Crescendo of Fire

The Braintrust #2

by Marc Stiegler

If a rocketship dies, who wins?The world’s most advanced rocket company suffers a catastrophic explosion that becomes a publicity disaster. Within hours, the new CEO Matt Toscano learns he faces much deeper trouble than a public relations problem—

The California Governor plans to destroy him.

Suddenly mankind’s best hope of better space travel lies on the water, with the BrainTrust.

Fortunately Dash Ambarawati, the BrainTrust’s most brilliant researcher, has studied rocket science since childhood. With her help, Matt stands a chance.

But Dash brings trouble with her. Matt and Dash find themselves with a host of enemies on their heels, including the Russian Union Premier and the American President for Life. The race is on.

One way or the other, this race will end in a Crescendo of Fire.

Meanwhile,

An itty bitty ninja gets her fondest wish. An ex-commando squares off with a Red Princess. And a retired project director toils quietly behind the scenes.

Kidnappers, oligarchs, politicians, dictators, princelings—outwitting them is not just a job, it’s an adventure.

And all in a day’s work…on the BrainTrust.

Scroll back to the top, and click "Buy Now" and kick back for a thought-provoking, action-packed adventure that will have you staying up all night reading to discover the truth!

Genres: Science Fiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2018

Reviews

[〰️Beth〰️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but...

I enjoyed part two of The Braintrust but am disappointed that Dash, Jam and Ping were separated. I know there we are introduced to other strong female secondary characters but Dash and the other two made a wonderful team. As with the first book this one extrapolates on current technology ( very interesting to me) and the current state of politics and espionage (disturbing as it is funny .) Reading 3 next and awaiting book 4.

[Shhhhh Ahhhhh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good but as much as the protagonist is a polymath (and seemingly a realistic one) things seem to fall into place way too easily in this book. I guess I want to see more dramatic consequences for poor judgement or hiccups. If you're stupid enough to get roped into a kidnapping attempt, maybe you should be kidnapped, polymath. Maybe your next door roommates shouldn't be A) a world-class rated Aikido martial artist and b) ex mil and just so happen to be on the dock looking out and see the kidnapping attempt. If a part of your plan to get these ships into orbit goes up in flames, it really shouldn't be so simple to get around that issue and still launch on time. It doesn't work out like that in real life at all. I mean, it's still entertaining and all but it's starting to bug me. Here's hoping that's corrected in the last installment.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second installment of a well written near future (2080ish) Libertarian science fantasy series. Comparable to Mackey Chandler's "April" series in subject matter, but with characters that exhibit a somewhat more emotional maturity. However, like Chandler, leaders of opposing forces are shown as flat, evil, charactures. On the plus side, it's good to see near-future SF that take global warming seriously, even when it's not the focus of the story. (I really wish that KGU had done that in their post-appocalyptic stories.)
Looking forward coming installments of this series.

[Cedric Girouard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing but net...

This was long in the making, and at least we dont have to wait too much on book 3 now. Great execution, lots of plots within plots, author seems to still be fleshing out the groundworks of what could be a near wndless series.

Only downside is that there is so much going on in this book that caracter development does suffer a bit. Too many new friends introduced and we didnt get to learn about our existing friends more.

Still a great read

[William Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a MarySue

Still makes everything end well for the main character, who in one scene has no idea she is rich, yet a few chapters later accepts it as if it has always been. The bad guys are almost farcically inept and both ends of the political spectrum are comical caricatures.

I am continuing with this series for the tech ideas. The plot is absurd and the world building is more fantasy than science based.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun story that at times is quite clever and then occasionally so ridiculous I couldn’t stop myself groaning out loud. With the previous book I tried to follow some of the illogical elements of the story, but it is much easier and more enjoyable, to just go with the flow and ignore the holes in the plot.

[Velma Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book just as much as book 1. Additional characters, plus more information and personality coverage. I like that! I didn't laugh as much as the first one but there were subtle items in there if you looked. Can't wait for the next!?

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story

very clever and still having appealing characters. the politics were amusing and the education insights were intriguing.
good job Marc

[George Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good installment

Enjoying this series. A little tongue in cheek but good fun and good characters. Will be interested to see how the story develops.