Sixteenth Watch

by Myke Cole, Mia Barron (Narrator)

A lifelong Search-and-Rescuewoman, Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver is ready for a peaceful retirement. But when tragedy strikes and Oliver loses her husband and her plans for the future, she finds herself thrust into a role she’s not prepared for. Suddenly at the helm of the Coast Guard’s elite SAR-1 lunar unit, Oliver is the only woman who can prevent the first lunar war in history, a conflict that will surely consume not only the Moon, but Earth as well.

Length: 12 hours and 37 minutes

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Military Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Military Science Fiction, Fantasy

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published March 10, 2020

About the author

As a security contractor, government civilian and military officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from Counterterrorism to Cyber Warfare to Federal Law Enforcement. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. After hunting terrorists and criminals in real life, he kept up the job on TV, first tracking fugitives on CBS’ 2017 show Hunted, and UFOs on Discovery Channel’s 2019 show Contact.

All that conflict can wear a guy out. Thank goodness for fantasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dungeons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.

Reviews

[Christine Sandquist · Rating 1 out of 5]

UPDATE: In light of new information regarding Myke Cole, I can no longer endorse any of his work, including Sixteenth Watch. While at the time I enjoyed this book thoroughly, in retrospect, it has proven to be a shitty piece of false, performative "feminism." Many women and nonbinary individuals within the writing community have come forward sharing their stories as to how Myke abused them. Some of their stories are below. I recommend clicking through for the full context. 

https://twitter.com/ohcararara/status...

https://twitter.com/jaymgates/status/...

https://twitter.com/katewelchhhh/stat...

My original review is preserved below, for posterity. I no longer stand by my statements. I am extremely disappointed in Myke for having contributed to the toxic culture surrounding cons and the writing community as a whole. 

This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.

“The top story tonight – military sports continue to dominate ratings for the twentieth straight week, with the Army’s World’s Best Ranger Competition capturing over 100 million viewers in the coveted prime time slot. Even bigger is this year’s Boarding Action, which pits space-based crews in a simulated boarding of a hostile vessel in zero-gravity. The highest rated civilian sport is still the American NFL, but it doesn’t even come close, with less than fifty percent of military sports’ audience share in that coveted 18-39 demographic. It truly looks like the new age of military training competitions as a civilian spectator sport is here to stay.”

I’ll be honest: up until now, I’ve rarely, if ever, given the Coast Guard much consideration. They’re just the guys who go out and rescue stranded boats every now and then, right? Perhaps they check up on fishing licences? They… just sort of exist? Are they even in the military or are they a state militia sort of thing? Well, Myke Cole has thoroughly shamed me for having given them so little credit - and thoroughly entertained me in the process, to boot! I walked away from this book with a whole new appreciation for our sailors in the Coast Guard.

Jane Oliver is a captain in the Coast Guard, stationed on the Moon. Her task is to secure and border and ensure peaceful relations between the USA and China on the Moon even as competing economic relationships cause tensions between the two countries to rise. Her husband is in the Navy, working in a similar capacity. When they find themselves working together on the same engagement, Oliver’s life is forever altered when her husband is killed in action. Following this, Oliver is put out to roost training new coasties back on Earth and on the water rather than in space. That’s the general background, which seems straightforward enough when you first start out. However, what the synopsis of this book fails to tell you is that this is set in a future where military SPACE SPORTS (caps are necessary here) are the Next Big Thing. 

Yes, you heard me. SPACE SPORTS. Sports! In space! With the military! I was absolutely delighted to make this discovery, and it livened up the whole novel for me. This is bigger than the NFL now. Essentially, the different branches of the military compete against one another (in space!) to see who can do the best, most successful, and most dramatic boarding exercise against another ship. It’s great. I loved it. I need more space sports. 

Oliver, of course, is brought out of retirement to lead the coasties’ finest into the fray. She’s the best damn teacher they’ve got, and unfortunately this group truly needs some help. All of them, Oliver included, are still shaken by the same horrific engagement that took Oliver’s husband and several of Oliver’s own crew. They’re shadowed by the memories of those they’ve lost, and struggle to understand that living up to their legacy doesn’t mean they have to become them. Although they’re all excellent individuals, they need Oliver’s help to come together as a team. 

“What do you want me to teach these guys to do?”

“We need you to get them in shape for this year’s Boarding Action. Commandant thinks if we win, it’ll give us the hand we need. It’s a major media event, watched by millions of Americans. If we win it, that’ll give us the leverage we need to stay on, and if we stay on, we can keep the Navy from turning quarantine-runners into a pretext for war. SPACETACLET came close last year…”

Oliver blinked. “We’re going to stop a war… by winning a game show?”

The stakes are high. The Navy and the Coast Guard have been butting heads over who controls the borders on the Moon, and one misstep will almost certainly mean kicking off another World War. The Navy is gregarious, adversarial, and brutish; the Coast Guard leadership’s greatest fear is that they will kick off hostilities. The admiral backed himself into a corner during a cabinet meeting - whoever wins the space sports tournament will be considered the most suitable to control the Moon’s borders. 

“The Navy has proven, for four years running now, in the highest-pressure and most public forum available, that we are the best equipped, the best trained, the overall best at boarding actions on the 16th Watch.”

Zhukov sputtered, his military bearing slipping. “You can’t be serious. That’s a game show!”

Donahugh looked at the senators now, still speaking to Zhukov. “If it’s just a game show, admiral, why can’t you win?” 

The two most consistent themes throughout the novel were teamwork and deescalation. It was a pleasure and a joy to read military scifi that wasn’t focused on the more “macho” side of militarism; the emphasis on finding ways to take a high-energy situation and deescalate it into something diplomacy could handle was a fresh, engaging departure from the typical. Oliver has to push her team to become a cohesive whole such that they’re able to take control away from the Navy and other powers that be. 

In some ways, Sixteenth Watch can be reduced to an incredibly specific wish-fulfillment fantasy. For some people, this may not work. For me, it clicked . I was right there with Cole, who himself served in the Coast Guard. The engaging, humorous cast pulled this book together into a cohesive whole. Oliver and her XO constantly quipping at one another, Pervez’s constant antics and rebellion towards authority… I laughed aloud, repeatedly, and caught myself smiling even more. Military sci-fi sometimes gets caught in the logistics, hanging itself out to dry. Cole’s writing does this opposite - these characters are warm, comfortable, and human. Their constant struggle in the face of long odds kept me on my toes because I cared about them.

“Ma’am, with respect…”

“Nothing after the words ‘with respect’ is ever entirely respectful, Wen.”

“With respect,” Ho carefully enunciated each word as he stood, walking to her keyboard. “It’s possible you’re being a little paranoid here. You’re the one who insisted on this school in the first place.”

“With no damn respect, I’m around a hundred years older than you and I have been at this game for my entire life. I am not misreading the situation here.”

Ho clicked the mouse to open the email. “Well, you’re right. You passed.”

Oliver gave an exasperated sigh. “I told you I was smart.”

