Suicide Run

A Smuggler's Tale #2

by Nathan Lowell, Emily Woo Zeller (Narrator)

A new ship. A young crew.
A dream job gone horribly wrong.

When circumstances drive Zoya and Natalya to accept an offer from the most powerful organization in the Western Annex, it looks like their ship - literally - comes in. The job fails to live up to its promise and the pair soon find themselves fighting for their lives against a booby trapped ship and its unseen master.
Will they unmask their enemies and survive their Suicide Run?

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Audiobook, Space, Adventure, Action

149 pages, Audible Audio

First published March 31, 2018

About the author

Nathan Lowell has been a writer for more than forty years, and first entered the literary world by podcasting his novels. His sci-fi series, The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper grew from his long time fascination with space opera and his own experiences shipboard in the United States Coast Guard. Unlike most works which focus on a larger-than-life hero (prophesized savior, charismatic captain, or exiled prince), Nathan centers on the people behind the scenes--ordinary men and women trying to make a living in the depths of space. In his novels, there are no bug-eyed monsters, or galactic space battles, instead he paints a richly vivid and realistic world where the "hero" uses hard work and his own innate talents to improve his station and the lives of those of his community.

Dr. Nathan Lowell holds a Ph.D. in Educational Technology with specializations in Distance Education and Instructional Design. He also holds an M.A. in Educational Technology and a BS in Business Administration. He grew up on the south coast of Maine and is strongly rooted in the maritime heritage of the sea-farer. He served in the USCG from 1970 to 1975, seeing duty aboard a cutter on hurricane patrol in the North Atlantic and at a communications station in Kodiak, Alaska. He currently lives in the plains east of the Rocky Mountains with his wife and two daughters.

Awards & Recognition
2008 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction for Full Share
2008 Podiobooks Founder's Choice Award for Double Share
2008 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction for South Coast
2009 Podiobooks Founder's Choice Award for Captain's Share
2009 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction for Double Share
4 out of 10 Books on Podiobooks.com Top Overall Rated by Votes (2. Double Share, 3. Quarter Share, 5. Full Share, 8. Half Share) -- as of Jan 4, 2009
6 out of 10 Books on Podiobooks.com Top Overall Rating (1. Ravenwood, 2. Quarter Share, 3. Double share, 4. Captain's Share, 5. Full Share, 7. South Coast) -- as of Jan 4, 2009

Reviews

[Starla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just finished the sequel to Suicide Run and the 3rd installment of this series, Home Run, I felt compelled to come back here and encourage people to read Suicide Run so that they can get to Home Run. Home Run is phenomenal!

Original Suicide run review below. Spoiler Free.

I look forward to every Nathan Lowell book. I’m always sad when the last page is finished, and wish with all my heart that we could clone the man so that he could write twice as much. So, it pains me to write a less than five star review.

But.

This book, while the prose flowed freely, had several issues that should be included in an honest review:

1) Character development. Nathan’s books are largely based on the development of his characters. We usually watch them grow, stretch themselves, learn new things about themselves and the people they care about, and by the end of the book they are in a different headspace. Almost the only thing different about the main characters between the beginning of Suicide Run and the end is that they have more credits. (I don’t think that’s a spoiler; they are working, after all.)

2) Dialogue. Nathan’s books are normally dialogue-rich, and that dialogue moves the plot along in his previous novels, as it should. There are usually many revelations within the dialogue, the characters arrive at new solutions, and find more avenues for the character to explore or to address. This was not often the case in Suicide Run. Without these elements of purpose, the dialogue still flowed, but sometimes the book felt a bit bogged down, because the dialogue wasn’t being used to move the plot forward.

3) The book element that may have aggravated me the most was the “brilliant” idea that’s actually a very basic concept. This basic concept gets repeated so many times that it starts to feel like padding for the book. The “wow” factor this idea is treated with every single time it’s presented presumes that humanity has forgotten everything it’s ever known, has stopped studying history completely, and/or people just aren’t very intelligent in the far future. But perhaps that’s just my age showing. If I were sixteen, the idea would probably seem fresh and new, unless I’d had Ms. Medina for history in 7th grade. Regardless, I could have easily forgiven this if it had been addressed only once, rather than over and over, which leads us to...

4) Repetitiveness. When an author finds his characters having nearly identical conversations over and over, then it’s time to take a step back and look at the plot closely. Sure, the conversations flow freely and realistically. Sure, we enjoy spending time with these characters. But the repetitiveness is a clear sign that either more needs to be going on, or the book needs to be shorter and tighter.

I know that others will disagree with me, and I hate to sound harsh about an author whom I admire very much. But even though Nathan Lowell has set himself a very fast pace for turning out books, his readership deserves the quality, thought, and effort he put into his earlier efforts.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good read.

[Red Tide]

Rating: minus 3 on a scale of minus 5 to plus 5.

It is revision time for this book, which should be a better and more clear statement of my reaction. I expect that no one will read this other than myself. I have one point to make for any of my former insane commenter clouds. I aim to misbehave.

Before I start this, I need YouTube time. This was made possible by Doctor Who/They Break My Heart -RecklessGirl100, NCMI, aidan knight, ScaredKetchup, Angela Collier, Red Glasgow, Bobbing Along, Chris and Shell, Red Glasgow, LuckyBlackCat, Anark, Ben and Emily, Gutsick Gibbon, Hoots, Ben G Thomas, Planarwalker, FAFO, Crow Caller, A Lil Bit Mads, The Cosy Creative, Kanal 13, Kyiv Post, The Great War, Historia Civilis, France 24, Harbo Wholmes, Ukraine Matters, Reads With Rachel, Lily Alexandre, Cruising Alba, Eugenia from Ukraine, Think that Through, Cruising Crafts, Nomadic Crobot, Camper Vibe, Tale Foundry, Northern Narrowboaters, Shoeonhead, No Justice, The Researcher, Mia Mulder, Emma Thorne, DW News, Fit 2B Read, Don't F@ck with Ukraine, Philosophy Tube, Tom Nicholas, Vlad Vexler, Professor Gerdes Explains, Octopus Lady, Geo Girl, Matriarchetype, Narrowboat Pirate, Keffals, Shannon Makes, Break N Make, Bernadette Banner, The London History Show, ATP Geopolitics, Ukraine Matters, Cruising Crafts, Kris Atomic, Ukraine The Latest, Silicon Curtain, Mia Asano, Contrapoints, Postmodern Jukebox, The Sword and The Pen Reflections, Real Time History, The Brain Blaze, The Confused Adipose, Natasha's Adventures, Lala and Books, Faun, Hardy's Books, Cruising The Cut, Central Crossing, Emperor Tigerstar, Fall of Civilisations, Then & Now, Fraser Cain, Michael Lambert, Covert Cabal, Depressed Russian, NFKRZ, HBomberGuy, The Russian Dude, Red Plateaus, Strange Aeons, Dr Fatima, Kazachka, Shaun, Physics Girl, Diane Callahan Quotidian Writer, Miniminuteman, Morgan Donner, Hannah Lee Kidder, Riverboat Jack, Terrible Writing Advice, Cass Ellis, Lady of the Library, iWriterly, Dark Docs, Answer in Progress, Renegade Cut, Media Death Cult, Ember Green, Haropones, Dark Seas, The Leftist Cooks, Alt Shift X, Fantasy and World Music by the Fletchers, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Mom on the Spectrum, Russian Media Monitor, Captured in Words, The Dadvocate, Jess Owens, Abbie Emmons, Merphy Napier, Your True Shelf, Novara Media, Art in the Corridor, Patrick(H)Willem, EarleWrites, Jen the Librarian, Gingers are Black, Cruising on the Border, Lord of the Rings -Saga Lore AI, RFU News.

I saw an idiot who whilst insulting a good trans essayist, complain to her that I list channels made by trans creators. To that whiny little shit and his like I warn against visiting these channels, lest you suffer exposure to the real world. These lists include essayist, cis, socialist, Russian, het, physicist, married, WOC, asexual, philosopher, military historian, trans, modeller, tall, Kenyan, book reviewer, lesbian, archaeologist, physicist, Canadian, intersex, redhaired, primatologist, anarchist, marine biologist and other female creators whom the sane refer to as Women. Others include ginger, other LGBTQI+, anarchist, Danish, primatologist, other BIPOC, writer, miniatures gamer, Australian, communist, fashion historian who are labelled Human Beings by the sane. Should the voices not yet be stilled, seek immediate therapy, convert to Buddhism or apply for the Catholic exorcism. My feeling towards these are similar to that of the 13 Ukrainian marines defending Snake Island, when their surrender was demanded by the Russian fleet. They responded, "Russian warship, Go f@ck yourself."

This book floundered about in search of a plot. The world building consists of a mini-tour of unrelated locations. New characters are introduced with no bearing on the story, if story there is. The descriptive skill created a travelogue, since there is no story flow or identifiable direction.

The newly graduated main characters are presented as talented Star ship designers, test pilots, shipyard designers, able to perform crew selection, are competent murder and sabotage investigators and more. Their only missing attributes are personalities.

A crime scene is not secured. A suspect ship with a suspected gang aboard is not detained while in port. The two twenty something main characters are not provided personal security after a crime against their project ship or during their investigation but are publicly identified as the only detectives involved.

An unqualified, midlevel manager is selected as corporate CEO. A long time station dishwasher is discovered to be a famous ship designer.

Despite fear of further sabotage and the possibility of further murder attempts against the two MC's, no protection of the ship or even a rescue/tug craft was assigned.

I had seen on this and many similar books many positive reviews and five star ratings. When negative reviews are written there are the condescending comments defending contrivance, plot holes, lack of worldbuilding, lack of character personality, lack of character history or development, lack of in-universe logic, lack of new ideas, lack of recognisable story arc and lack of raw editing. The defence is one sentence "It is just science fiction" and I have seen this comment on LitRPG, Space Opera, Fantasy and Military science fiction reviews.

I need another YouTube break. This next is made possible by Doctor Who/Never Cruel or Cowardly - Ozar, NCMI, Yanis Varoufakis, Girls Rock Asia, Times Radio, Terrible Writing Advice, ThePrimeChronus, Anka Daily News, Living Anachronism, Radio Retrofuture, Mercado Media, TVP News, Olga Mieleszuk, Ro Ramdin, Holly the Cafe Boat, Narrowboat Pirate, SandRhoman History, Hoots, Rebecca Watson, Ana Fern, DylanBurns TV, Tennessee Brando, Dominic Noble, Delamer, Music, Andrewism, Eileen, Peter Stefanovic, Page Perspective, Apostolic Majesty, SK Media, The Gaze, Make Better Media, Historical Fashion, UATV English, Ponderful, Strange Aeons, Whitney Avalon, Dark Brandon, Ukraine News TV, Jared Henderson, Anna from Ukraine, NerdForge, Cecilia Blomdahl, Anna Gramling, Inside Russia, Tale Foundry, Cruising the Cut, Cruising Alba, Cruising the Border, Well Deck Diaries, The Norse Witch, Kiko1006, BobbyBroccoli, Wednesday -Paint it Black, Kat Blacque, Keffals, The Bands of HM Royal Marines, Jessica Kellgren Fozard, Lily Simpson, The Juice Media, Honest Trailers, United 24, Combat Veteran Reacts, Outlaw Bookseller, Malinda, Jean's Thoughts, A Day of Small Things, Invicta, Cover in French, Abbie Emmons, Caspian Report, Puddles Pity Party, Foster on the Spectrum, Female Warriors -Teresatessa, Rational National, Asturia Quartet, Supertanskiii, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Military Aviation History, GhostTime History, Belle of the Ranch, Alina Gingertail, Rebecca Watson, Ash L G, Valhalla Drums, May, Kings and Generals, ConeOfArc, Tank Encyclopedia, Unlearning Economics, Kozak Siromaha, Caelan Conrad, The Harp Sisters, Joe Blogs, People Profiles, Storied, Halfling Hobbies, Stories of Futures Past, Ukraine Calling, Tale Foundry, Book Furnace, Hildegard von Blingin, LIbrary of a Viking, Jormungandr, Princess Weekes, Jay Exci, Lives and Histories, Patty Gurdy, History with Kayleigh, ScaredKetchup, Megalithhunter, Fundie Fridays, The Bitchuation Room, Authors Behaving Badly, Karolina Zebrowska, Katy Montgomerie, Unlearning Economics, Red Viburnam Song, The Authentic Observer, Roomies Digest, The New Enlightenment with Ashley, Horses, Econ Lessons, Raw News and Politics, Adiemus - Carmina Slovenica.

I have seen a fair number of Neoliberal/libertarian fantasies in Amazon's Unlimited collection. These are feel good stories meant to reassure members of certain classes that they are good people.

I recommend reading Mark Fisher and give thought to how vulnerable we are when we consume entertainment. From sport to music fan, we react emotionally. In that moment when critical thought is asleep, we absorb messages about the society, the value of our obsessions, the correct political positions and more.

Amazon's selection include some brilliant Indie writers and top tier writers. Based on a sample size of 1000+ attempted titles over about five years, I am guessing that more than 90% of their selection is low end, poorly written drivel, the vast majority of which are ugly, overtly political rants.

I have relied on YouTube for close to four years now. I was searching for science fiction commentary or video and found them quickly. The hobbyist, educational, lifestyle and essayist followed in that order as I remember. My last and best surprise were book channels. 😍 The book channels host communities of thoughtful, polite readers in love with all aspects of the bookish world. They are environments utterly different to whatever Goodreads are.

Consider treating this as a potentially hostile site. 🤔

There is no Goodreads discourse. About four years ago, I wrote a very short negative review of Powers of the Earth, an unremarkable, poorly written salute to what would now be labelled the sociopathic January 6, 2021 hero. Travis Corcoran (the writer), self-described as libertarian (now an anarcho capitalist minus the investment portfolio) and vocal advocate for the return of chattel slavery (popular US stance), a supporter of Putin (another popular US stance), veteran and employee of an unnamed US agency.

He and six fellow patriots took issue with my assessment that a book glorifying the attempt by a rich twat to enlist the military in the overthrow of the US government in order that he not pay inheritance tax, was dangerous and unhealthy. "Atlas Shrugged" was mocked decades past and in 2025 USA, books like these celebrate the theme. The irony pained my communist soul.

They demanded my response to increasingly unhinged comments over a year, none of which found a single praiseworthy element of that drivel. The final comment was delivered by Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr who grandly declared that They had "won" (?). At that point They and many fellows had launched a year long tsunami of vile sexual, racist, anti-socialist and other comments against apparently every female creator of channels which I mentioned. Though muted, it continues still. While they failed to attract the thirteen year old boater or her mother, archaeologist, modeller or artist, They did increase the world's overabundance of unpleasantness. Added to which was an accurate self-portrait of the Snowflake (vicious, poorly educated US man-child) delivered to a multinational audience. That seems was a great Victory. Goodreads discourse at its finest ??

To better understand those members, read "White Trash" by Nancy Isenberg.

I have earned another step away. This next was brought to you courtesy of YouTube - Doctor Who/Be kind - Reality Genre Studios, NCMI, Fiona Hill, AllShorts, Amanda the Jedi, Xiran Jay Zhao, Travelling K, The Clockwork Reader, OrangeRiver, Miranda Mills, Military History Visualised, Fiction Beast, Petrik Leo, Heather Cox Richardson, Reese Waters, Widebeam and Wellingtons, Hetty and the Jazzalato Band, Munecat, Amie's Literary Empire, Vasya in the Hay, Library Ladder, Deerstalker Pictures, Canadian Dominion, Hej Sokoly, Ben and Emily, Jessie Gender, Classics with Damien Walter, The Norse Witch, Linguoer Mechanic, Part Time Hobbit, Planet D, Reese Waters, Squire, The Book Leo, Anton Petrov, Science Insanity, Up and Atom, Oceanliner Designs. Faun, The Historian's Craft, The Great War, Queen Penguin, Starbound Extra, MSI - Songs Sped Up, Military Aviation History, Authors Behaving Badly, Noella Reacts, With Cindy, Dungeons and Discourse, Carl Walmsley, Tod Maffin, The Players Aid, Aid Thompsin, PSP -Never Back Down, V. Birchwood, Belinda Carr, Dark Brandon, Growing Up Fundie, Head Between the Pages, Turn Left, David Wengrow, Content without Context, Hello Future Me, Shades of Orange, Bookslike Whoa, Politics Joe, Perimeter Institute, British Museum, Casual Navigation, Yankee Farm Wife, Lee Francis, Naughty Nana Duz, Lady Izdihar, Guard the Leaf, Jordan Green, Agro Squirrel Narrates.

Ominous music begins. 🙂 I recently discovered through the YouTube book channels that some fans of romance, romantasy and fantasy are also mental. One star reviewers have been stalked, had threats made against them, their friends and family or been doxxed. These seem to be more common than in science fiction and almost normalised in that community. In no case did Amazon punish writers who sometimes organised these campaigns, discipline these fans or remove employees who enabled that behaviour. No incident was acknowledged by Amazon or Goodreads, though fortunately Book Tube reported on these.

Recently a seventh EBay ex-employee was sentenced for months of real life harassment of a couple whose small ecommerce channel wears deemed unkind to EBay. The couple were finally awarded millions and the ex-employee had been the Global Chief of Security or some such for EBay.

KIndle/Goodreads escalated their own nasty campaign against me, after my review of Powers. They shared my limited message history with others, resulting in Australian Intelligence as a favour to some US agency through Pine Gap Centre to interrogate the one friend whom I occasionally messaged for my personal information. The attempt failed. My friend being concerned for my safety, was anger inducing. I am not thrilled by the slavishness of the Australian state and thinking that Amazon might improve their customer service protocols. 😊

Suggestions for safety on this site. Remove all personal information from profile and avoid messaging. Remove the Lurker, those who never post. They are gang monitors, not admirers. With Amazon's penchant for Alteration of customer pages, the screenshot of the odd, ugly or threatening are valuable. This should suffice. BookTube discuss alternatives to Goodreads.

Kindle represents a greater danger. Do Not use Kindle Files, Calendar, Contacts, Email. Amazon read emails with neither permission nor notice. Do Not "purchase" Amazon ebooks, as you own only the device not downloads. Those may be altered or deleted at Amazon's whim. All Silk searches should be innocuous and non-critical. BookTubers discuss alternative devices and sellers.

To implement these will cost nothing but to not might well do. It is important to recognise that some members and employees lack restraint, non-Randian morality or oversight but They are US patriots. Ominous music ends. 🙂

Be well. May we all find Good Reading! 🤗

Some of my favourite channels.
Bobbing Along, Biz, Zoe Bee, Real Time History, Alexa Donne, Joe Blogs, Sailing Melody, Northern Narrowboaters, Kelly Loves Physics and History, Tara Mooknee, Mrs Betty Bowers, Owen Jones, ThePrimeChronus, Munecat, Jake Broe, Cecilia Blomdahl, Paola Hermosin, Philosophy Tube, The Book Leo, Mia Mulder, A Cup of Nicole, Zoe Baker, Lily Simpson, Tibees, Narrowboat Pirate, The Paranormal Scholar, Tom Nicholas, What Vivi did next, The Ritual Kitchen with Laura May, Physics Girl, Nini Music, A Day of Small Things, Planarwalker, Gutsick Gibbon, Military History Visualised, Malinda, Viva La Dirt League, The Shades of Orange, Roomies Digest, Ukraine Calling, NFKRZ, Sanctioned Ivan, Northern Narrowboaters, May, Camper Vibe, Sabine Hossenfelder, Kathy's Flog in France 24, Patrick is a Navajo, KernowDamo, Tale Foundry, Karolina Zebrowska, Snappy Dragon, Steve Shives, Hailey in Bookland, Enby Reads, Jessie Gender, Alt Shift X, Cambrian Chronicles, Sarah Z, Lore Reloaded, RobWords, IzzzYzzz, Depressed Russian, J. Draper, Emma Thorne, Not the Andrew Marr Show, Two Bit DaVinci, Natasha's Adventures, Elina Charatsidou, Savy Writes Books, Shaun, Truth to Power, The Clockwork Reader, Templin Institute, OrangeRiver, Lady Knight the Brave, Spacedock, Geo Girl, Prime of Midlife, Abby Cox, Perimeter Institute, Interior Design Hub, Pentatonix, Lindsay Stirling, Then & Now, Crecganford, Dan Davis History, It's Black Friday, Adult Wednesday Addams - 2 seasons, ConeofArc, Three Arrows, Dungeons and Discourse, Inside Russia, Venom Geek Media, Randy Rainbow, AllShorts, No Justice, Times Radio, The Welsh Viking, AuroraTrek, Tank Museum, History with Kayleigh, Zoe Bee, Nomadic Crobot, Miniminutemani, Alizee, Renegade Cut, Travelling K, Cold Fusion, NerdForge, Verilybitchie, JuLingo, Deerstalker Pictures, Kris Atomic, Knowing Better, Chris Animations, Science of Science Fiction, The Chloe Connection, British Museum, I'm Rosa, Engineering with Rosie, Art Deco, RFU News, Beautifully Bookish Bethany, The Stitchery, Star Wreck, Maggie Mae Fish, Zoe Baker, Mark R Largent.

I wish you a glorious morning, a productive afternoon, pleasant evening, a fantastic night and may we all continue learning.

Allow Another to speak in your name, adopt Another's sins.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a love, hate relationship with Nathan Lowell. I wait for the next installment and then once it arrives, I can't get anything done until it's finished. I even forgot to eat.

The "Golden Age" series of stories are a great example of character driven fiction. Yes it takes place in space and in the distant future but it is the humanity of the characters that drive all these tales.

Natalya and Zoya start of on a new job and a new adventure. Think block-chain meets pony express in space and you get an idea of the background. In thier adventures they find conflicts and problems and meet some interesting people.

Two of my favorite scenes revolved around very minor characters. Zoya's recollection of Furtner was very colorful and the meeting with Marti Lawrence was a great choice to move the story forward.

I had a great day yesterday living in Nathan Lowells' universe. Now the waiting for the next book begins.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good and I liked how it connects to the universe that Lowell has created. Throughout the book it adds new parts to the universe that I really enjoyed. The famed Tortuga is finally getting a get up and close look. Throughout the Tohholds there are many new things to discover. When Natalia gets to Tortuga and goes to see her new room the imagery that it created was amazing, as well as illuding to how deserted the station was. Later on in the book when they met to have a council the emotion and character development that can happen just pages after a character being introduced is amazing. When it comes to who should read this book I would suggest it to anyone who has read other books in the same universe. This book shows a completely fresh side of the galaxy that I found fascinating. Overall the book has really good character and world development. As with all of Lowell's book the best part is gaining a new understanding how a little section of the universe runs.

[Laz the Sailor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathan Lowell is a auto-buy for me, so I am probably inflating the rating.

This continued the tale of two women and their tiny ship plying the backwater planets of the Deep Dark. As with most Lowell stories, the characters are quirky, and the challenges are more realistic than many adventure stories. The underlying mechanics of trade and politics are well detailed and fascinating.

I strongly recommend that you read both the Quarter Share series and the first in this series - starting here would be confusing.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so my simultaneously boring and fun. The fact that the heart of the mystery is inspections and audits makes me sure that Nathan Lowell had to do inventory and safety protocol checklists many times in his life. This part was slightly boring, but the characters and setting are fun, with enough action mixed in to make me read the book quickly.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story...the book's just a little too technical for my taste.

[Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of a slog. Almost didn’t finish. Put me off Lowell, at least for a while.

[Juni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such tense intrigue!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great follow-up to Milk Run, but something didn't quite click with me. Oh the writing was as good as usual, and the story was interesting and engaging. Maybe it's because I'd re-read Milk Run right before, and Zoya was so......unprepared. For Toe Holds, and everything. Rigid and inflexible and lost, almost.

And here we are, and she's suddenly this amazingly capable character. It was super jarring. I get that 3 years have passed (apparently), but there's no real indication of that time passing, really. It's just, mentioned in passing (I mean the chapters have dates on them, but you know), and Zoya is suddenly great. It's startling too, I think, because Nats didn't really...change that much?

Idk, I still really enjoyed it, but it was just jarring.

[Cmoore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nats and Zee are laying low, making a modest living as couriers out in Toe Hold Space, but the financial powers-that-be, seek them out, and make them an offer they can't refuse...
Once again, Nathan Lowell has managed to craft a "space opera" that doesn't involve blowing up star cruisers, alien hoards, or desperate last stands... but I Still found myself reading ALL through Saturday night, until about 8:30 am Sunday morning. Man... I really needed some coffee after that!
Grab yourself a hot mug O' Joe, and settle in for a most enjoyable read. Just be prepared to miss a night's sleep!

One of my favorite lines...
“Could I have a cup of coffee?” Natalya asked. Louisa nodded. “Of course. Now? With dinner? Or after?” “Yes,” said Natalya. “That would be lovely.”

I've just finished the audio copy voiced by the lovely Emily Woo Zeller released on Dec 24. Soooooooo it's just like a present from Nathan Lowell to me, even though I purchased it myself! LOL

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel really disloyal for giving one of Mr. Lowell’s books less than 4 or 5 stars because I have enjoyed them all so much but I honestly did not enjoy this one as much as the others I have read. I found the first almost 3/4 of the book so very slow. Some of it was intriguing but mostly it was repetitive and dragged. It also lacked the “charm” of his Ishmael Wang books. This book did pick up for me around the 70% mark but not enough for me to rate it higher. I usually enjoy the leisurely process of reading one of Mr. Lowell’s novels, but with this one I really just wanted to finish it so I could move on. I will definitely keep on reading his books but this one fell short of the mark in my opinion. It was good overall just not great.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Smuggler's Tales arc featuring Zoya and Natalya. And it took the pair in a direction I hadn't expected, but quite enjoyed. This was a re-read of the Audible version which was just released, with the narration of Emily Woo Zeller. While I thought her narration of the first book in the arc, Home Run, was barely acceptable, I found this book better, though still a bit on the choppy side. She'll never be a favourite narrator, but she's not one I'll actively avoid.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know how a book can scratch an itch so perfectly you’re left with more itch? Every book in this universe— we’ll, save that one awkward one. But that one isn’t this one.

[Kynan · Rating 2 out of 5]

TL;DR: The Renaissance-Woman vibe went too far here and made willing suspension of disbelief tragically impossible.

TL: I knew what I was getting into with this book. I am a big fan of Ishmael Wang and the original Solar Clipper series and this series very obviously shares the same basic DNA. The general synopsis of Mr Lowell's style at the back of the books states that "he paints a richly vivid and realistic world where the “hero” uses hard work and [their] own innate talents to improve [their] station and the lives of those of [their] community" - that's what I'm here for! However, Ishmael's story was a little easier to swallow. He's the ship's boy and works his way up from making coffee (soooo much coffee) through diligence, luck and perseverance to a higher rank. Nothing he does is outrageously unlikely.

Suicide Run starts out reasonably with Natalya and Zoya busy losing out in Toe Hold space to the cold hard realities of life. Through a little luck they land a job, a very interesting job, and their trajectory towards success is boosted a little. However (and this is going to be a little spoilery so maybe skip to the end of this paragraph if you don't want to know exactly what they get into) they end up working for High Tortuga and, unknowingly, as pawns in an internal battle for bureaucratic-superiority.

Despite being fresh out of the Academy, Zoya and Natalya between them display a level of business acumen and engineering nous that not only could put the combined business and engineering arms of a centuries old communications conglomerate to shame, but does. They repeatedly show up any number of execs and engineers at the jobs they're getting paid for and manage to come up with some revolutionary advances in both communications and ship-design, all whilst thwarting corporate fraud at the coalface all the way up to board-level! So, yay for them, but reallly now?

In general this felt like we went from A to B with a little too much panache and self-assurance. I'm still going to read Home Run because I like these characters and love this universe and I would like to understand exactly why these two are in the situation they're in.

[Mary Soon Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the middle book in the Smuggler's Tale trilogy, spacefaring SF set centuries in the future. I mildly enjoyed it, but less than five of the other six books I've read in this setting. Indeed there were stretches where I was close to bored, despite liking the main character.

I note that the first book I read by Lowell -- Quarter Share -- has less action/drama than this book, but in Quarter Share I was charmed by the interactions between a cast of likable characters and by the slice-of-life view into the crew of an interstellar freighter. Quarter Share was a quiet book, but a beguiling one.

Three and a half out of five tested stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

[Smoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book picks up pretty quick after the end of Milk Run. The main Characters Nat and Z are still pretty much in the same place. They take on a job with High Tortuga and get pulled into all sorts of trouble.

This novel doesn't have the same level of character byplay I've grown to expect in a Nathan Lowell story. Even without it the story is enjoyable and moves along at a good pace. The main characters are very proactive, and that always makes for a snappy read. I'd still like to see more in the cast to allow for the back and forth I like so much in the Ishmael series.

There's a good level of conspiracy, intrigue, and a satisfying resolution at the end. I feel we've been promised that Nat's long lost father is going to have something to do with the series, and I hope it pays off in book three. That and Z's family and their mining ties.

Overall it is a solid read. Not as good as book one, and hopefully not as good as book three is going to be. The second book in a series seems to always be the flattest, so I'm looking forward to seeing what comes in book three.

[Franziska Tinner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good second book in the story, but...

Yeah well, just too much, way too many technical terms I couldn't understand. The underlying story is good, but it would have been so much better, and probably much shorter, if he hadn't filled pages with tech jargen. And, if he needed to put all the tech stuff in , the very least an appendix would have helped some. Not sure that I would have looked up pages of story I couldn't understand.
I am a visual reader, and as such books, stories, I read have to be written in a way that feeds my imagination and my brain turns into pictures. The basic concept of the story was interesting but the packaging suffered. If I wanted to read a technical and detailed engineering with a story sprinkled in between the lines then this may be a good book, but I have no idea whether any of it was making better sense.
The ending was very disappointing, no resolution, just a couple of pages saying; "oh and by the way". I just can't give this book a higher mark than three stars.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice tale that introduces us to High Tortuga which is the financial system that ties all of human space together. Our two protagonists from the first book in the series, Milk Run, are picked up as test pilots for a newly designed packet ship and find massive corruption and danger by the end of the book making friends with some important people along the way. It is clear that Natali and Zoya are cutting quite a swath in their adventures and will be maneuvered into a grand adventure in the third and final book. Great Fun. (In contrast to the latest Ishmael Wong series this middle book is a well done self contained story. The Wong series while enjoyable had the middle book feeling like a transitory book in a series).

[David P. Duffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Spacefaring ‘Nancy Drew’ Heroine Duo*

“Suicide Run” is a slow moving, ‘Nancy Drew’ tale of two sexually ambiguous, young women cast as heroines.

One is an engineering savant, while the other the scion of a mega, interstellar mining juggernaut. The tale is heavy on Ayn Rand style corporate battles, a coffee fetish, and a SJW ideology that the author tries his best to be subtle about, while not succeeding.

The mechanics of the story’s writing are formulaic, leaden, needlessly repetitive to a degree approaching autistic, and has the sense of ‘cut and paste’ job. Take any smuggler’s tale of yore, slap a space ship with ‘girl power’ around it, and you have “Suicide Run.”

Read via Kindle Unlimited.

[Jim Henderson]

This book was entertaining overall, but it REALLY strained credulity.

I've enjoyed most of Lowell's series and am generally enjoying this one, but one thing after another was hard to believe.

The heroes are good, but it comes up again and again that they are the only people with a clue, despite the fact that they're very young and generally inexperienced.

Some of the other characters are good, but some are cliches.

The actions of the 'bad guys' are also hard to believe -- they just don't seem logical.

Other than that, the whole book is a moderately slow engineering problem -- they essentially help set up something like an X-boat network (ala Traveller).

I'll eventually read the next book in the series, but I'll take a break before doing so.

[stormhawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Ride

Rare sequel that is better than it's predecessor. Natalya and Zoya's partnership continues as they take a job with a mysterious, large corporate entity, and end up in plots within plots of corporate espionage, sabotage, theft, and possibly murder. Test piloting is supposed to be dangerous, but usually those are known, or at least predictable, dangers rather than the multilayered conspiracy in which they find themselves. The writing is tight, and the story engaging. Can't put it down is entirely cliche, but accurate for this and other novels in the Take Of Few Golden Age of the Solar Clipper series.

[Lukas Lovas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm slightly conflicted about this book. The main character is soooo very knowledgeable about everything and jumps to conclusions and finds solutions that have evaded apparent experts for years...

While the main characters are talking about how very paranoid they are, they seem to completely disregard the obvious hints and pre-shadowing on the main villains and points of danger. They also insist on going through with a course of action that would be highly dangerous and completely useless. I'm feeling a bit disappointed and I won't be doing a re-read of this book, unlike the main series which I very much like and enjoy :)

[Val Booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lowell. Really. But he also really, really annoys me. I waited and waited and waited for the next book, perusing every site (he posts very sparsely and irregularly) to catch the minimal idea, the mere insinuation, the littlest hint of when, when, when?!, and then, Hey! there it is! No announcement (on Goodreads or anywhere). Just there one day! And then can´t sleep, cause of course I can´t left it and have to know what happens next. Arrgh!
See? Infuriating.
Ok, yeah, guess it's love all right.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

[21 Apr 2018]
Interesting that this series is called Smugglers' Tales, but so far our heroines have not had anything to do with smuggling. They've been couriers and in this one, they were uncovering corruption in a shipbuilding operation. Granted they are operating in a region of space which is sometimes known for smuggling, but they're not involved in it. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable installment of the series, with lots of twists and a fair amount of suspense. I look forward to the next adventure of Nats and Zee.

[Tom Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Smuggler's Tales continues the stories which I immediately fell in love with in Quarter Share. These stories certainly have more action going on. It's always been difficult to tell people they MUST read Quarter Share, it's a story about some characters you'll love, even though not much goes on. You just can't explain how drawn in you'll get to someone who hasn't read Lowell before.

Smuggler's Tales has significantly more action and side characters which continue an ongoing story-line while itself being a self-contained event. As with all these books, I read through it within a few days. This is essentially another story of innovative minds helping look at problems from another angle, though this also includes mystery, suspense and action.

Oh, and of course, coffee.

As with every book Lowel has written, I can't recommend this enough.

[Jim Kratzok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book!

Suicide Run seemed a bit different from Nathan Lowell's other stories of life in the deep dark. While plenty of time was spent on board ships, this book took on the administrative world that keeps things going in the deep dark. Instead of just troubleshooting a ship and its various personnel issues, Natalya and Zoya end up getting involved in a dangerously corrupt underworld that has their very lives in danger. These two young women are rubbing shoulders with some major players. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know that these are the best books I’ve read by Lowell, but once in, I am absorbed and they do hold my interest. This one involved a complicated scheme that was interesting to watch unfold. I think I don’t feel like Natalya and Zoya are as solid and distinct as some of Lowell’s other characters and their individual goals, dreams, and reactions to being used as pawns in an as yet unclear plan by as yet unknown people either seem underdeveloped or don’t ring quite right to me. I generally just suspend all that and go with the story, which is interesting, even gripping, enough.

[Rob Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Excellent!

I’ve been waiting for this book and it does not disappoint. Natalya and Zoya have once more wound up in a sticky situation filled with deception, greed, murders and, yep, even their lives are out at risk.

Those of your familiar with Nathan Lowell’s universe and characters are in for a treat that was worth the wait; those of you unfamiliar need to catch up to really enjoy this book!