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Opus X #3

Investigating Deceit

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You can’t hide from Justice when Justice has your scent.

Jia and Erik are following up on crimes they run across, providing Erik with more hints that he needs to help track down the killers of his people.

Can Jia provide more support for Erik as he works to uncover secrets the powerful don't want revealed? Or will Erik make a mistake and go too far?

Both want the truth – but is revealing the truth good for society?

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Two years ago, a small moon in a far off system was set to be the location of the first intergalactic war between humans and an alien race.

It never happened. However, something was found many are willing to kill to keep a secret.

Now, they have killed the wrong people.

How many will need to die to keep the truth hidden? 

As many as is needed.

He will have vengeance no matter the cost. She will dig for the truth. No matter how risky the truth is to reveal.

Go up and click Buy Now and prepare for the mystery that determined humanities future.


"An incredibly good fictionalized accounting of humanities future, and what Lin and Blackwell uncovered that shook the foundations of both the powerful and the elite." - UFE Interstellar News.


454 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2020

72 people are currently reading
378 people want to read

About the author

Michael Anderle

2,318 books1,784 followers

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5 stars
120 (53%)
4 stars
73 (32%)
3 stars
27 (12%)
2 stars
2 (<1%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for 〰️Beth〰️.
815 reviews62 followers
January 31, 2020
Book 3 and still developing

Anderle seems to have the police procedural part of the story going ok, a little slow in the middle. As always he can do great action involving “unusual “ creatures and weapons. He still needs to work on character development and familial conversations to flow better where his sarcastic side is not involved.

This marks the end of the first quarter of the series. It will be interesting to see if romance develops and if our detectives become off planet agents.
Profile Image for Tony Hisgett.
2,999 reviews37 followers
October 25, 2020
This book has lots of little incidents and a range of mildly interesting activities, but for most of the book it was a sort of ‘marking time’ story.
It’s clear why the author is constantly introducing dating and relationship stuff into the story, as he seemingly has a plan to get Erik and Jia together, but it’s definitely getting a bit tedious.
If possible I would have given 2.5 stars, up until three quarters of the way through I would have given two stars, but there was a bit more action and progress in the story towards the end of the book.
Profile Image for Per Gunnar.
1,313 reviews74 followers
April 4, 2023
This is the third book in the Opus X series and it is a quite decent one.

When Michael Anderle sets his mind to write good plain science fiction or urban fantasy action with some kick-ass main protagonist(s), instead of slapping his name on a bunch of mediocre or even crappy books written by other authors or tries to appease the woke mob, the result is often quite good.

This series is one of those books series. The main protagonist has some similarities with Anderle’s The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone series except that this is more regular science fiction and less fantasy fiction. The same kick-ass and everything-can-be-solved-with-enough-violence attitude is there though. A bit like Dirty Harry in space, or at least in the future.

Erik continues to work himself towards finding who betrayed him and killed his men and in the process he and his partner kicks-ass (of course) and solves crime.

This instalment in the series is quite action filled and the adversaries pile on as well as their difficulty. To the extent that Erik decides that his portable hand-cannon does not really cut it any more. But then what would you expect when you add organisations and scientists with (very) questionable moral who specializes in gene research and mutations.

In between all the smoke and loud noises there is Jia who is starting to worry about the fact that she has gone from a near pacifist to shot first, shot some more and then ask questions.

Then we of course have the very slow brewing romance between Erik and Jia. I quite like that this one is quite far in the background and very slow to go anywhere. It would have been even better if the author had dropped all this Jia should marry crap from her mother as well as Jia “dating” some other dude while trying to convince herself that she does not have feelings for her partner since, for some reason, that would be a bad thing. Those parts are snooze material.

One character I quite liked in this book was the quite cool and very competent secret agent that finally came out of the shadows a bit and helped Erik and Jia to kick big bad mutant monster butts.

So, bottom line, a very enjoyable book. Not quite four star material but clearly above three stars on my book enjoyment scale.
904 reviews4 followers
July 27, 2020
The first book of this series had a tight story, consistent pace and an interesting view of evolved Earth society: utopian on the surface, but corrupt underneath. The second and this third book suffered from lack of a clear and driving motivation for the protagonists, who seem to move from unconnected crime to the next while getting nowhere on the investigation into the massacre on a distant moon that the primary protagonist came to Earth to solve. The connections seemed forced and the other characters were very one dimensional. Also, the dwelling on the personal, romantic lives of the two protagonists was awkward, boring and very immature. This novel should stick with action not attempt to unite the protagonists in a romance as the two of them really do not seem compatible. The uneven pace and the seemingly pointless crimes made this book very difficult to read.
375 reviews3 followers
March 30, 2020
Book 3 continues a great story

I was so busy re-reading TKG for the umpteenth time this episode has sat unread for almost 3 weeks. Then of course I had to re-read books 1 & 2 to embed the storyline in my aged grey matter. All in all an exciting 4 or 5 days reading Books 1 - 3 and seeing that book 4 is sitting in my collection just waiting to be read and the night is still young...
Oh yes, of course this like books 1 & 2 is a five star read. So looking forward to the rest of the planned 12 book series.
Profile Image for Frank Bertino.
1,771 reviews19 followers
February 3, 2020
I Need A Bigger Gun

The famous detective pair, Erik and Jia, continue to roll up high profile arrests as Erik gets a little closer to finding who was responsible for the massacre of his unit. Is romance bubbling to the surface between them as they find their dating partners unfulfilling? Another favorite series by Anderle. I like the action, humor, intrigue and possible romance. I look forward to the next book.
Profile Image for Travis Anderson.
76 reviews1 follower
April 3, 2020
Great story

Another great story in this series, I'm a fan and am thoroughly enjoying the journey they are taking us on. I'm not one to be critical of anything especially if I enjoy the book, so don't expect that from me. Thankfully a couple of. My questions were answered so thank you very much Mr Anderle I didn't even have to ask you them.
Profile Image for Kris.
497 reviews2 followers
November 8, 2021
So much better than book 2. Looking forward to the next one.
Note: not sure if it is a mistake in the written book (listened to audio version) but Gia could not "she shook his head" in the ending conversation at the bar.
Oh yeah.... Love the humor!!
Profile Image for Chris.
1,084 reviews
December 8, 2021
This didn’t hold much suspense like the first two. It is starting to become a self aware parody of 80’s buddy cop movies as the characters keep pointing out how crazy it is to have a massive shootout for every routine cop talk.
117 reviews2 followers
February 17, 2020
Yessss hard hitting and fun

Fun and hard hitting action . While exploring personal growth, coping with moral issues all while catching the bad guys .. the key word is badassery
Profile Image for angie beth.
310 reviews1 follower
March 26, 2020
Not my usual read. But his was good , action packed !!
Profile Image for Alastar.
510 reviews
Read
March 27, 2020
An Entertaining Ride

Well this one was full of different situations and provided lots of fun and exciting little twists. Lady Justice... I love 💘 her new title.
Profile Image for George.
7 reviews
July 24, 2023
Author Anderle spins another page-turner

Erik and Jia continue to unravel mysteries. Some surprising events keep this book moving at a fast pace. A very enjoyable read.
Profile Image for Erik.
80 reviews
July 30, 2023
An entertaining book, but the cop partner romance is just stereotypical and annoying.
Profile Image for Fred.
594 reviews
February 27, 2022
Middling but decent. I think they were having trouble managing deus ex machina for some battles however the world building was a bit more in depth here for the longer series
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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