“No, ma’am,” Ho said, “you told me you were old.”

Although there is a lot of military jargon interspersed throughout the book, I did not find this to be a problem. Cole includes a glossary, but let’s be honest here: I, personally, am far too lazy to use it (whoops). I was easily able to suss out the meanings of each of the phrases and acronyms based on their context, and when I couldn’t, they weren’t really important anyway. The key pieces of the story are clear without having to do any extra look-ups or research, though you may find an additional layer to the book if you do so. Anyone who has served in the military will likely have no difficulty whatsoever. 

If you’ve ever been on the fence about military scifi as a subgenre, Myke Cole may be the right author to help tip you over to the dark side. He’s got characters you’ll love, a fun, light writing style, and a completely fresh take on the subgenre. I can’t recommend this book enough.

This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

Military science fiction is my absolute favorite genre to read because it has the ability to fully take me away as a reader. Not only can I lose myself in a place so different than the one I’m in, I can often feel myself there amidst all the non-stop action. Plus, I like all the explosions.

From the get-go Sixteenth Watch starts out with a bang, the action already in full swing upon the surface of the Moon. Even though the Moon was supposed to be a new start for humanity, it didn’t exactly pan out that way. We are humans after all. It is supposed to be a neutral zone, but where there’s money to be made you can be sure that everyone completely ignores those rules.

One of the aspects I found most fascinating about this story was the positioning of the Coast Guard admist all this. Their main objectives are to de-escalate and protect boundaries so it stands to reason that their mission statement is perfect for protecting Americans on the moon. I felt a little silly when this was discussed in the book because OF COURSE they would be the ones best suited for this.

Bearing that in mind, you’d think the Coasties would have more power on the moon to handle the constant tensions, but nope, the big guns keep stealing the show. With the Coast Guard facing being made completely irrelevant on the moon at the cost of countless lives, it is up to our formidable main character Captain Jane Oliver to try to set things right. She is brought out of near retirement to push the Coast Guard to the forefront by ensuring their team comes in first on a televised military game show. Yep, you heard me right.

Forget the Super Bowl. The biggest athletic event out there is a yearly boarding action competition among the military and law enforcement branches in space. Millions of people watch each year and whoever comes out on top ends up being utterly revered back home on Earth. That reverence is more than just a trophy as it ultimately gives the winners a lot more power on the lunar stage. Win the game, save the world.

Oliver blinked. “We’re going to stop a war… by winning a game show?”

It’s not just incredible action sequences or zero gravity training montages, though. Myke Cole has written a fully rounded out novel packed with compelling characters, honest and raw emotions, and a camaraderie that felt truly genuine. I really connected with the characters and there were so many bad-ass women out there, too! I’d love to find out more about them all, especially those we were only briefly introduced to from the Marine Corps and the Navy.

Final Thoughts

I’ve noticed some reviewers mention that the use of military jargon and acronyms without explanations was a little difficult to cope with. Personally I agree with the author’s choice of not explaining each term as they came up so as to keep the narrative’s flow going. Most of the terms were easy enough to decipher through context but there’s a glossary at the back and lordy am I sucker for a good glossary. So never fear readers, with your glossary in hand you’ll soon be fluent in lunar military speak.

If Sixteenth Watch ends up being a standalone I’m happy with how the story ended. However, it has definitely left itself open to further installments and I am 100% here for it if there are sequels. I’m really hoping there will be more, but for now this book has easily won itself a spot atop my “favorites” shelf. It was released earlier this week so if you haven’t already bought a copy, what are you waiting for? Like, seriously, stop reading this and go buy a copy right now!

Read my full review on my blog!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Angry Robot for the ARC of this one.

I’ve read a lot of Myke Cole over the last few years. I thought his Shadow Ops modern military fantasy series was excellent, and the prequel trilogy was solid. His Armored Saint fantasy series was a departure from his comfort zone, with a truly awesome premise. The books didn’t quite live up to the premise’s promise, but the first two were still decent, and I look forward to reading the third in the trilogy. And I have a lot of respect for Cole writing outside of his comfort zone for the sake of pushing himself as a writer. A lot of writers have their own “voice” that’s pretty consistent across books: a Brandon Sanderson or Robin Hobb or Neil Gaiman book sounds like it was written by Sanderson or Hobb or Gaiman, as a rule. This isn’t a bad thing, but I respect Cole for pushing himself to break out of that mold.

Sixteenth Watch is both a return to form (in that it’s modern military) and a departure (in that it’s hard sci-fi rather than fantasy). The premise is that the US and China are both working to ensure they have access to Helium-3 on the Moon, and tensions between the two countries are rising. The US Navy has been muscling the US Coast Guard out of operations on the lunar border between American and Chinese territories. The protagonist is Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver, nearing the end of her career. Her goal is to avoid a war, and as long as the Navy is dealing with border issues, every situation will be approached as a potential combat situation (because the Navy is made to fight wars, and when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail). The Coast Guard, while still one of the armed services and able to fight, is more of a law enforcement agency. The Coast Guard, in Oliver’s opinion (and the Coast Guard brass’s opinion) can manage the border without escalating things and triggering a war.

So that’s the premise. Oliver is put in charge of a PR mission to convince the politicians and the public that the Coast Guard can handle the job, and is working to assert the Coast Guard against heavy pushback from the Navy and Marines.

Now I have no problem with wish fulfillment fantasy. It can be both fun and rewarding to sink into a story of fun and adventure, putting yourself in the place of an awesome protagonist doing awesome things. But in reading Sixteenth Watch, I kept thinking this is the most specific wish fulfillment that I’ve ever read: the wish that the Coast Guard would get the respect it deserves from the other armed services, particularly the Navy. I have nothing but respect for the Coast Guard (though I will admit I don’t think about them much), but it’s not the easiest premise to relate to.

Cole himself is a Coast Guard vet, and it shows. He brings an authenticity to modern military fantasy/sci-fi that is usually a delight to read. But here, it was something of a drag. Reading about a team of Coast Guard operators training to prove that they can do boarding operations better than the Marines? That’s great. Reading about arguments between Coast Guard and Navy admirals arguing over whose interpretation of titles 10 and 14 of the United States Code is correct? Less great. Did you know that according to the 1972 COLREGS (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea), for both international and inland navigation, the right-of-way is given to the starboard vessel? Well, after reading Sixteenth Watch, I do.

So this book is highly recommended if you have served in the Coast Guard, or as a gift for a loved one who is serving or has served in the Coast Guard. I know I’m making fun here, but only mildly. It was just hard to shake the bemusement I felt while reading and thinking, “this is awfully specific wish fulfillment.” The book is well-written, and the main character is very compelling to read. I’m hoping there is a sequel – the story itself doesn’t need one, but there’s a rather big loose thread that I really want to see tied up. Between that and the protagonist alone I want more. But this is also a straightforward fun and exciting read.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cole is one the better authors writing fast paced military and action science fiction these days; his Shadow Ops series (starts with Control Point) is a lot of fun and demonstrates his familiarity with police and military lingo. Sixteenth Watch is also fast paced, but a very different and unusual story from the legions of military SFF being pumped out these days.

Our main protagonist, Jane Oliver, is an officer in the US Coast Guard, where she has served n Search-and-Rescue operations for over 30 years. The story is set sometime in the near future, but Cole does not really give dates or go into much details on Earth and the story largely takes place on the moon. Helium-3 is the new power source for humanity and it can be mined on the moon. Despite the 1967 Space Treaty, which basically states that no nation can claim ownership of the solar system or parts thereof, the US and China both have 'exclusive economic zones' on the moon where their various miners dig for H3. Tension exists between the US and China, however, something like a cold war, as both powers have a variety of military assets on the moon and lots of saber rattling is going down.

The US Coast Guard, the fifth branch of the US military, is also on the moon, in charge of SAR missions and such. Yet, there is pressure from the Space Force Navy to basically get rid of the Coast Guard there as hostilities between the US and China 'hot up'. The commander of the Coast Guard, however, has a plan. It seems the biggest TV show at the moment is something called 'Boarding Action' where various agencies compete via hostile boarding actions. If the Coast Guard can win the title, it would go a long way to helping solidify the Guard on the moon. Hence, Oliver is tasked to go there and whip the team into shape.

Cole gives us, therefore, a rather novel plot, but the real strength of the book is Oliver's mission to de-escalate the tensions between China and the US. This is a military science fiction novel for sure, but not one about battle ships, etc., but about how to avoid war. The science is plausible, the action fast at times, and Oliver makes a great MC. Lots of good stuff about the Coast Guard as well. When was the last time you read a book about the Coast Guard in space? 3 solid stars!!

[Holly (The GrimDragon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The grief was so powerful that it approached physical numbness, in her face, in her fingertips. How could you have been so stupid. How could you have let this happen. She tried to recall Ho’s comforting words in her stateroom after Allen had left, but she couldn’t conjure them now. All she could do was take numb step after step back to where SAR-1 waited. The further future sprawled before her in a gray, hopeless wash. She could only focus on the minute by minute in front of her nose.”

Sixteenth Watch is the new book by Myke Cole. I’ve read many of his books now, so I was incredibly excited to learn that he would be releasing a book about Coast Guards.. IN SPACE!! It’s his first foray into science fiction, after having written epic and military fantasies. However, he has hands-on experience when it comes to writing about the Coast Guard, since he was a serving officer in the Coast Guard for years. He was also able to tap into his involvement with reality television, having been on the unscripted Hunted tv series. Needless to say, the man has a wide variety of expertise to draw from!

Thrusting the reader immediately into a confrontation, Cole’s Sixteenth Watch doesn’t hold your hand. Rather, it pushes you into the middle of the street, a rush of adrenaline coursing through your body.

Set in the near-future, Sixteenth Watch begins with a battle between China and America on the surface of the moon. A lunar riot has broken out, which brings Commander Jane Oliver from the Coast Guard and her sailer husband Tom on a mission to de-esculate the situation before it spreads any further. Unfortunately, the mission goes off the fucking rails and Jane witnesses the death of her husband.

We follow her some time later, still grieving of course, but starting to settle into her life back on Earth. Now known as the legendary “Widow Jane,” she is instructing Coasties at the training center for water-surface boarding. Nearing retirement, she is invited back on the moon for a mission to train an elite Coast Guard squad that is set to take part in a military sports competition that will be televised. If she accepts the assignment, it would give her a promotion and a waiver that allows her to retire to the moon with her daughter.

Not only is there a lunar war threatening to erupt, with major political struggles ongoing between the two countries, but there is inner conflict between the military branches. If the Coast Guard can win the reality competition, they hope it will prove that they are the best branch to take care of the lunar borders. The Navy is currently leading the fight on the moon, but is that what space needs – more militarization?

“Her habit of asking her subordinates’ opinions rattled them, she knew, as did her insistence on performing menial tasks below her pay grade, but she wasn’t about to stop. Treating her people like people was the only way she wanted to lead, and though it had likely held her back on the climb up the promotional chain, she slept just fine at night.”

I adore sci-fi, but had been neglecting the genre over the last year. It’s just that science fiction books weren’t grabbing me as much as my beloved fantasy. Luckily, this is not one of those instances!

Myke Cole has this uncanny ability to tell a big story rather swiftly, balancing all of the elements from chapter to chapter. He has a wonderful grasp on understanding character and narrative in such an authentic way. Which leads me to Jane, a new favorite! Oh, how I bloody love Jane – the confident, fiesty, loyal, flawed protagonist who takes no shit! The fact that she is older is honestly so damn refreshing. Understandably, the secondary characters take a backseat, especially since she’s the only POV. That’s not to say that they don’t add to the story, because they do! Lieutenant Commander Wen Ho, Jane’s executive officer, is one such noteworthy character. Their friendship is fucking glorious! If you don’t chuckle at their banter at least once than you’re dead inside! Seriously.

I’ve learned to allow science fiction terminology, technology and concepts to just wash over me throughout the years. I prefer not having everything spelled out, instead flowing uninterrupted with the narrative. However, being the nerd that I am, I did appreciate the inclusion of a glossary at the back of this, particularly!

Politics, breathless action scenes, appealing characters, space fuckery and deeply moving moments. Sixteenth Watch is unlike anything else trying to fly that military SFF flag right now! With an imaginative plot that’s fast-moving and insightful, Sixteenth Watch is an addictively entertaining read!

With Cole announcing that he is currently writing a sequel, I’m curious to see where that goes after the intensity of this first installment. It’s shaping up to be quite a compelling series!

(Big thanks to Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy in advance!)

**The quotes above were taken from an ARC & are subject to change upon publication**

[Mogsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2020/03/26/...

Sixteenth Watch was my first book by Myke Cole since Control Point, and it’s clear his storytelling and writing skills have come a long way since. Still, I had some mixed feelings for this one for reasons more to do with unfulfilled expectations, but other than that, I thought the book was an entertaining tale of militaristic action in space, a slightly different take on your usual mil sci-fi.

The novel opens with a stunner. As a violent skirmish suddenly breaks out between the Americans and Chinese in lunar space, nearly sparking an all-out war between the two nations, Captain Jane Oliver of the U.S. Coast Guard watches in horror as her husband’s ship is torn to pieces. Months later, having come to terms with his death and her grief, Oliver knows she is approaching the end of her career because of her age, and quite frankly is looking forward to retiring in peace. However, her superiors have different plans for her. As the tensions between the US and China continue to mount over Helium-3 mining rights on the moon, the Navy and the Marines are trying to edge the Coast Guard out of the military operations on the border between the two territories. In order to convince the politicians and the public to take them seriously, the Guard wants Jane Oliver to head up an initiative to train a group of officers to win a popular reality competition show called Boarding Action against teams from the other branches of the military. In return, Oliver would be promoted and be allowed to retire on the moon to be with her daughter.

As such, the bulk of the book is focused on this training, as well as dealing with the resulting pushback from their rivals. With dismay, Oliver realizes that low morale and confidence among her team are also causing much of their performance issues. Simply running practice drills will not help in this case, she realizes, and to really get them to push themselves, she’ll need to take some pretty big steps—and big risks.

It’s a fantastic premise, to be sure. That said, I’m just not sure how well it worked in its execution. With such a playing up of the Boarding Action show, as well as the rivalry between the Coast Guard and the other competitors, not to mention all the attention and page-time dedicated to their training, you would think we’d be getting more follow through on that front. But in fact, the plot doesn’t really steer us in that direction at all, and the lack of story consistency and coherence this resulted in annoyed me a little, if I’m to be honest. And while we’re on the topic, I was also not entirely sold on the ending. It certainly didn’t feel like it followed logically from earlier events, and on top of that, it didn’t provide satisfactory closure—and I don’t mean that in the cliffhanger sense, but rather in a way that’s more like a thought left unfinished.

As I said though, I still thought Sixteenth Watch was a good read, and it was the little things I liked, such as the fact that Myke Cole’s background and experiences in the military is evident in the knowledge he brings to his work. An officer in the US Coast Guard Reserve, the author shows his love for the USCG by portraying them and their operations with a high degree of authenticity and accuracy. I also liked the character of Jane Oliver, for not only is it uncommon to see a female middle-aged protagonist head up a military sci-fi novel, she was also written to be believable and relatable. Then, there was the action. All those training maneuvers and battle sequences went a long way in making up for the stalling and meandering in the plot, keeping my interest high even as the pacing sometimes floundered.

Still, for the most part, the pros outweighed the cons. Readers should not expect too much in terms of depth, though I suspect this won’t be a dealbreaker for the majority, given the main goal of the novel to provide action-driven entertainment. With the storytelling and world-building being on the lighter side, the characters were the ones that truly stood out, like Oliver, her executive officer Wen Ho, and the members of the Coast Guard team. In the end, those strengths were enough to keep me turning the pages. While not perfect, Sixteenth Watch was a fun read which I thought succeeded in what it set out to do.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much to my partner Angry Robot Books (thank you!) for the finished copy of Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole! The book was provided in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

I usually enjoy books with fictional military bearing and love my sci fi, so this book seemed like a natural pick.  It is my first romp into current American military fiction, featuring mainly the Coast Guard and Marine Corps/Navy.  Sixteenth Watch is what they call a tour in space, and one central plot is a huge military branch jurisdiction battle...in space.

Captain Oliver is trying to prevent a war with China.  Tensions have been heating up on the moon and the Coast Guard is the branch for the job, but the Navy has pushed them into a corner.  The solution seems to be to win a military competition that the Marines have been dominating for years in order to win public support.   The Coast Guard team is capable but still reeling from losses incurred in a surface skirmish years ago where they lost two team members and Oliver's husband.  There are also overarching themes of dealing with grief, self forgiveness, teamwork, and standing up for yourself and your team when things get hairy.

I did enjoy the book a lot but the plot was scattered all over the place at times. Boarding Actions were interesting enough to carry the action for the most part, and jurisdictional conflicts were individually interesting, but I wanted more cohesion.  The SAR-1 team went from disgruntled to cohesive VERY quickly after a few weeks and one particular incident in the field, and I think even before presenting the team competition there should have been a little more proof of their friendships forming and teamwork solidifying.   Cold packed way too much into the end and then just ended the book with a sense of closure that I didn't feel, at all

I did absolutely love Oliver and the team though, she was such a bad-ass. I wanted to root for her team of Coasties, like who doesn't love watching a team come together??  The pacing of the entire novel just felt off even though they only had a few weeks together,  most of the action was in the last quarter when the book got interesting.  Prior to that the story seemed to be a cycle of grief and exposition, which was needed but set it off to a slow start for me.

The other thing I need to mention are all the abbreviations and editing.  A glossary is provided for us non-military people but it was a bit of a struggle for me to keep up sometimes.  There are also multiple typos and areas that needed another read over,  and since this is a finished copy I allowed it to distract me a bit. 

This is definitely a must for military fiction readers.  I think sci-fi readers will enjoy it too but it was less about sci-fi and more about the military and strategy and Marines waving their d!cks (sorry I lived with one for a LONG time and this seemed quite accurate).  I would still recommend it too for those who like kick ass female characters and stories with team competitions.

This and tons of other reviews and author features can be found on my blog at www.onereadingnurse.com !

[J.P. Ashman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you social media.

My bookish friends on social media allow me to see authors I may not have spotted before and through social media, I get to see them before I read/listen to (Audible in this case) their books. This is one of those cases.

I started following Myke Cole a while back after seeing friends following him and liking the cut of his jib (pun intended, considering his history). The guy seemed funny and knowledgeable, honest and outraged at the same news articles/politicians/celebs as me. Should I choose to read books based on the person rather than the blurb? I don't care whether I should or shouldn't, but I do.

So, when reading about his US Coast Guard past, his knowledge on warfare (ancient and current) and the fact that he was releasing a US Coast Guard (not over done like a lot of things) scifi novel, I had to snap it up to listen to on my commute.

I'm so frikkin' glad I did!

Not only is it cool because it's set on the moon, with military units shooting around in 'boats' as well as shooting at one another (not in a gung ho way, mind, which I liked), but it was the less-written (I've not seen it before in this genre?) US Coast Guard doing the shooting (of both kinds mentioned). Oh, there're marines and navy in it, for sure, but this story focuses on a frikkin' cool side of the US Military and is both a fascinating insight, as well as a heartfelt, characterful and passionate story to boot.

Action, tense stand-offs, combat (because action doesn't automatically mean combat), spaceships, rescues, laughter, heartache, friendship, loss and on and on...

If you love scifi and/or military fiction, then buy it. Buy it now!

Jaypash out.

[Beth Cato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

In Sixteenth Watch, Myke Cole has created a compelling, action-packed work of military sci-fi where United States settlers face off against Chinese interests on the moon--and the United States Navy and Coast Guard likewise face off, escalating an already hot situation into one that could go nuclear.

I trust Cole to get the military aspects right; I know the guy, and he knows his stuff. As a former Navy wife, I have some familiarity with the subject matter myself. The rivalry he writes about within the ranks here is absolutely plausible, on earth and the moon, and ratchets up the tension to a major degree. This is one of those books that is almost impossible to put down. You NEED to find out what happens next.

This isn't a thriller full of vapid action, though. At its heart are incredible, vivid characters that I came to care about. The protagonist is Jane Oliver, a Coast Guard veteran of decades who loses her sailor husband during an initial lunar flare-up between the US and China. Instead of taking a quiet retirement, she is invited back to the moon for a rather unusual challenge: to prepare an elite squad of Coasties for a reality game show that the Marines have dominated for years. This has not only impacted recruitment efforts on Earth, but also gives the Navy more power in the struggle for military dominance on the moon. Navy commanders are too keen on war, to Jane's thinking; the Coast Guard, carrying out a role on the moon similar to what they do on the ocean, is largely about deescalating tension and saving lives. It's awesome to see the Coast Guard be in the spotlight in a space setting because the role that they play (even without a literal coast to guard) makes absolute sense.

The reality show angle adds to the originality of the book, and again, I know Cole knows what he's talking about, as he is a reality show veteran himself. The stakes around the show feel realistic in this near-future setting, but hanging over everything is that threat of war with China.

This is a darn good book, and I hope it's the first in the series because I'd love to read more about these characters and this world.

[Nynniaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]

Summary: Set twenty minutes into the future, so to speak, Sixteenth Watch is a solid military fiction book with scifi elements, more so than science fiction book proper, one that attempts to juggle a futuristic plot concept and wrap it around a core of familiarity with the present. The idea of trying to imagine how things in the military could be based on how they are now is intriguing, and the book definitely does its best when deep in the action or in the moments of political tension between the branches. I would like to see where the author could take the setting in the future, and the way the story ends makes me wonder if perhaps he is planning to find out. However, what makes the novel is also in some ways what threatens to damn it. The over-use of acronyms in particular is like to be off-putting for people not familiar with them, and might well dilute whatever enjoyment they can get from the book as having to constantly flip over to the end of the book just to understand what the hell the characters are saying is severely off-putting to say the least.

Prose: There were a few scattered typos, but nothing terribly obnoxious or pervasive. More troublesome than that is the fact I see no reasonable excuse for an epub to not have each instance (or at least the first instance) of every acronym linked to a definition in the glossary. Obviously, people familiar with the terms will not need them, but I'd hazard to say most people who pick up the book wont be familiar with the terms, and in a book so heavy with acronyms, expecting people to go back and forth manually seems like a gross oversight. In general, while I respect what the author was trying to achieve, I feel like overall they work against the story more than for it, but again that might just be because I have little familiarity with the Service. 3/5

Plot: I have mixed feelings about the plot. Or more exactly about the way the plot peters out in the end. On one hand, as mentioned, the overall concept is really appealing, and the execution of the latter parts of the novel in particular kept me well interested. Ironically, it is as the story progresses that it starts to feel more and more like the novel has forgotten its own plot. Like the author is simply meandering from here to there until he finds an arbitrary spot he likes in the regolith. I am fully aware this is an odd complaint, as the latter parts of the book are the more action-packed and generally speaking the ones I liked best, but meandering is ultimately unsatisfying, and the bits of action ultimately don't save the whole from the feeling of... 'what' when you suddenly stumble into an epilogue that feels like the end of a chapter more than a proper cliffhanger. 2/5

Pacing: I found the first 1/3 of the book to be both rather slow and really uninteresting in comparison to the rest of it. It felt like the author wasn't really sure of the best way to start off the story. He definitely didnt know how to end it either, but once pas the introductory bit, at least, things start picking up at a nice enough rate. 3/5

Characterization: I generally enjoyed Jane's character, as well as Ho's. Their dynamic with each other is specially entertaining. The rest of the cast seemed much less developed, sometimes verging dangerously on flat. specially her team. None of them are particularly memorable or interesting, and could in most cases likely be encompassed with one or two words. 3/5

World-building: As mentioned in the summary, the concept itself is one of my favourite parts of the book. I hated the way the acronyms were presented, sure, and the acronyms were there partly to deliver a certain believability to the speech pattern of officers in the military, but thats more of a technical flaw they could easily fix, specially in the electronic version of the book. I also really enjoyed the little snippets we get at the beginning of each chapter, as they really do help to flesh out the peception we have of this slightly more futuristic earth. 4/5

[Jacqie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

I turn to Myke Cole for a good action novel with a believable and understandable military bent. I was dismayed to discover that this particular novel is not for me.

I haven't read a ton of military scifi but I've read enough to understand command structure and the difference between tactics and strategy. At its best, this genre can take me on a fun space opera adventure that introduces me to interesting aliens, has flashy scenery and exciting fights.

I felt wrongfooted for most of the novel. The main character, Jane Oliver, commands a Coast Guard vessel that runs into a bad situation on the moon- union strikers and local police conflict is about to spark into a riot. I'm not clear on the Coast Guard's function in space, and that was probably the start of my confusion.

Anyway, Jane, in my opinion, doesn't act especially professionally during this engagement. She's more concerned with what her husband thinks of her, what her crew think of how she's interacting with her husband, and ultimately his safety than her own mission. I never felt like I could trust Jane's point of view and I didn't trust her ability to make a good decision either- not a great feel for your POV character.

Jane heads back to Earth after this initial scene setting. She's training Coast Guard search and rescue crew when she's tapped to return to the Moon to train crew there because she's famous now and the Coast Guard needs higher visibility and media cred so that it has more influence on the delicate situation on the moon.

Jane decides that she needs to undergo basic training with all the troops going up on the next deployment because that will make a good training montage, I guess. This rather out of shape middle aged woman expects to be treated the same as the young Marines who are doing training exercises. Of course she can't be or she'll wash out and be sent back to Earth in disgrace and that would be it for the Coast Guard's plan, but here we go anyway. I can totally see a commanding officer wanting a refresher for zero gravity maneuvers, but surely there's another way? This idea is bad for discipline and puts the training officers in a very awkward position indeed. Another decision Jane made that made me not trust her.

There are also some rather unbelievable things that happen like a trooper getting killed in a training exercise that results in no review of the incident or discipline of the person involved. At this point in the book, I'm confused because nothing that is happening is making sense to me and none of the characters seem to know how to work together like adults. Including our main character. Is she supposed to come to some sort of revelation? I very much fear that I'm supposed to agree with her decisions and I can't.

Maybe it's me and I just was unable to figure out what the author was doing, but I couldn't get into this book for all the reasons listed above, and I put it down for good.

[Karen’s Library]

As much as I loved the premise of this book, I couldn’t get past all the military jargon. I loved Captain Jane Oliver as a character and really wanted to read a sci-fi tale set in space and the moon, but it was such a chore to try to figure out what was going on. I ended up DNFng at about 30%.

I’ve read quite a bit of military sci-fi in the past and as long as there’s more story than jargon, I can usually get the gist without glazing over too much. Unfortunately, there was just too much glazing which kept bouncing me out of the story.

I’ve seen Myke Cole at. several events over the years and really wanted to read his books, but don’t really enjoy fantasy, so when I saw that he released a sci-fi, I had to give it a shot. I really wanted to like it because I’ve enjoyed Myke so much at his events.

I think that if any active military personnel or veterans read this, they probably would have a better understanding and much more enjoyment than I did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Angry Robot Books, though, for the opportunity to read Sixteenth Watch.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteenth Watch is the opening instalment in a brand new science fiction series from critically-acclaimed writer Myke Cole, and it didn't disappoint in providing an impeccably plotted story full of thrilling action and high-stakes danger. Jane Oliver is our protagonist and like some of the most engaging characters before her she is certainly a reluctant heroine who is thrust into her role by the circumstances in which she finds herself and gallantly (or foolishly) continues to forge onwards trying to prevent a spectacular war that would engulf much of the universe. Her reason for allowing herself to strive for this noble objective, I hear you ask? She feels she has nothing left to lose and may as well attempt to achieve something noteworthy rather than sit back and let the earth and perhaps a much more substantial area shatter into smithereens. This is essentially military sci-fi that takes place on the moon.

Granted, it is quite different from Cole’s usual but it's a refreshingly original idea of military sci-fi and is even more unique and awesome for the substantial role to go to an intelligent female rather than the norm; a male at the helm. Jane is fiercely independent with a strong moral compass and represents us women-folk beautifully as she attempts to save the world. There is a palpable sense of tension running throughout and it simply never lets up from the moment it begins; Cole instils a sense of urgency through his prose and he never lets you forget that the stakes are huge for both Jane and humanity. A highly entertaining, fun and exciting tale packed with heart-pounding incidents, plentiful action and enough twists and turns, peaks and troughs to keep even the most demanding sci-fi reader satisfied. Roll on the sophomore instalment. Many thanks to Angry Robot for an ARC.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected some mid rate mil-sci-fi, and was pleasantly surprised by a pretty engaging story with some great action. I enjoyed reading about Coast Guard Search and Rescue in lunar space very much. It's not without it's plot holes and pretty paper cut out characters, but it was highly enjoyable nonetheless. A more nuanced story than expected for the genre.
Myke Cole is one I'll be looking out for.

[Beth Tabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.


In Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole, he again writes a modern military science fiction that is solid. Myke Cole is everywhere right now. He has put out multiple novels in the last few years, including The Sacred Throne series, which has The Armored Saint, The Queen of Crows, and The Killing Light. He has also written the non-fiction book Legion Versus Phalanx about the phalanx formation through history. Myke also has a sizable military fantasy series, Shadow Ops, which is a comfortable place for him. Myke is very good at doing a military fantasy that is believable, which is probably why Sixteenth Watch was so good.

“What do you want me to teach these guys to do?”
“We need you to get them in shape for this year’s Boarding Action. Commandant thinks if we win, it’ll give us the hand we need. It’s a major media event, watched by millions of Americans. If we win it, that’ll give us the leverage we need to stay on, and if we stay on, we can keep the Navy from turning quarantine-runners into a pretext for war. SPACETACLET came close last year…”
Oliver blinked. “We’re going to stop a war… by winning a game show?”

Sixteenth Watch follows the narrative of Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver. Jane is a career captain coming to the end of a career and heading towards retirement. The temperament of the different armed service branches are very different. They have varying goals and needs in doing their duty. These differences are put in stark relief between how Jane conducts herself and her ultimate goals as a Captain and eventually Admiral in the Guard. The Coast Guard is a military division whose purpose is to watch the coasts of the US. They provide search and rescue, coastal defense, and ensure maritime law is respected and abided. In this story’s future, the United States and China are in a resource race for mining the Moon for a mineral called Helium-3. The tensions run high between the two powers, and border pursuits are often raised. Border tensions and following military law are, by definition, the purview of the Coast Guard. However, in this scenario, the Navy is handling border issues, which raises the tension between the two nations. Jane’s ultimate goal is to provide the proper support and training to get the Coast Guard out there protecting the border. To do this, Jane needs to train a team for a very public boarding competition between the different armed services. She has two months to get a group up to the level of other armed service boarding teams and win the competition. Thus ensuring that the Coast Guard receives the respect it deserves and is allowed to protect the border as it should have been doing all along.
This competition does not go as planned. The world at large and the military higher-ups make life difficult for her and her team.

Cole is a retired Coast Guard veteran. His military experience and familiarity with the Coast Guard shows. There is an authenticity to the way he wrote both the action scenes and the scenes involving regulation and code. Because of Cole’s experience as a Costie, you know that this scenario is entirely plausible in a future world. There is quite a lot of technical jargon used in the creation of this story. The jargon might be offputting to some readers, but frankly, I enjoyed the hell out of it. The real world jargon did not come off trite, and it put me into this story and kept me there. By the end, I learned what a border team was, different military ranks where, and parts of a ship.

The pacing was non-stop, and the ending was so breakneck that I had to put down the book and take a breath. Cole’s battle and boarding scenes where done with so much detail you could almost smell space and hear the plasma guns.

“Ma’am, with respect…”
“Nothing after the words’ with respect’ is ever entirely respectful, Wen.”
“With respect,” Ho carefully enunciated each word as he stood, walking to her keyboard. “It’s possible you’re being a little paranoid here. You’re the one who insisted on this school in the first place.”
“With no damn respect, I’m around a hundred years older than you and I have been at this game for my entire life. I am not misreading the situation here.”
Ho clicked the mouse to open the email. “Well, you’re right. You passed.”
Oliver gave an exasperated sigh. “I told you I was smart.”
“No, ma’am,” Ho said, “you told me you were old.”

Jane kicked so much butt as an admiral and a role model. She was at both times a military officer and a person. Cole effectively tempered the duties of a military commander with a real human spirit, one that is filled with thoughts, fears, and worries for her family. Much like his Sacred Throne series, he has once again excelled at writing a strong woman. I love Jane; I wish there were more Janes in commanding positions. I wish there were more Janes for little girls to look up to and emulate, and I wish there had been more Janes for when I was growing up.

“I need to... I know this sounds stupid, but I need to make your father proud again. One last time.”
Alice reached across and placed her hand on her mother’s knee. “He already is, mom. I know it.”

The story ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and is left open for a sequel. I hope that Myke keeps writing this world because I want to know what happens. Up until now, I hadn’t thought much about the Coast Guard as a strong military organization. I knew they helped stranded ships and provided border patrol, but there is so much more there that I didn’t know. I think for everything that this book offers in terms of character and narrative, shedding light on the Coast Guard and what it is capable of was the best part of reading this. That and how badass Jane is. We need more examples of obstinate women in fantasy and science fiction, and Admiral Jane Oliver and Sixteenth Watch is a perfect place to start.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just what I needed to take my mind off of current events (although it certainly a plausible near-future event). Our protagonist, Jane Oliver, is a Coast Guard Captain who is tasked with building a team that can win a boarding party reality show. But her actual mission, at least in her mind, is to deescalate the current tensions between the United States and China over Moon resources. The Navy is doing most of the Moon policing, and they are more eager for conflict.

What I liked the most was Oliver's leadership style. She led by example, and really cared about her people. I also loved the back and forth between Oliver and her XO - it made me laugh at times, and I was always hoping they would interact.

This is the start of the series and I'm already looking forward to the next book.

[Anna Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.5 stars.
This got off to a bit of a slow start for me, but once it ramped up I did find myself really enjoying it. It's a quick and easy read, once you get over needing the glossary every 2 minutes for the military terminology and acronyms. Didn't blow me away, but it was fun.

[Janet (iamltr) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was definitely not a book for me.

I was not sucked into the story, the mc, the world, not a bit of it.

I will give credit that it was written well.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I received an early ARC via NetGalley.)

Cole changes it up with a straight military-SF novel, with none of the fantasy elements of his most recent fiction work. Unusually for this genre, the military corps in the centre of the action is the future Coast Guard, based in Earth orbit and on the moon. Given Cole's own service background with the Coasties, it isn't surprising that he handles the military and battle scenes deftly - and there's certainly enough shoot-'em-up action. The story moves with a deliberate rhythm, quick enough but not overly-rushed ("slow is smooth, smooth is fast"). But what really shines is the character-driven side of the narrative; the protagonist is a retirement-age woman grappling with deep personal losses and change, while at the same time striving to be the best kind of officer she believes her force deserves to serve with. Naturally there are political forces in conflict with the core duties of the space-based Coast Guard, giving an underpinning to the larger arc of the story.

Cole takes the traditions and philosophy of the current Coast Guard into the future with an easy familiarity and warmth that make them utterly believable in that context; it adds a certain dimensional depth to the kind of plotline that's generally familiar to mil-SF fans. Refreshingly, he also expands the range of characters beyond the usual young-male-soldier type that so many writers have explored before. There isn't any official indication so far that this book is the beginning of a series - and it does stand well on its own - but it would be a real treat if Cole placed more stories in this worldline he's building.

[Jason Aycock · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first saw a teaser that Myke Cole had written a science fiction novel about the U.S. Coast Guard in space I knew I wanted to read it. I’ve only read one other book by Cole, The Armored Saint, and I loved it. I was curious to see if he could recreate the same level of pathos present in that book in Sixteenth Watch, or if instead we’d get an entirely different feeling given the setting and plot. Either way I was excited to begin this read.

If you don’t know anything about Myke Cole it’s important to note at the outset that he is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran. His experience and knowledge of the Coast Guard and the U.S. military definitely add to the detail and realism of the novel. There can be little doubt that his experiences played into the influences behind the book.

The plot centers around an inter-service rivalry between the Navy/Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard over security of U.S. helium-3 mining operations on the moon with the added stakes of a shooting conflict with China. This is a conflict with the potential to go nuclear and spread to Earth. The Coast Guard sees itself as the service branch best suited to carry out this mission as it is currently more of a law enforcement action, but increasingly is forced to take a back seat to the more powerful and robust forces of the U.S. Navy and Marines. The Navy’s increasingly belligerent actions seem sure to bring the tensions with China to a head and the Coast Guard leadership feels only they can diffuse the situation, if only they can convince the American people and the political powers that be of the case.

Cole seems very aware of how little people really know about the Coast Guard or that they are actually a branch of the armed services. He knows most people probably see the Coast Guard as just a beefed up police force on the water. His characters are very aware of this too. This awareness is built into and at the heart the conflict within the narrative. This tension drives a lot of the plot as the Coast Guard and Navy keep butting heads.

The other major source of narrative tension stems from the event years prior that killed the main character’s husband, a lunar riot that got out of hand between American and Chinese miners where the military forces of both sides nearly got into a shooting war. The fallout and loss from that episode hangs over the characters and influences everything they think and do.

All of that intraservice rivalry and interpersonal dynamics in an inhospitable environment create what has the potential to be a powder keg ready to explode on the moon with the fallout descending to Earth. The book is set-up to be an action packed space story weighted with dramatic tension. And it almost lives up to expectations.

I’m a fan of military science fiction/fantasy and military fiction in general. When you go into this kind of read you do so knowing you may be getting a lot of military lingo, especially abbreviations and and acronyms. If you don’t like this in your reading be warned Sixteenth Watch is filled with it. Thankfully for me this isn’t a a negative at all but I know some readers really get turned off by it.

While I enjoyed the characters they were not very complex. We see everything through the point of view of Admiral Jane Oliver. She’s career Coast Guard, her husband was killed in action serving with the Navy, and only one of her children speaks to her. She constantly battles feelings of internal regrets and external political maneuvers while trying to prove more to herself than anyone else that she is capable to do the job she’s been given. Yet, for all that I didn’t feel like we get a deep dive into her character. Everything stays at a surface level or just beneath. I never felt the emotional tug with Oliver and her arc wasn’t developed very much.

Since it is a single POV story the focus is unsurprisingly on Oliver. While the other characters are diverse, Cole only scratches the surface on what drives and motivates them. And while I enjoyed some of the banter in the dialogue (especially between Oliver and her Executive Officer) there just isn’t a ton of depth to the characters. This means the book has to lean more on it’s pacing and action in addition to the plot to grab my attention.

The pacing and action were fine. I know that sounds almost negative so don’t take it that way. By fine I mean just that, not slow but not too fast, not too little and not too much. I never felt bored with the read and it kept me swiping the pages to get to the end. The action scenes were well written and there were no points in the book in terms of action where I was like “nah, that’s a bit much to accept.”

The plot was also fine. Again I don’t mean that to sound bad even though I know not raving about it tends to lend a negative vibe. In this case the idea of the intraservice rivalry with the weight of possible war with China played out on the moon with boarding actions and firefights in space is pretty cool and exciting and is what drew me to the book. But a few things detracted from the story. The first is that the event the characters are working toward and that drives much of the narrative seemed a bit contrived. I won’t reveal what it is here but I was like “eh…it seems a stretch this would work.” The second thing is that the notion the Coast Guard will best the Navy in their rivalry, both in deeds and in the minds of the people, seems like a little bit of wish fulfillment. The third was I knew early on how the plot would work itself out. Not every little detail, but the major plot points and the general context of the climax in particular. I also felt the book ended without seeing everything through to the end. Not a cliffhanger, but a plot hole left unfilled.

In the end I enjoyed Sixteenth Watch for what it is, something akin to a summer action movie. It contains action, thrills and pacing to keep you in your seat (turning the page) but without expectation of a deep exploration of character or theme. It’s a story you can count on to keep you entertained and will fill that need for a little science fiction action and conflict, but without emotional investment.

Thanks to Angry Robot and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

[Reid Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myke Cole is one of those authors that can both craft an action scene so vivid that you flinch when a character gets injured and develop real characters with flaws and ambitions. Sixteenth Watch continues to highlight his ability to blend military experience with science fiction and fantasy elements; using each to push the other into new areas. With the Shadow Ops series, he showed his depth of military fiction; with the Sacred Throne series, he proved his mastery of characters, making us live and die with every decision Heloise made. Now, evoking memories of Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (not the movie, and without the preachy politics), The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell, and the Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, Cole has started what looks to be a great series moving forward (at least we can hope). To quote one of his characters "You don't want compliments, stop being good at shit." Well, I imagine this book will garner Cole more compliments than he can stomach.

[Dirk Reul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the not too distant future, Earth has expanded to the Moon and old conflicts are still a threat to people everywhere. Myke Cole takes a bold step by writing a book that’s not military science fiction, but could more accurately be called rescue science fiction. Focussing on the US Coast Guard instead of the Navy, or the Marines. Emphasising that wars are created by escalation, and that the past is for lessons to be learned, not for holding us back. The narrative is tight, going unexpected places and even manages to invoke what I like to call The Rider of Rohan moments. Those scenes when you are deeply moved not by the climax, but by the actions of the characters in specific moments that lead up to the climax of the story. This was a suspenseful read and I honestly hope that we will have more stories told, that focus on saving lives instead of ending them.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I loved this one. Cole does a fantastic of using the unique law enforcement and regulatory missions of the Coast Guard to provide something of a fresh perspective on military sci-fi. The novel does an excellent job emphasizing the personal stakes for Oliver against a backdrop of larger political and military stakes. Oliver might not be the most likeable of characters but her struggles to move past tragedy and her single-minded focus on her mission make for some compelling reading. The banter between Oliver and her XO Ho was definitely a bright spot in the novel. The ending of the novel was a bit abrupt with Cole denying readers a scene that really would have brought things to a close. Despite not releasing until March 2020 I'm excited to see more from Jane Oliver in the future.

[Alex]

DNF at about 40% due to author controversy. this was fine but not spectacular up to that point.

[Jon Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Urban Fantasy to Fantasy to Science Fiction, Cole has proven he can write them all, and do it well. I can't wait for the next one.

[S. Naomi Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest and unbiased review. My thanks to Angry Robot Books and NetGalley for giving me this opportunity.

Following a tragic encounter between American and Chinese forces that results in the death of her husband, Coast Guard Captain Jane Oliver is readying herself for a quiet retirement when the Commandant of the Guard offers her a role she’s not prepared for, leading and training the Coast Guard’s elite SAR-1 unit in preparation for the annual Boarding Action inter-service wargames. But this is a game where the outcome could very well end up starting the first ever lunar war, a war that won’t stay confined to the moon’s surface.

The core premise of this book is that the US and Chinese military are playing a massive game of Cold War chicken on the moon, with the massively lucrative Helium-3 mining rights the prize for the side that wins. On the US side of things the main players are the Navy and Marine Corps, who seem to be going out of their way to up the heat and start a shooting war with the Chinese, which is where our protagonist, Captain Oliver, comes in. It’s essentially her job to show that the Coast Guard are the best branch of the military to perform border security and law enforcement, even on the high frontier of the moon.

Myke Cole is a Coast Guard veteran so it was only a matter of time before he turned his hand to writing about this oft-forgotten branch of the United States Armed Forces, and it has to be said he’s done a great job with this book. This is high grade military sci-fi that definitely draws heavily on the author’s own experience, dropping the reader into the world of the Guard from the start with a veritable sea of acronyms and military jargon that will have you flipping to the glossary every couple of pages. However, once you’re familiar with terms like CBDR and DIW you soon lose yourself in what is, essentially, a fantastically fun space adventure yarn.

The narrative itself is punchy and well-written, masterfully leading the reader through the story. The central characters, especially those from the Coast Guard, are well-rounded and distinct, though some of the Marines do come across as a bit two-dimensional at times. There’s also a lot of hand-wringing and self-pity floating around Oliver at times, but this is handled sympathetically and rings true to the character given the events that lead to her losing her husband at the start of the novel. Suffice to say that by the end of the book she comes to terms with the events of the past and steps up in good fashion.

This isn’t a book that’s going to shock you with hidden plot twists or out-of-the-blue developments, but it is a book that’s going to take you on one hell of a ride if you let it. If you’re a fan of military sci-fi or simply enjoy a tale with a hint of good old “boy’s own” charm then this is definitely one to look out for. I just hope there are more adventures for Captain Oliver and her crew in the future.

[Gritnay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very military/cost guard oriented read. Fast pace, tightly paced, action packed and just plain entertaining.
But apart from the military aspects it is also a story about loss and grief and how to come to terms with them. The human side wasn’t lost despite the abundant and intense space battles, boardings and just general space travels..

[keikii Eats Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read more of my reviews, check out my blog at keikii Eats Books!

Quote:

"I need to... I know this sounds stupid, but I need to make your father proud again. One last time."
Alice reached across and placed her hand on her mother's knee. "He already is, mom. I know it."

Review:
I really enjoyed reading Sixteenth Watch. It was a really, really easy read. I initially picked it up just trying to get the book started, and before I knew it I was 38% of the way through the book and I needed to sleep. This was just so easy to read and fall into.

The main character, Jane Oliver, is nearing retirement. She has been a member of the Coast Guard a long time, and is very good at what she does - leading boarding parties onto ships suspected of ill intent. Oliver also just lost her husband during the worst bit of fighting on the moon so far, and she saw it happen. She is hurting, and trying to find her place in the world again. And she has been given an opportunity to go to the moon, and a promotion.

This opportunity is two pronged. The primary goal, the reason she is being sent in the first place, is to win the new biggest sporting event in the United States. The Boarding Action is a competition "which pits space-based crews in a simulated boarding of a hostile vessel in zero-gravity." Oliver only has a few weeks to shape up the team fielded by the Coast Guard. They have to beat the Marines, who have won for the last few years running. Spectacularly.

But the real goal, the secret goal, is to prevent war with China. The hostilities are increasing rapidly, and quarantine jumpers are a daily occurrence. The action in which Oliver lost her husband was just one example of the way hostilities are going. Morale is low. And the Navy is itching to start a war. They're primed and ready to go at a moments notice. Winning the Boarding Action will give the Coast Guard room to present themselves as a viable alternative to policing the moon.

Overall, I really liked Sixteenth Watch. It was perhaps a too near future for me (war with China just feels a bit too close to home right now), being only about a hundred or so years in the future. I really liked the main character, and that she was an older protagonist, which I don't get to see often. And I really liked that she cared for her position - to prevent war, by any means necessary - so strongly. I just could have done without so many references to current things, like the USS Obama. Kinda just weirded me out.

There were also the character interactions. Oliver has a friend/assistant/fellow officer under her that does her bidding, and the interactions she has with him are just the best. They have the best relationship and chemistry that ISN'T sexual in nature and I just lived for it. Plus there were her interactions with her daughter and even her husband in the beginning. The relationships were just great.

And also there is that ending. Man, what an ending. I don't know if this is expected to be a series or what, but with an ending like that... it easily could be.

ARC received from Angry Robot on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Coast Guard Search and Rescue - in Space! This novel had interesting politics (at the personal, organizational, national, and solar system level) and a great lead character who has clear leadership strengths at the same time that she's grappling with trauma and recovery. All of the characters, in fact, were well created and I felt like I knew and was interested in almost everyone I came across. But caring about the character makes the abrupt, near-cliff hanger unresolved ending a bit unsatisfying. Overall, interesting study of the Coast Guard and the ethos of a warfighting service whose main mission is oftentimes saving lives ("So Others May Live").

**Thanks to NetGalley and for the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to be posted at www.stillmorewords.com on 4/27/20.

Short version? HANG ON TO YOUR BALL CAPS, FOLKS, BECAUSE IT'S A HELLUVA RIDE.