Devils & Black Sheep

The Wild Space

by C. S. Ferguson

In the distant Heracles system, at the edge of explored space, the last remaining crew of the infamous Crimson Star pirates have found themselves trapped. Civil war has broken out, and the jumpgates that supply interstellar travel have been shut down to all but official traffic.

Their leader, ex-math professor TYBALT, is desperate to escape the system and attempt an experimental cure for the degenerative nervous condition that got him fired in the first place.

Their pilot, former mobster STAFF, clings to the hope that he can reconstitute the pirate fleet and return them to their former glory.

Their surgeon, the ascetic psychic TAMORA, has grown disillusioned with their lifestyle and wants to return home to her monastery and to her simple life of meditation.

Their enforcer, retired military AI robot NICODEMUS, could never find employment after retiring as anything except a janitor ... until a law enforcement agent approached him about using his military skills to infiltrate and take down an infamous pirate group.

They are the last of the Crimson Star pirates. And they are pursued by the legendary lawman NEIL TESSO, whose decades of service are liberally sprinkled with stunning victories. With the increased pirate activity in his home system, as well as the civil war, the Core government on old Earth is threatening martial law. Desperate to avert the arrival of the insidious Inquisitors and the suffering that follows like a plague, Tesso pursues the pirates with zealous vigor.

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2019

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of Pew Pew books, but I liked this space opera. I'll be brief -- I liked the interesting main characters and unpredictable plot. The author has a great imagination and obvious talent, and produced a good first effort. If you like sci-fi in space, this one will probably make you happy.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 3 out of 5]

C. S. Ferguson starts a tale of Devils & Black Sheep (hard from WordFire Press) of the four crew members of the Crimson Star pirate fleet, now down to one ship. Trapped in a system with the jumpgates have been shut down because a major battle of a civil war was fought in orbit over the main planet. One of the crew, AI robot Nicodemus who is their fighter, has been secretly informing on them to the authorities. Their physician Tamora is a natural psychic at a time when a drug creating artificial psychics is at the heart of the civil war. Disparate to bribe their way out of the system, they rob another pirate of its cargo, one crate, that turns out to be very valuable. Lawman Neil Tesso is near retirement and wants to clean up the system before the core sends an Inquisitor, psychics known to kill thousands. I only hope that the rest of the story to tell what was in the crate. I eagerly wait the sequel.

[Anthony Philosophos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A band of space pirates, comes across a valuable stolen package. Everyone is after the package. The pirates must keep together and try and make sense out of what is happening.