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Vincent Chen #2
Cryptic Commands: A Vincent Chen Novella
Watch your back…
Vincent Chen makes sure his comms ferry satellites don’t harbor malfunctions. He’d prefer they didn’t hide people inside, too.
The woman left comatose aboard one he recovers is on a vital mission. She must stop criminals from stealing classified secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. But those criminals know she’s on the run, and Vincent is caught up in the chase.
Determined they stay silent, she’s left him only one to seek help from his fellow comms jockeys, in hopes they can fend off a raid and keep the data safe. When their plans fall apart, Vincent must rely on others when he’d rather be on his own…
And trusting anyone is dangerous.
Vincent Chen makes sure his comms ferry satellites don’t harbor malfunctions. He’d prefer they didn’t hide people inside, too.
The woman left comatose aboard one he recovers is on a vital mission. She must stop criminals from stealing classified secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. But those criminals know she’s on the run, and Vincent is caught up in the chase.
Determined they stay silent, she’s left him only one to seek help from his fellow comms jockeys, in hopes they can fend off a raid and keep the data safe. When their plans fall apart, Vincent must rely on others when he’d rather be on his own…
And trusting anyone is dangerous.
148 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2018
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Steve Rzasa
98 books103 followersSteve Rzasa was born and raised in South Jersey, and fell in love with books—especially science fiction novels and historical volumes—at an early age. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University’s College of Communications in 2000, and then spent seven years as a reporter and assistant editor at weekly newspapers in Maine. Steve moved to Wyoming in 2007 to become the editor of a weekly newspaper there, and now works at the local library. He and his wife Carrie have two boys and live in Buffalo, Wyoming.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 3, 2019
Captain Vincent Chen sees little choice but to help out Izzy, a (beautiful) stowaway spy on the run for her life. Vincent gets caught up in Izzy's mission to stop a criminal organization from stealing and selling classified data. Vincent, who prefers to work alone, will have to seek help from his fellow comms jockeys to fend off an oncoming raid in Cryptic Commands by author Steve Rzasa.
I didn't read the book blurbs before starting this Vincent Chen novella or the one before it. The knowledge that it was ChristFic sci-fi and the stunning, electric cover sold me on the first book, and Vincent's story in the first book sold me on the second—which has another excellent book cover.
Because I'm not the most science-minded reader, it took me a while to really get into this story, where I enjoyed the characters and the bursts of action but got lost in a lot of the in-between technical details about space travel functions and maneuvering. While the bigger themes and deeper questions in the first book hooked me, this second read was more like a general suspense story to me, with perhaps fewer new or wider questions to address. Also, some punctuation errors and places where the present tense narration unintentionally slips into past tense adds minor confusion to the flow.
Still, Vincent has plenty to work out inside of himself, including matters of faith, his convictions, and his unexpected feelings for a woman who has virtually invaded his solitary life. Vincent's quick and dry humor, even in the midst of danger, is entertaining and refreshing without turning his adventures into a joke, and the events in the last third of the book really took me in their grip.
I'm looking forward to continuing this series.
I didn't read the book blurbs before starting this Vincent Chen novella or the one before it. The knowledge that it was ChristFic sci-fi and the stunning, electric cover sold me on the first book, and Vincent's story in the first book sold me on the second—which has another excellent book cover.
Because I'm not the most science-minded reader, it took me a while to really get into this story, where I enjoyed the characters and the bursts of action but got lost in a lot of the in-between technical details about space travel functions and maneuvering. While the bigger themes and deeper questions in the first book hooked me, this second read was more like a general suspense story to me, with perhaps fewer new or wider questions to address. Also, some punctuation errors and places where the present tense narration unintentionally slips into past tense adds minor confusion to the flow.
Still, Vincent has plenty to work out inside of himself, including matters of faith, his convictions, and his unexpected feelings for a woman who has virtually invaded his solitary life. Vincent's quick and dry humor, even in the midst of danger, is entertaining and refreshing without turning his adventures into a joke, and the events in the last third of the book really took me in their grip.
I'm looking forward to continuing this series.
August 15, 2018
Cryptic Commands by Steve Rzasa, is the second adventure featuring Captain Vincent Chen.
Cryptic Commands takes place in the Face of the Deep universe and heavily references the events of the first two books, The Word Reclaimed and The Word Unleashed. I recommend reading those first or immediately after.
The story is full of action, but is predicable and relies on the classic spy novel formula. However, the character of Vincent is so likeable that it would take a bad plot indeed to earn less than four stars.
In conclusion if you have invested in the Face of the Deep series. This is a fun trip back reminiscent of a Bond movie.
Cryptic Commands takes place in the Face of the Deep universe and heavily references the events of the first two books, The Word Reclaimed and The Word Unleashed. I recommend reading those first or immediately after.
The story is full of action, but is predicable and relies on the classic spy novel formula. However, the character of Vincent is so likeable that it would take a bad plot indeed to earn less than four stars.
In conclusion if you have invested in the Face of the Deep series. This is a fun trip back reminiscent of a Bond movie.
October 19, 2019
Lots of twists and turns in this story of Vincent Chen.
Vincent finds someone floating in stasis in his comms fairy. Izzy is running from a criminal organization and they are right on her heels. Working closely with each other brings feelings to the surface, that, when all is said and done, should have stayed where they were!
This is a clean read.
Vincent finds someone floating in stasis in his comms fairy. Izzy is running from a criminal organization and they are right on her heels. Working closely with each other brings feelings to the surface, that, when all is said and done, should have stayed where they were!
This is a clean read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews