What do you think?
Rate this book
Ether War #4
Deception
A distress call summons the Morrigan to a neutral star system in the middle of the frontier, a Gold Empire merchant fleet begging for help. They arrive to find wreckage and debris, signs of a fight with their new enemies the ervas. Their investigation takes them on a journey that may well cost them their lives.
Meanwhile, Rita Peck and Lisa Erris return to confederate space, determined to uncover the conspiracy that has hidden the existence of the alien threat for years. When they visit a stomping ground of confed intelligence, they find themselves hunted by a desperate group of criminals who will stop at nothing to collect their marks.
Meanwhile, Rita Peck and Lisa Erris return to confederate space, determined to uncover the conspiracy that has hidden the existence of the alien threat for years. When they visit a stomping ground of confed intelligence, they find themselves hunted by a desperate group of criminals who will stop at nothing to collect their marks.
- GenresScience Fiction
186 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2020
226 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
John Walker
1,217 books164 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 11, 2020
There are two missions going on in this book which is kind of unusual for a John Walker novel. Both mission involve the Peck twins, Rita and Oliver, each going on separate missions.
Rita has joined, again, with Eriss, the MerCon agent, to head back to Confederation space to try and find out who set up the secret lab and built the super secret and highly advanced gunboat. Unfortunately, she and Eriss were making the trip back to friendly space in her old ship piloted by Borden. Borden wasn’t much use on this trip other than to be a pilot. It would be fine if he just didn’t complain the whole way to where ever they were going.
And, that place was a planet not known for hospitality to strangers. Eriss had an old contact who she thought could provide information on who built the secret lab and also might help with Rita’s debt to Tobin Loch. She was hunting a guy named “Karl Petrova” and thought he was here on this planet. Turns out she was wrong, but they didn’t just leave after finding that out. No, Rita and Eriss can’t seem to not do anything but leave a trail of dead bodies behind them and that’s exactly what happened in this case.
Meanwhile, the USS Morrigan was responding to a distress beacon set off by what appeared to be a Gold Empire convoy ship. The Gold Empire was nothing much more than a pirate conglomeration that just may have set up some kind of government out here on the fringes of known space.
By the time they arrive at the star corrdiantes, there’s not much left to look at. A huge battle has taken place with several ships blown completely apart. It appears that all the ships did belong to the Gold Empire. After checking around the system, they two ships that had landed on a planet, one was wrecked and the other belonged to the ervas. Captain Merkel figured there were causalities on the ground so he dispatched some shuttles to tend to the survivors. At about the same time, a Gold Empire battleship emerged from hyperspace and immediately began threatening the Morrigan.
Captain Merkel didn’t want a fight. He just wanted to find out where the ervas came from and, if remotely possible, enlist some aid from the Gold Empire to go after the erva’s home world. But first, he had to get the Gold Empire starship to talk to him. They finally did after he nearly had to destroy their ship. Captain Merkel worked some diplomatic miracle and may a tentative agreement with the Gold Empire starship Captain where they would both work to rescue the survivors on the ground.
Everything was going pretty well when four ervas battleships dropped out of hyperspace. The Gold Empire ship and the Morrigan engaged and destroyed two, but both were pretty badly damaged. Captain Merkel though he had better retreat to fix his ship before it blew up so he issued an immediate recall for his shuttles including the advanced gunboat.
Almost everyone made it back aboard before the Morrigan went into hyperspace. The managed to do that only with the help of the Gold Empire starship. After getting safely away, Captain Merkel was given some bad news. Major Oliver Peck wasn’t among those that had returned from the planet.
Well, that means there’s going to be another book in the series and it should be interesting. I only gave this one a four-star rating because the story seemed to slow down at times. It’s still a good read and I’ll continue reading the series; that’s for sure.
Rita has joined, again, with Eriss, the MerCon agent, to head back to Confederation space to try and find out who set up the secret lab and built the super secret and highly advanced gunboat. Unfortunately, she and Eriss were making the trip back to friendly space in her old ship piloted by Borden. Borden wasn’t much use on this trip other than to be a pilot. It would be fine if he just didn’t complain the whole way to where ever they were going.
