by Friday Strout

The empire made them soldiers. The void made them rebels.

Lina Bho captains a beat-up transport at the galaxy's ragged edge, running aid missions with veterans who'd rather fight than follow orders. She left the United Earth Marines behind, with its politics, its prejudice, and the boot she wore too long. Her Chief, Zuri Josmith, keeps the platoon sharp and the Captain honest. She's also the only woman who's ever made Lina want to take orders.

A black hole is swallowing their star system. No one is coming.

When Lina discovers the United Earth deliberately stranded nine billion people to wipe out a rebel stronghold, she turns her crew against the government that raised them. Pirates stalk her vessel; alien predators nest in her cargo hold; and her hired guns look to her for a plan she hasn't finished writing.

They'll fight their way out or die as the Black Hole Guns.

A jump-capable freighter at the sector's edge is their only ride out. Between Lina and escape sits a pirate captain with a personal vendetta, alien cyborg predators, and her own unraveling mind. Zuri can hold her together or hold the crew together. She can't do both.

This sapphic military sci-fi features a found family crew, morally gray characters, and a second chance romance with power exchange. It contains graphic violence, explicit language, and adult content.

Cover art by Felix Tindall.

Genres: Science Fiction

261 pages, ebook

Published June 2, 2026

Reviews

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say about Black Hole Guns for Hire? My favorite character was not in fact an alien with four breasts, but an idiot man from Texas who's a little bit sexist, gotten into trouble one time too many, and somehow has stumbled into becoming the next in line for the Lieutenant position. How can someone who is constantly on the lookout for who has the best ass, set of breasts, and is consistently turned on by being yelled at secretly have a little softy heart in there? I can't wait to hear more from the man who turns into a slack-jawed fool at the sight of basically any woman, regardless of previous history or even species.

Not to say that I didn't enjoy Zuri and Lina's characters as well. Lina is a complex mix of wanting to be good enough to deserve anything and Zuri is the one that always seems to be steadying things around The Galley.

Often times I put the book down and came back expecting to turn on a television show/movie and "watch" the rest of it. Descriptions were done in such a way I could see The Galley and the characters on board vividly and "watch" scenes play out cinematically in my head.

I loved the balance of character-based writing along with the technical aspects of having, directing, and maintaining a crew with a militaristic precision. I would love to learn more about the various xenos, the history between Earth and the humans now in space, and all of the other bits that make up this story. My only complaints fall in the area of formatting, and that the story sections seem to jump around a bit, sometimes for reasons I couldn't fully make a connection to regarding current-happening sections coming thereafter. But none of this stopped me from fully enjoying this debut author's novella.

Looking forward to the next one!

[Sha]

A sci-fi thriller with never a dull moment. You either get steam or action, no long inner monologues and philosophical debates. This could easily be a movie. It is fast and it is realistic. There is some romance but no HEA. I am guessing the HEA will be at the end of teh sequel.

The (wonderful) characters are gritty and real, they feel authentic. The fighting sequences also feel real. The writing is thin, spartan, almost skimpy… but in the best way possible - details are given when they are important, when they contribute something. This style impacts the whole atmosphere in the spaceship. There is an air of efficiency, just like a well trained army unit. I love it when form meets content and here we have it through the writing style. Well done!

Now don't get me wrong, there is richness of details in the descriptions of scenery and views, but the actions and the feelings are described thinly, almost dry, it feels like no-nonsense moments within the plot, just as they should be.

I enjoyed this style because it delivers everything in an accurate manner without "decoration". It alsmost feels like there's no room (space AND time) to elaborate. In a crowded spaceship that goes from one doom to another, it just fits the bill so well.

Kudos for a diverse representation of multiple queer characters, both main and side. Respectful and authentic. Loved it.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Selma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel a lot. The characters were vibrant and life-like. I really felt like the space adventure setting mixed with elements of sci-fi kept my interest throughout the entire book, and so there didn't seem to be a dull moment in the novel. I liked the interactions between the two main characters and especially liked their dynamic coming through small moments in their interactions rather than simply through stated dialogue or more obvious characterization.

Disclaimer:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Tim McCanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

What a great, fun ride! Lots of action and hidden depths of character. Favorite book this year. Highly recommend reading it!

[Trudie Skies · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my efforts to read more queer fiction AND more sci-fi, Black Hole Guns For Hire by Friday Strout arrived just at the right time for me. Described as Aliens but with lesbian space marines, this is the story of Lina Bho, captain of The Galley: a collection of ex-Government soldiers and mercs doing cargo runs across a sector of space rife with pirates. In fact, the story begins with an ass-kicking as The Gallery is taken over by pirates and the crew fight to get it back.

The real problems begin, however, when they discover a black hole in their neighbourhood that’s devouring everything in its path that the Government didn’t tell anyone about, because coincidentally, it happens to be the neighbourhood of the Anti-Federalist Alliance rebels too. No one is coming to help Lina and her crew, which means they need a plan to get out of that system fast. Oh, and the pirates are on their tail and attempting to re-capture their ship. If that’s not enough problems, someone smuggled a xeno creature on board too.

All in all, Lina is under a lot of pressure to save the crew she’s come to think of as family, including her Chief and past fling, Zuri Josmith. She has a daring, if impossibly difficult plan in place. The story then switches between Lina and Zuri’s POV’s as they prepare their ship and crew, and also the third POV of Tyson Connor, head of the Guns, who represents your typical meathead space marine bro. We meet the other crew members, and there’s a lot of comradery and banter between them, and a found family vibe. In fact, their interactions were one of my favourite parts of this book. Black Hole Guns For Hire is undoubtedly a sci-fi military story. I have to be honest, I normally don’t get on well with military fantasy because I don’t care for battle tactics and soldiers doing soldier things, but it worked for me here. The dialogue and military lingo all felt authentic and worked at building the culture of the ship and crew. It really captured that gritty 90’s sci-fi movie dynamic and made me feel like I was there on board The Galley.

Of course, I’d call this a progressive 90’s sci-fi movie, as our main character Lina is trans femme and falling for her lesbian Chief. I especially appreciated the scenes where Lina talks about her transition and how that affected her military career. The story takes us through flashbacks to establish their relationship, and then later we have some adult scenes that definitely wouldn’t look out of place in a 90’s sci-fi flick. This is gritty military action in space, however, so there’s no real soppy moments but it definitely feels raw.

Black Hole Guns For Hire is a shorter novel that I think could have benefited from more page time. Around the half way point, the crew visit an abandoned space station and some horror elements kick in, which I would have loved to see more of. With the comparison to Alien, I was expecting more horror and more clashes with xenomorphs, though there’s definitely enough action. The ending for me also felt a little abrupt and seems to be setting up the sequel, so I’m hoping these plot threads get resolved then.

Final Words: Black Hole Guns For Hire is for those who love 90’s pulp gritty military sci-fi, but want it queer.

(ARC received from author for an honest review)

[jayden abel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Possible Spoilers*

Black Hole Guns for Hire is like a queer reboot of Star Wars. The planets are identified by some strings of numbers, and the crew thrives on gunning down enemies. Unfortunately, also like the 1970s scifi hit, the characters lack personality in exchange for a punchy plot. I can’t believe my favorite character was an alien with two sets of boobs.

The book flip flops between three characters: Captain Lina Bho, Chief Zuri Josmith, and Sergeant Tyson Conner. I didn’t really understand their hierarchy. Obviously there are levels of promotion and demotion, but they were never clearly explained. I never garnered sympathy for Lina’s cause. Apparently she’s part of a rebel group bent on taking down fascist Earth dwellers, at least that’s what I think the United Earth (UE) is. The dystopian universe isn’t explained. I know that she got kicked out of the UE’s ranks for being trans, but that’s all I know about her. Oh, and I know that she likes getting her cock sucked by Zuri. She’s fine taking prisoners, killing people, and making shady deals. What makes her cause more honorable than the alleged fascists on Earth? I don’t know what she’s fighting for.

Zuri/Jo (she goes by both names, it’s never consistent) and Conner are kind of just there. I liked them enough, although my interest lessened as they spent the book just sexualizing everyone aboard the space ship. My favorite character was an alien named Andromeda. The crew finds her in a ravaged lab, having been an experimented-on specimen for decades. She can telepathically communicate with humans and other aliens. A refugee of sorts, she agrees to help Lina & co. track down ships with her alien abilities. Andromeda singlehandedly has a more interesting backstory than the three main characters combined.

The world itself has potential, if scifi is your thing. It has the same basic layout as every Star Wars movie. “Good” guys vs. “bad” guys engaging in political warfare with a space backdrop. I was genuinely curious about the UE. A lot of Lina’s crew are defectors, having been disillusioned by Earth’s society. I just don’t know why, other than the transphobia. Also there was a lot of referring to people as cunts, pussies, and bitches; I don't know why. If you’re interested in a trans queer twist on classic scifi, this will probably be a gold mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will be posting this on Goodreads, and/or Tiktok and Instagram in early May.

[Dani Finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the author, which did not influence my rating or my review.

TLDR: Alien: Resurrection for Sigourney/Winona shippers

This gritty sci-fi epic is action-packed and introspective, not to mention queer af. Two of the leads are lesbians, one of them trans, with romance in their past--and possibly in their future. The third lead is your average cis male grunt who's about to learn a whole lot about himself (no, this is not an eggfic). They face space pirates and xenomorphs as they fight to escape a growing black hole, and maybe save a few billion lives in the process.

It's a military sci-fi with great action scenes and character work. The plot is complex, with multiple threads interweaving: space pirates, exploring an abandoned space station, escaping the black hole, dealing with xenomorphs, and then there's the romance! Though it was longer than my usual read, I enjoyed it throughout and the pace seldom lagged.

My favorite bits were on the abandoned space station, which is a lot of space horror with long-dead bodies and lab mysteries and xenomorphs to contend with. There's even a special xenomorph I can't tell you about for spoiler reasons; one of my favorite xeno characters anywhere!

The ongoing battle against space pirates was solid; the black hole plot stayed in the background for much of the book (though I'm sure there's more going on than I realize, since this is just the first book). I liked the romance, which intersected with the dangerous bits in enjoyable ways. I might wish for more balance in the multiple plot threads, as I enjoyed some more than others, but ymmv.

My main issue was with the cis male character, Tyson, who spends a lot of time leering at the hot women he works with. It's not unrealistic--he's a typical space marine, a grunt, a very believable character. For all his flaws, he's cool with his trans colleague and shows some growth when he meets the mystery xeno. It was just hard spending that much time in his head, hearing his thoughts, which came across as objectifying and misogynistic at times. Nothing wrong with depicting the character this way, but in a book with lesbian characters in a romance front and center, it was a bit jarring.

If you like the Alien franchise but wish it were queerer, you'll love Black Hole Guns for Hire.

[AJ Sneed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Hole Guns For Hire is a wild, adrenaline-fueled ride that hooks you from the very first page. If you are a fan of "ragtag crew" space operas with a heavy dose of anti-authoritarian grit, this book is going to be right up your alley.

What I Loved
The Chaotic Energy: The world-building here is fantastically high-stakes. Strout puts the crew in a pressure cooker—trapped between a literal encroaching black hole, ruthless space pirates, and alien cyborg predators. The action is fast-paced, relentless, and endlessly entertaining.

The Found-Family & Romance: For all the boots-on-the-ground sci-fi chaos, the book’s true anchor is its heart. The LGBTQ+ representation is handled beautifully. I absolutely loved the dynamic of the crew, the morally gray characters, and the second-chance romance between Captain Lina Bho and Jo. It gives the explosive plot a necessary, grounded emotional weight.

Where It Stumbled A Bit
While I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, there were two structural choices that kept it from being a perfect five-star read for me:

The Jumping Timeline: The narrative structure can be a bit disorienting. The story frequently bounces back and forth between past and present events, which occasionally made it difficult to keep track of the chronological timeline.

POV Whiplash: The book shifts perspectives between multiple crew members quite often. While this does a great job of fleshing out the found-family dynamic, it requires a lot of focus from the reader to keep everyone's voice straight, especially when the main focus should be on Lina and Jo.

The Verdict
Despite a slightly chaotic execution, Black Hole Guns For Hire delivers everything you want in a modern military sci-fi adventure: great action, deep representation, and a crew you can't help but root for. Definite recommendation for space opera fans!

[Holly Taggart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that Black Hole Guns for Hire really did give me a different perspective, and I'm happy to recommend it - for certain readers.

I was immediately smitten with the cover. It just screamed adventure, with a smidge of irreverence! If you are curious about the cover art (I was) it was "made with Reedsy, a Designer based in New Zealand."

In short this story encompasses all sorts of current issues within an exciting space adventure. Lina Bho is captain of a Space Transport Junker. After retiring herself from the United Earth Marines, she's completing her transition with a rough and ready crew at the edges of the universe. Things start out rough for Lina and crew, and only get rougher as the story evolves. They are stalked by pirates and aliens as they realize that the United Earth has stranded billions of people to control a rebel stronghold. Lina and her tight knit crew have only one chance, and a slim chance at that- to survive this. If you, like me, have to know what happens in this fast moving, lit-rpg type novel, you'll have to read to find out!

For me this novel did read a bit rough and ragged around the edges. I loved the diverse representation within the novel that was natural and not didactic or weird. I also enjoyed all the space battles, movements and machinations of the ships, and crew. I was less fond of the very stridently masculine tone of the novel, but that was possibly a "me" thing that may not affect other readers. Definitely a book to recommend for the Trans-rights readathon which occurs every March. I wouldn't wait til March to pick it up though, it comes out May 28th and I know it's one that will surprise and broaden reader's horizons!

[Patrick McCuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I appreciate most about this lovely quick read scifi book was its action, pacing, characters, and plot, in that order.

Everything that happens is neat and fast - by analogy, it reminds me of how hummingbirds move in space. And there was a lot of movement in space, like outer space, in this book.

Pacing wise, there is a nice interlace between present and past, with a handful of crucial flashbacks to hold the plot and characters in place, like a scaffold. I appreciated the exactitude, like it was built from blueprints.

The characters are lively and fun, even the distasteful ones, each in their own different way. The main characters are not cardboard, though some of the more minor characters are possibly slightly underdeveloped. I suppose not everyone can have all the screentime they deserve, though. Maybe in the next book!

Last, the plot was believable and fun to follow, with a certain level of twistiness but still straightforward enough that I was never confused about what was happening or terribly surprised when evens unfolded beyond the characters' anticipations, as they should.

Overall 5/5 and I'm looking forward to more from this author in the future. Hopefully with more from some of these endearing characters, too.

[Cameron Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action, sweat, queer yearning, the danger of never making it home, and the things you're willing to risk making it anyways. These all mix together with a dash of 'Aliens' level sexual tension to make for one hell of a ride.

Captain Lina, of spaceship 'The Galley', is the type of girl whose scars show just how far she's had to push herself to become who she is today, seconded only by the absolute beef cake of a chief, Zuri. They run a tight ship in a political hellscape where there is no right answer, and the wrong move could get one blown to smithereens or eaten by alien xenos that would give any 'Starship Troopers' fan a run for their money. All of this mounts as the pressure of command clashes with the demands of the heart in those trained to act to ignore such things.

Fans of sapphic romance, sci-fi military action, and spice, rejoice, for 'Black Hole Guns For Hire' is a tall glass that goes down smooth and will leave you thirsting for more.

[Eleanor Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review contains some spoilers.

Black Hole Guns for Hire is a queer scifi military romp set on the backdrop of a ticking black-hole-shaped clock. The latter part of this conceit is quite fun—the idea that everything's going down the drain and the longer you linger, the harder it will be to get out of there.

The tone is decidedly smutty (positive, affectionate) in places, especially where two of the three protagonists are concerned. There's a good sense of tension in their relationship, balancing their stations and decorum with their desires. The third protagonist was entertaining insofar as it's fun to watch a dog try to fit an entire dinner plate in its mouth—he fumbles enjoyably, is what I mean.

The xeno side character was the most interesting hook in the story, and I would've liked to see more of her. I hope she plays a more prominent role in future entries.

Overall, an entertaining way to spend a few evenings!

[Henriette · Rating 3 out of 5]

gritty, queer military scifi
I love me some gritty military scifi esp. with strong female / lesbian characters. So I took a chance on this debut (#1 of the Black Hole series). Strout has a talent to write realistic, gritty fighting scenes and to deliver on the real life of grunts. I very much enjoyed those passages and there were many!
The plot though needs working on - more than once I scratched my head, huh? Same with pacing and backflashs. Maybe a good editor or a not-so-nice beta-reader would have picked up on the idiosyncrasy of naming, second-naming, third-naming the same character in one chapter, sometimes on the same page. That was difficult to follow (e.g. Zuri, Jo, chief, advisor) and felt sometimes like head- or POV-hopping.
Hope the author works on those issues because his detailed military writing really is outstanding.

I received an ARC. The review is left voluntarily.

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Hole Guns for hire is a fun read especially if you like sci-fi. There is plenty of action but the characters feel a little shallow and I felt the book would benefit from being longer. I wasn’t too attached to the characters because I felt the action was given more attention. I stayed intrigued the whole book but would have liked more character background and development.

Lina and Zuri are both badasses so I wish I could have been interested in them more. The sexual chemistry was there but I didn’t feel as strongly about their relationship. I would have appreciated more flashbacks or time with them not in peril to see their actual feelings.

The male POV was an odd choice in my opinion but I presume it’ll be more evident in future books. I did love Andromeda so once she came around it made Tyson’s sections a little more palatable.

This book is great for rep so thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this ebook.

[Jennifer Cuellar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy ahead of publication and it did not influence my review.

If you loved the crew dynamic in Aliens, this book was made for you.

Take one ragtag mercenary crew, add a captain who leads through sheer force of will (without being a Mary Sue), a soldier culture with people running their mouths (like I presume real mercs would do), finish with a slow burn between two women and you have this book (against a large universe with complicated politics).

The prose is punchy and it's obvious the author's been writing for a while.

I could write more but I didn't want to give away any plot points. All around a great read (especially if you're into the 'Is this gonna be another bug hunt.... SIR????' mentality.

[Sue Plant · Rating 4 out of 5]

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

i took is as a spoof of star trek at first but its a bit more than that and gritty.....

i slightly got confused with the captain and her chief as they kept using different names each time but i think i got the gist of the storyline...

same thing different people out to exploit everything and take control with two factions fighting between them...

i sort of understood what i was reading and i did enjoy some of the characters if i felt a bit lost most of the time

but its not a bad read if you are into sci fi

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read with a lot of world building and setting the scene.
The dates the chapters are in was a bit difficult for me to keep track of in the beginning because they were dated based on the events in the book. We get introduced to a lot of characters quickly and that doesn’t helped with understanding either. On top of that most these characters also have nicknames and ranks, confusing to my tired little brain.

Once my head was firmly wrapped around the before mentioned and the scene was set,I could finally enjoy the story. It was an entertaining sci-fi read.

Find a bit of focus to get ingooit and enjoy!

[Maria S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black Hole Guns For Hire was a bit chaotic for me, jumping to the past events then back to present, I got confused at some point what is now and what was in the past. However the book is good, full of action with well developed world. Lina is a transfemme captain of a spaceship that got between the devil and the deep blue sea... pirates and a black hole threatening to kill them all. Lina falls for Jo, a muscular masc lesbian who's also Lina's Chief assistant (and a fling from past times). The storyline follows the POV of different crew members while the main characters remain Jo and Lina.

[Josh Stott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The strongest feeling I had while reading the book was that this was a really throw back to pulpy 90's scifi but without the violent misogony and homophobia you'd expect from that kind of book.

I appreciated just how hard hitting the action sequences were as well, they had real impact and a visceral nature to them.

[Roy Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 stars
Good characters and great story, I look forward to reading more in this series.
Black holes, pirates, mercenaries (guns) for hire and some romance too.
Content Warning:
There is consensual rough sex described several times. I recommend just skipping/skimming those sections if that isn't your cup of tea.

[Elias Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A saucy dive into the stars. Right from the beginning laced with enough tension to sink your teeth into.

[Stephieloohoo]

DNF

This book is not for me.

[Friday Strout]

I wrote this book as a fun side project during a break from my day job as a game writer. I wanted to return to what I grew up reading: 1990s scifi and fantasy series where the action had me turning pages. Looking back on the book, I definitely feel as though there are things I could have done better (and will in Book 2 of the series), but I hope you enjoy it for what it is.

The reviews and reader feedback have meant a lot to me. Thanks for taking the time to read my debut.