And, that place was a planet not known for hospitality to strangers. Eriss had an old contact who she thought could provide information on who built the secret lab and also might help with Rita’s debt to Tobin Loch. She was hunting a guy named “Karl Petrova” and thought he was here on this planet. Turns out she was wrong, but they didn’t just leave after finding that out. No, Rita and Eriss can’t seem to not do anything but leave a trail of dead bodies behind them and that’s exactly what happened in this case.
Meanwhile, the USS Morrigan was responding to a distress beacon set off by what appeared to be a Gold Empire convoy ship. The Gold Empire was nothing much more than a pirate conglomeration that just may have set up some kind of government out here on the fringes of known space.
By the time they arrive at the star corrdiantes, there’s not much left to look at. A huge battle has taken place with several ships blown completely apart. It appears that all the ships did belong to the Gold Empire. After checking around the system, they two ships that had landed on a planet, one was wrecked and the other belonged to the ervas. Captain Merkel figured there were causalities on the ground so he dispatched some shuttles to tend to the survivors. At about the same time, a Gold Empire battleship emerged from hyperspace and immediately began threatening the Morrigan.
Captain Merkel didn’t want a fight. He just wanted to find out where the ervas came from and, if remotely possible, enlist some aid from the Gold Empire to go after the erva’s home world. But first, he had to get the Gold Empire starship to talk to him. They finally did after he nearly had to destroy their ship. Captain Merkel worked some diplomatic miracle and may a tentative agreement with the Gold Empire starship Captain where they would both work to rescue the survivors on the ground.
Everything was going pretty well when four ervas battleships dropped out of hyperspace. The Gold Empire ship and the Morrigan engaged and destroyed two, but both were pretty badly damaged. Captain Merkel though he had better retreat to fix his ship before it blew up so he issued an immediate recall for his shuttles including the advanced gunboat.
Almost everyone made it back aboard before the Morrigan went into hyperspace. The managed to do that only with the help of the Gold Empire starship. After getting safely away, Captain Merkel was given some bad news. Major Oliver Peck wasn’t among those that had returned from the planet.
Well, that means there’s going to be another book in the series and it should be interesting. I only gave this one a four-star rating because the story seemed to slow down at times. It’s still a good read and I’ll continue reading the series; that’s for sure.
April 15, 2020
This book did not have to be a cliffhanger. It’s just a money grab.
This was not my most favorite book in the series. I thought the part with the pirate Barnabas was a waste of time, he’s not a character I am going to invest any interest in since he seems to be suffering from Stockholm syndrome. The book should’ve concentrated on our main protagonists and the adventures they were into. I don’t like cliffhangers and this book did not have to end on one.
This was not my most favorite book in the series. I thought the part with the pirate Barnabas was a waste of time, he’s not a character I am going to invest any interest in since he seems to be suffering from Stockholm syndrome. The book should’ve concentrated on our main protagonists and the adventures they were into. I don’t like cliffhangers and this book did not have to end on one.
March 25, 2024
Probably the best in the series so far. A distress call brings the Morgan to a Neutral star system and the Gold Empire. Meanwhile Rita and Lisa are in Confederate space chasing the conspiracy. Piracy, betrayal, battles and loss it then from all sides. The story is pacy and entertaining with lots of action. The writing is good, descriptive with strong characters. Good one and highly recommended. I have this book as part of the box set.
May 25, 2021
Intergalactic warfare and misunderstanding
A thrilling addition to the series.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action and adventure.
Space battles galore with aliens and pirates.
I look forward to the next one 😀
A thrilling addition to the series.
Great characters with realistic situations and lots of action and adventure.
Space battles galore with aliens and pirates.
I look forward to the next one 😀
February 19, 2020
Excellent read, the series is getting better as it goes on. Cannot wait to see what the next instalment brings up .
February 23, 2020
Great storyline
Well another great storyline from John Walker. Looking forward to the next book where Oliver will be alive and ready to kick some ass lol
Well another great storyline from John Walker. Looking forward to the next book where Oliver will be alive and ready to kick some ass lol
June 5, 2021
Good book, a little slow at times. Read it let me know your thoughts.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2021
Exciting read, but it felt unfinished.
July 7, 2021
Quick Read
Hard to put down, strong characters and a believable story line. Might have been trying to reach a pinnacle that was within their reach.
Hard to put down, strong characters and a believable story line. Might have been trying to reach a pinnacle that was within their reach.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews