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Valor #1
Edge of Valor
When their mission fails, his begins.
"A tour de force."--David Weber, NYT bestselling author of the Honor Harrington Series.
Special Agent Jackson Fischer is a man after truth. When a military operation to extract a high-ranking ambassador from the war-torn, border-world of Stonemeyer ends in disaster, Fischer is called in to investigate.
A whole platoon went in, but only three Alliance Marines returned home, the rest killed in action along with hundreds of civilians. With tensions between the Holloman Alliance and Stonemeyer rising, Fischer attempts to stitch the pieces together. One thing becomes more and more certain: The surviving Marines are lying.
As the truth unfurls, Fischer begins to realize this was far more than a simple rescue mission...and that the truth might be something best left buried.
Filled with action, mystery, and well-crafted characters, Edge of Valor (Valor Series Book 1) will pull you into a world of war, conspiracy, and betrayal. It's perfect for fans of David Weber’s Honorverse, or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan with a futuristic flair.
Also available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning Marc Vietor.
"A tour de force."--David Weber, NYT bestselling author of the Honor Harrington Series.
Special Agent Jackson Fischer is a man after truth. When a military operation to extract a high-ranking ambassador from the war-torn, border-world of Stonemeyer ends in disaster, Fischer is called in to investigate.
A whole platoon went in, but only three Alliance Marines returned home, the rest killed in action along with hundreds of civilians. With tensions between the Holloman Alliance and Stonemeyer rising, Fischer attempts to stitch the pieces together. One thing becomes more and more certain: The surviving Marines are lying.
As the truth unfurls, Fischer begins to realize this was far more than a simple rescue mission...and that the truth might be something best left buried.
Filled with action, mystery, and well-crafted characters, Edge of Valor (Valor Series Book 1) will pull you into a world of war, conspiracy, and betrayal. It's perfect for fans of David Weber’s Honorverse, or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan with a futuristic flair.
Also available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning Marc Vietor.
378 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 2, 2019
397 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
July 1, 2019
“Bound by oath, soul, and blood.”
A magnificent military SciFi thriller, with an exciting story of investigation, an underline of suspense, political issues and planetary governments’ power on display. I liked that the story is more centered in finding out the whys and whos than in pew pew. I was wowed and captivated from the beginning. What should have been a normal mission investigation turns out into an embroidery of high level marine influence, intrigue, mystery and delightful suspense. How far do marines obey the orders received? To what length will they go to hide and protect the people above them? The drama, the trauma is intense and emotional. The characters are strong, confident and well developed and realistic. The storyline is so powerful, it drew me in immediately, and kept me interested and completely engrossed till the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next installment, hope it comes out soon!
I received an early version of this book from the publisher and my review is entirely voluntary.
A magnificent military SciFi thriller, with an exciting story of investigation, an underline of suspense, political issues and planetary governments’ power on display. I liked that the story is more centered in finding out the whys and whos than in pew pew. I was wowed and captivated from the beginning. What should have been a normal mission investigation turns out into an embroidery of high level marine influence, intrigue, mystery and delightful suspense. How far do marines obey the orders received? To what length will they go to hide and protect the people above them? The drama, the trauma is intense and emotional. The characters are strong, confident and well developed and realistic. The storyline is so powerful, it drew me in immediately, and kept me interested and completely engrossed till the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next installment, hope it comes out soon!
I received an early version of this book from the publisher and my review is entirely voluntary.
July 8, 2019
There are books that you finish and you just move onto the next book. Then there are books that you finish, and for days, sometimes even weeks after, your still thinking about the story as it was just so powerful, so moving, the story so gritty, in the intense realism of the characters and the incredible storyline that has played out, right up until the last page.
Edge of Valor is one of those stories, as we follow Jackson Fischer, a Special Agent with the AIS, an investigative branch of the Military, who is sent to find out what happened to a group of Marines and an Ambassador on the planet of Stonemeyer.
The planet is in a rather strategic location, set on the boundary between Alliance and Pegasi space, both factions not actually at war yet, but with many minor skirmishes, they are very close, and Stonemeyer, a planet that sits on the border of space between the two, is the perfect launching platform into either factions space.
The Alliance Ambassador on Stonemeyer has called for an urgent recovery, the Embassy having come under attack by Militia several times over the past couple of days, and he fears he will not make it to the spaceport to his own spacecraft.
An Alliance warship is sent and a unit of specialist Marines is sent to get the Ambassador – what should be a standard mission.
We get to follow what happens through Fischer’s eyes, as he leads the investigation, because at the end of the Mission, no Embassy staff are left alive, and only 3 Marines make it out alive, and they are in a shocking state.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, you will read about the full extent of the battle and all that happens through the eyes of Fischer as he investigates the incident. This is an incredible story, with a brilliant procedural and investigative plot that is full of intrigue, intense realism that leaves you reeling at times from the sheer power of the scene as it unfolds.
Hayes has captured the gritty brutality of urban warfare, and puts you right in the thick of the investigation. You feel like you are inside Fischer’s head for most of the book, not just following the investigation, but getting to understand the weight of it as with each new bit of information, each new action, it either leaves another hole in his soul, or pushes him a little further.
Fischer’s character is outstanding. Having been in the Military himself, he understands the role the team had to play, the pressure they were under, and as he investigates, he finds that the more he uncovers, the worse it gets.
As an ex-cop, I found that the book was intensely realistic, making me cringe at times, this is a book that is hits you hard in some places, and I would definitely give a warning that there is some quite graphic content.
Having said that, Hayes has gone out of his way to handle this content in an incredibly mature way, not glorifying the brutality, not playing it up, and certainly not going over the top with anything. It is required as a part of the story telling, and he has been respectful of it, it is another aspect of the writing that shows just how extraordinary this story is, and just how brilliant the Author is.
Whilst Fischer’s character is a standout as the somewhat jaded Detective with a past, the Marines in this story are the real stand-out characters. I am not going to go into any details about the Marine Characters though as I do not want to give away any spoilers – I just want to say that the Marine Characters in this story are outstanding, the quality of writing, the in-depth nature of their characters, the storyline’s for each character – the character writing was masterful, some of the best in any book I have read this year.
This is easily one of the best books I have read in a long time, not just for being a Mil Sci-Fi Thriller, but for any genre, for the intense gritty realism of the characters and story, and for the incredibly powerful storyline. This isn’t a story for just Sci-Fi fans, this is a story for anybody who likes a good Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, or just an incredibly high-quality story. Hayes is Brilliant.
Edge of Valor is one of those stories, as we follow Jackson Fischer, a Special Agent with the AIS, an investigative branch of the Military, who is sent to find out what happened to a group of Marines and an Ambassador on the planet of Stonemeyer.
The planet is in a rather strategic location, set on the boundary between Alliance and Pegasi space, both factions not actually at war yet, but with many minor skirmishes, they are very close, and Stonemeyer, a planet that sits on the border of space between the two, is the perfect launching platform into either factions space.
The Alliance Ambassador on Stonemeyer has called for an urgent recovery, the Embassy having come under attack by Militia several times over the past couple of days, and he fears he will not make it to the spaceport to his own spacecraft.
An Alliance warship is sent and a unit of specialist Marines is sent to get the Ambassador – what should be a standard mission.
We get to follow what happens through Fischer’s eyes, as he leads the investigation, because at the end of the Mission, no Embassy staff are left alive, and only 3 Marines make it out alive, and they are in a shocking state.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, you will read about the full extent of the battle and all that happens through the eyes of Fischer as he investigates the incident. This is an incredible story, with a brilliant procedural and investigative plot that is full of intrigue, intense realism that leaves you reeling at times from the sheer power of the scene as it unfolds.
Hayes has captured the gritty brutality of urban warfare, and puts you right in the thick of the investigation. You feel like you are inside Fischer’s head for most of the book, not just following the investigation, but getting to understand the weight of it as with each new bit of information, each new action, it either leaves another hole in his soul, or pushes him a little further.
Fischer’s character is outstanding. Having been in the Military himself, he understands the role the team had to play, the pressure they were under, and as he investigates, he finds that the more he uncovers, the worse it gets.
As an ex-cop, I found that the book was intensely realistic, making me cringe at times, this is a book that is hits you hard in some places, and I would definitely give a warning that there is some quite graphic content.
Having said that, Hayes has gone out of his way to handle this content in an incredibly mature way, not glorifying the brutality, not playing it up, and certainly not going over the top with anything. It is required as a part of the story telling, and he has been respectful of it, it is another aspect of the writing that shows just how extraordinary this story is, and just how brilliant the Author is.
Whilst Fischer’s character is a standout as the somewhat jaded Detective with a past, the Marines in this story are the real stand-out characters. I am not going to go into any details about the Marine Characters though as I do not want to give away any spoilers – I just want to say that the Marine Characters in this story are outstanding, the quality of writing, the in-depth nature of their characters, the storyline’s for each character – the character writing was masterful, some of the best in any book I have read this year.
This is easily one of the best books I have read in a long time, not just for being a Mil Sci-Fi Thriller, but for any genre, for the intense gritty realism of the characters and story, and for the incredibly powerful storyline. This isn’t a story for just Sci-Fi fans, this is a story for anybody who likes a good Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, or just an incredibly high-quality story. Hayes is Brilliant.
July 9, 2019
Josh Hayes's Edge of Valor was a tour de force in the gripping edge of your seat action, mystery and adventure. I loved every minute of it. From its humble beginnings with special ASI agent Jackson Fischer in an off the grid, unsanctioned and unauthorized mission to route out illegal arms dealers, to his daughter Maddie spilling her cereal bowl, to a rogue action gone lethally wrong on rim planet Stonemeyer, the action never stops, and the mystery only deepens.
Reminiscent of a futuristic Blackhawk Down type story, this one ticks all the boxes. Do you want space marine action? Check. Do you want bloody battles? check. Do you want impossible odds? check. Do you want intrigue, greed, and political machinations? check. You want illegal actions that get Marines and everyone else involved killed? check.
One of the things that I like the most about this book is that the action, the mystery and the intrigue never let up. Once you know what happened, it comes down to proving it. I also really liked the recounting from different perspectives of the people involved. Even the ones that are lying.
This was a book I could not put down. I listened to the audiobook as well, and it was exceptionally well narrated. This was so good everything else went on hold until I could finish reading. Listening to it afterward was great, there were bits I forgot, bits I missed, and the voice characterizations really brought the story to life.
This was the first Josh Hayes book I read, but I guarantee it will not be the last. Josh has a vast talent for painting pictures in words. His backdrops and world building are so air-tight that they make the story unutterably believable and bring everything that much more to life. I loved it.
It's clear he has real-world experience in some of the arenas that he writes about, nothing else could bring these stories the gritty realism that he delivers. He really delivered the goods in this one.
Being of a certain age, I would be remiss if I did not mention that overall the editing was tight and appears to be professionally done. That being said, there were a number of instances where a pronoun or a "he" instead of a "she" or an autocorrected word crept in. They do not detract from the story, they do not cause misunderstanding, they cause "buzzing mosquito" level annoyance. I'm sure they'll be corrected in the next version. So, in reality, I give it 4.8 stars, not 5. But pretty damn close. This is just an awesome read, and I would highly recommend it.
Reminiscent of a futuristic Blackhawk Down type story, this one ticks all the boxes. Do you want space marine action? Check. Do you want bloody battles? check. Do you want impossible odds? check. Do you want intrigue, greed, and political machinations? check. You want illegal actions that get Marines and everyone else involved killed? check.
One of the things that I like the most about this book is that the action, the mystery and the intrigue never let up. Once you know what happened, it comes down to proving it. I also really liked the recounting from different perspectives of the people involved. Even the ones that are lying.
This was a book I could not put down. I listened to the audiobook as well, and it was exceptionally well narrated. This was so good everything else went on hold until I could finish reading. Listening to it afterward was great, there were bits I forgot, bits I missed, and the voice characterizations really brought the story to life.
This was the first Josh Hayes book I read, but I guarantee it will not be the last. Josh has a vast talent for painting pictures in words. His backdrops and world building are so air-tight that they make the story unutterably believable and bring everything that much more to life. I loved it.
It's clear he has real-world experience in some of the arenas that he writes about, nothing else could bring these stories the gritty realism that he delivers. He really delivered the goods in this one.
Being of a certain age, I would be remiss if I did not mention that overall the editing was tight and appears to be professionally done. That being said, there were a number of instances where a pronoun or a "he" instead of a "she" or an autocorrected word crept in. They do not detract from the story, they do not cause misunderstanding, they cause "buzzing mosquito" level annoyance. I'm sure they'll be corrected in the next version. So, in reality, I give it 4.8 stars, not 5. But pretty damn close. This is just an awesome read, and I would highly recommend it.
July 20, 2019
Ultimately disappointing. This is not science fiction as it could
easily be set in current times without changing the story. It is well enough written but with huge annoying plot holes. To much that the investigator does is too easy and the ending is just not believable. Sorry but not good enough.
easily be set in current times without changing the story. It is well enough written but with huge annoying plot holes. To much that the investigator does is too easy and the ending is just not believable. Sorry but not good enough.
May 16, 2021
Solid military ops thriller. Infil/exfil op goes south, conspiracy slowly emerges. Military investigator Fischer pursues the story and looks for justice. But will he find it? (Not necessarily a predictable path to truth here!)
Steady writing and plotting, excellent battle scenes, good characterization (though I wanted more from Fischer's female colleague). Note: the flashback narratives are raw and unfiltered (had to skim a few chapters). Language and violence warning: this is mil-sf after all.
Opening chapter was a bit confusing as I thought it was the set up for the plot, but it's more of a tone-setting example of Fischer's maverick style. This first book does resolve, but it also leads naturally to the rest of the trilogy. Recommended!
Steady writing and plotting, excellent battle scenes, good characterization (though I wanted more from Fischer's female colleague). Note: the flashback narratives are raw and unfiltered (had to skim a few chapters). Language and violence warning: this is mil-sf after all.
Opening chapter was a bit confusing as I thought it was the set up for the plot, but it's more of a tone-setting example of Fischer's maverick style. This first book does resolve, but it also leads naturally to the rest of the trilogy. Recommended!
July 6, 2024
I struggled to get into the book for while. Got better in the second half. The worldbuilding is quite interesting and some more information would have been nice.
What I found confusing at times were the flashbacks. It wasn't, at least to me, always clear whose POV I was following.
I liked the main character and his team. It's most of the other characters that didn't really grab my attention.
The ending was good though. It left me curious enough to want to find out what happens next. Might give the 2nd book a chance.
What I found confusing at times were the flashbacks. It wasn't, at least to me, always clear whose POV I was following.
I liked the main character and his team. It's most of the other characters that didn't really grab my attention.
The ending was good though. It left me curious enough to want to find out what happens next. Might give the 2nd book a chance.
September 6, 2019
Military investigation
Edge of Valor is a straight up investigation by two people who want to see justice for soldiers sent into a no win situation.
The marine unit sent on a mission were basically sent on a suicide run.
Marines are heavily indoctrinated into obeying orders regardless if they are right or wrong. They are taught to never question an order.
In this case most of the marines and survivors did just that, they obeyed without hesitation, but paid an awful price for doing so.
The investigation was side railed and taken over by a naval admiral, but one investigator wouldn’t let it go. He was going to find out why the original mission went so badly, so wrong, whether it killed him or not in order to honor all the dead marines that didn’t make it home and also the injured ones who did.
This story is a top notch criminal investigation.
It has a lot of great military action and a somewhat surprising ending.
I wholeheartedly recommend this story to whomever ever likes good military crime stories.
Edge of Valor is a straight up investigation by two people who want to see justice for soldiers sent into a no win situation.
The marine unit sent on a mission were basically sent on a suicide run.
Marines are heavily indoctrinated into obeying orders regardless if they are right or wrong. They are taught to never question an order.
In this case most of the marines and survivors did just that, they obeyed without hesitation, but paid an awful price for doing so.
The investigation was side railed and taken over by a naval admiral, but one investigator wouldn’t let it go. He was going to find out why the original mission went so badly, so wrong, whether it killed him or not in order to honor all the dead marines that didn’t make it home and also the injured ones who did.
This story is a top notch criminal investigation.
It has a lot of great military action and a somewhat surprising ending.
I wholeheartedly recommend this story to whomever ever likes good military crime stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2019
I don't get it -- made no sense...
I read a ton of Sci-Fi to include all of Galaxy's Edge, but this book made no sense to me. 600 years in the future and still shooting BULLETS? Really? In the bar shoot-out I figured okay maybe its slum crime and they use guns because they cannot afford new weapons. But later they arrive to Stoneywhatever planet on a spaceship mind you and then walk past the Marine combat shuttle and again with the "...bullet holes"? In a space shuttle? I actually laughed out loud and deleted the book. Come on. Even if you want that for some reason, call them slugs or rail gun rounds or something - anything FFS but bullets. Plus the story just felt like I was reading a standard city detective novel not a future Sci-Fi story. And rain is going to make a gravity repulser bike crash? I don't even know what to say to that...
I read a ton of Sci-Fi to include all of Galaxy's Edge, but this book made no sense to me. 600 years in the future and still shooting BULLETS? Really? In the bar shoot-out I figured okay maybe its slum crime and they use guns because they cannot afford new weapons. But later they arrive to Stoneywhatever planet on a spaceship mind you and then walk past the Marine combat shuttle and again with the "...bullet holes"? In a space shuttle? I actually laughed out loud and deleted the book. Come on. Even if you want that for some reason, call them slugs or rail gun rounds or something - anything FFS but bullets. Plus the story just felt like I was reading a standard city detective novel not a future Sci-Fi story. And rain is going to make a gravity repulser bike crash? I don't even know what to say to that...
August 19, 2020
DNF! This just wasn't the book for me, and, I'm not able to pinpoint a solitary reason... it was like a death by a thousand cuts!
4+ hrs into the book, I realized that I was not having any fun at all... I just couldn't generate an ounce of concern, nor care, for any of the characters or what they were doing... which might be because the author chose to tell us what happened through a series of long, dull interviews (not my favorite format of storytelling). Sure there's action, but not life threatening, 'cause duh, the guy survived and is being interviewed... Whatever the reason, I just couldn't force myself to soldier-on to the end. Nuff said!
4+ hrs into the book, I realized that I was not having any fun at all... I just couldn't generate an ounce of concern, nor care, for any of the characters or what they were doing... which might be because the author chose to tell us what happened through a series of long, dull interviews (not my favorite format of storytelling). Sure there's action, but not life threatening, 'cause duh, the guy survived and is being interviewed... Whatever the reason, I just couldn't force myself to soldier-on to the end. Nuff said!
July 17, 2019
Good book, could’ve used fishers partner a little more.
A very interesting story. I like the way it was told via flashbacks from the Marines. The only thing I did not like was the way the female Marine was handled, a rape victim should’ve been talked to by using another female, this is where fishers partner could have been used more. I think that would’ve shown some sensitivity from the author and more realism in the book besides that one issue I found the story very interesting and I am awaiting the next book..
A very interesting story. I like the way it was told via flashbacks from the Marines. The only thing I did not like was the way the female Marine was handled, a rape victim should’ve been talked to by using another female, this is where fishers partner could have been used more. I think that would’ve shown some sensitivity from the author and more realism in the book besides that one issue I found the story very interesting and I am awaiting the next book..
July 18, 2019
Ultimately Disappointing
There might be a treatment for a film in there. But despite the well written action sequences the characters are pedestrian and the plot clumsy. The technology is really twentieth century and poorly described.
Just no real value at all.
There might be a treatment for a film in there. But despite the well written action sequences the characters are pedestrian and the plot clumsy. The technology is really twentieth century and poorly described.
Just no real value at all.
August 29, 2025
Very interesting new series and not what I expected. Seems like a lot of the new series I’m starting to read aren’t what I’m expecting. Doesn’t mean they’re not good, but I guess book covers can be somewhat misleading. Still, this is a very intense and interesting story that really brings some of the brutality of war fighting to the front. Except this wasn’t war, or not yet at least.
The gist of this story rest with a Marine Lieutenant Hastings and his platoon of twenty-three Marines. Those Marines included Staff Sergeant Thomas, Corporal Biagini, Private Wallace and Private Sheridan and the others which you’ll briefly hear about. Those four cover the main story-line. The LT and SSgt. had argued about taking the entire platoon, but the LT won out and they only took the twenty-three. That probably was a mistake, but the LT was working on the very small amount of situational Intel he had.
Their mission was simple, go down to the planet, locate the Alliance Embassy and evacuate the Ambassador and as many of his staff as possible. They were give two Albatross aircraft but did expect to encounter much enemy air or even ground fire. The assumption was that this would be a simple grab and run. So how did this mission go sideways with only three of the twenty-three Marines that went down, coming back alive?
Well, the job of figuring that out belonged to Special Agent Jackson Fischer and Special Agent Aniyah Eliwood, of the Alliance Security and Intelligence Directorate. They were called in after everything had happen with three of the Marines now in the a secure hospital begin treated for their wounds. Their wounds were extensive and it wasn’t sure all three would survive. Corporal Biagini was a female and she had gone through the worst as you’ll unfortunately have to read about.
Agents Jackson and Eliwood have the highest clearance possible to cover every aspect of this mission gone back. A lot of good people had been killed including not only good Alliance Marines, but a lot of supposedly civilians on the planet Stonemeyer and the city of Calibri City. This planet and this city were what was called an independent planet not alined with either the Alliance or the Pegasi Empire. The two Agents were initially allowed to interview Corporal Wallace who was still in considerable pain, but was the most capable at the time to tell his story.
So, the rest of this book is really about the survivors of this ill-fated mission telling about their part of the mission and how things went down. Not everyone was telling the truth and that potentially started with all three of the survivors. But things become very complicated for Agent Fischer when all three stories and all three lives end unexpectedly, even while in a secure facility. It just didn’t make sense.
Still, there was potential lead that Agent Fischer needed to follow, except he couldn’t go there since the planet and the city had been placed off limits to all Alliance personnel. There was even a blockade by the Pegasi Empire preventing any vessels from either living the surface or going down to the planet.
Yet, you can be sure that Agent Fischer doesn’t always play be the rules. Even when he and his partner are told that they are now off the investigation at the order of an Admiral Young, Fischer has other ideas and he doesn’t stop just because some Admiral told him to. Admirals tell people things they shouldn’t all the time, don’t they?
This is what I’d call a typical military science fiction book, but it sure has a lot of mission activity going on. It gets right down to the Corporals and Privates and how they might react in such a situation. Some act honorably others not so much. It’s also very difficult for a small unit to act correctly if they have conflicting orders. That’s doubly troubling since Marines are always taught to follow orders no matter what.
It will be interesting to see how this story continues in the second book, “Echoes of Valor”, now available on Amazon.
==[Note: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be published on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. Once the ban is lifted, assuming it does get lifted, I’ll go back and post this to Amazon.]==
The gist of this story rest with a Marine Lieutenant Hastings and his platoon of twenty-three Marines. Those Marines included Staff Sergeant Thomas, Corporal Biagini, Private Wallace and Private Sheridan and the others which you’ll briefly hear about. Those four cover the main story-line. The LT and SSgt. had argued about taking the entire platoon, but the LT won out and they only took the twenty-three. That probably was a mistake, but the LT was working on the very small amount of situational Intel he had.
Their mission was simple, go down to the planet, locate the Alliance Embassy and evacuate the Ambassador and as many of his staff as possible. They were give two Albatross aircraft but did expect to encounter much enemy air or even ground fire. The assumption was that this would be a simple grab and run. So how did this mission go sideways with only three of the twenty-three Marines that went down, coming back alive?
Well, the job of figuring that out belonged to Special Agent Jackson Fischer and Special Agent Aniyah Eliwood, of the Alliance Security and Intelligence Directorate. They were called in after everything had happen with three of the Marines now in the a secure hospital begin treated for their wounds. Their wounds were extensive and it wasn’t sure all three would survive. Corporal Biagini was a female and she had gone through the worst as you’ll unfortunately have to read about.
Agents Jackson and Eliwood have the highest clearance possible to cover every aspect of this mission gone back. A lot of good people had been killed including not only good Alliance Marines, but a lot of supposedly civilians on the planet Stonemeyer and the city of Calibri City. This planet and this city were what was called an independent planet not alined with either the Alliance or the Pegasi Empire. The two Agents were initially allowed to interview Corporal Wallace who was still in considerable pain, but was the most capable at the time to tell his story.
So, the rest of this book is really about the survivors of this ill-fated mission telling about their part of the mission and how things went down. Not everyone was telling the truth and that potentially started with all three of the survivors. But things become very complicated for Agent Fischer when all three stories and all three lives end unexpectedly, even while in a secure facility. It just didn’t make sense.
Still, there was potential lead that Agent Fischer needed to follow, except he couldn’t go there since the planet and the city had been placed off limits to all Alliance personnel. There was even a blockade by the Pegasi Empire preventing any vessels from either living the surface or going down to the planet.
Yet, you can be sure that Agent Fischer doesn’t always play be the rules. Even when he and his partner are told that they are now off the investigation at the order of an Admiral Young, Fischer has other ideas and he doesn’t stop just because some Admiral told him to. Admirals tell people things they shouldn’t all the time, don’t they?
This is what I’d call a typical military science fiction book, but it sure has a lot of mission activity going on. It gets right down to the Corporals and Privates and how they might react in such a situation. Some act honorably others not so much. It’s also very difficult for a small unit to act correctly if they have conflicting orders. That’s doubly troubling since Marines are always taught to follow orders no matter what.
It will be interesting to see how this story continues in the second book, “Echoes of Valor”, now available on Amazon.
==[Note: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be published on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. Once the ban is lifted, assuming it does get lifted, I’ll go back and post this to Amazon.]==
October 20, 2020
Trigger warning: sexual assault
Minor spoiler: discussing the assault plot point
Edge of Valor is NCIS meets Black Hawk Down in space, and I found that to be a very fun and surprisingly well-rendered concept. Unraveling the mystery involves reviewing a disastrous rescue operation and all the action that those scenes entail. As a military scifi/thriller/mystery novel, I thought this was generally well-executed story with a fun concept and great action sequences that was a lot of fun to read. Other reviewers have mentioned that some of the technology seems very 20th-century, and I also wish the author had punched that up just a little bit while still keeping the gritty feeling to the mission as it went sideways. And I would have given it 5 stars despite that, except for one thing. (Here comes that trigger warning.)
As far as I can recall, there are almost no women in positions of authority (with the notable exception of the protagonist's wife, but she is a C-level character in this story). Every military officer, senior police investigator, department head, or politician is male. There are absolutely women in the book, and they're competent at what they do and integrated into their organizations, just not ever as leaders. They are always low-level soldiers, junior investigators, or technicians. And of the two women who get significant parts in the story, one of them is brutally sexually assaulted during the mission.
I suspect that the author was trying to demonstrate that war is terrible, and that a captured soldier might be sexual assaulted. But given that there are only a couple of women with sizable appearances in the whole story, inflicting this plot point on one of the two of them seemed wholly unnecessary and tantamount to having the woman in the story just to be assaulted. That's not only bad writing, that's also going to turn away a lot of potential readers.
If the rest of the book wasn't so good, I would have knocked more stars off for this issue. But I enjoyed the rest so much that I can't bring myself to do it. I've started reading the second book in the series, and so far so good... except I still haven't encountered a woman of authority.
Minor spoiler: discussing the assault plot point
Edge of Valor is NCIS meets Black Hawk Down in space, and I found that to be a very fun and surprisingly well-rendered concept. Unraveling the mystery involves reviewing a disastrous rescue operation and all the action that those scenes entail. As a military scifi/thriller/mystery novel, I thought this was generally well-executed story with a fun concept and great action sequences that was a lot of fun to read. Other reviewers have mentioned that some of the technology seems very 20th-century, and I also wish the author had punched that up just a little bit while still keeping the gritty feeling to the mission as it went sideways. And I would have given it 5 stars despite that, except for one thing. (Here comes that trigger warning.)
As far as I can recall, there are almost no women in positions of authority (with the notable exception of the protagonist's wife, but she is a C-level character in this story). Every military officer, senior police investigator, department head, or politician is male. There are absolutely women in the book, and they're competent at what they do and integrated into their organizations, just not ever as leaders. They are always low-level soldiers, junior investigators, or technicians. And of the two women who get significant parts in the story, one of them is brutally sexually assaulted during the mission.
I suspect that the author was trying to demonstrate that war is terrible, and that a captured soldier might be sexual assaulted. But given that there are only a couple of women with sizable appearances in the whole story, inflicting this plot point on one of the two of them seemed wholly unnecessary and tantamount to having the woman in the story just to be assaulted. That's not only bad writing, that's also going to turn away a lot of potential readers.
If the rest of the book wasn't so good, I would have knocked more stars off for this issue. But I enjoyed the rest so much that I can't bring myself to do it. I've started reading the second book in the series, and so far so good... except I still haven't encountered a woman of authority.
April 10, 2020
This is the first book in a series, and it's damn good. It reminds me of the movie 'Courage under Fire' and 'Rules of Engagement'.
The story is about a group of Alliance Marines, sent to retrieve a Diplomat from a planet, whose post is under attack by the local militia rebels. It should have been a straight in and out job, but somehow the rebels turn out to be exceptionally well armed, and they shoot down two of the dropships, along with half the Marines. The survivors escape and evade, only for some of them to get captured, and tortured.
They get rescued, escape and find a huge cache of weapons, which are being supplied to the rebels by the Diplomatic Corps. The commander wants to leave them as evidence of wrong-doing, but the second in command claims he has orders to destroy the cache.
In the meantime, the Empire, the Alliance's enemy, has invaded the planet. They have blamed all of the death and destruction on the Alliance Marines, and claimed they killed hundreds of civilians.
The Alliance investigators talk to the 3 survivors, getting wildly differing stories from all of them, and slowly piece the story together. All 3 survivors all commit suicide over what they did on the planet, and the main character realises there is another possible survivor, left on the planet.
He manages to rescue the survivor, hears a totally different story from him, realises the truth, and at the end of the book, arrests the Admiral responsible for the entire debacle. I'm assuming the next book will be the investigation of why the Diplomatic Corps were smuggling weapons to the rebels.
The story is about a group of Alliance Marines, sent to retrieve a Diplomat from a planet, whose post is under attack by the local militia rebels. It should have been a straight in and out job, but somehow the rebels turn out to be exceptionally well armed, and they shoot down two of the dropships, along with half the Marines. The survivors escape and evade, only for some of them to get captured, and tortured.
They get rescued, escape and find a huge cache of weapons, which are being supplied to the rebels by the Diplomatic Corps. The commander wants to leave them as evidence of wrong-doing, but the second in command claims he has orders to destroy the cache.
In the meantime, the Empire, the Alliance's enemy, has invaded the planet. They have blamed all of the death and destruction on the Alliance Marines, and claimed they killed hundreds of civilians.
The Alliance investigators talk to the 3 survivors, getting wildly differing stories from all of them, and slowly piece the story together. All 3 survivors all commit suicide over what they did on the planet, and the main character realises there is another possible survivor, left on the planet.
He manages to rescue the survivor, hears a totally different story from him, realises the truth, and at the end of the book, arrests the Admiral responsible for the entire debacle. I'm assuming the next book will be the investigation of why the Diplomatic Corps were smuggling weapons to the rebels.
May 7, 2020
I have mixed feelings about this book. This is not your typical military SCI FI and is more of a mystery containing a lot of underlying politics. The story is set in the year 2607 and follows the efforts of Jackson Fisher, a Special Agent assigned to look into a military op to rescue an ambassador on a backward planet. That operation has gone terribly wrong and left a number of dead Marines. Much of the military tech involved is not too far advanced to what we have available today.
The entire book covers a period of only a few weeks. The majority of the story is revealed through interviews of the survivors as Agent Fisher, an honorable and courageous investigator is charged with getting to the bottom of what happened during a failed rescue attempt. The book is well written and Agent Fisher’s investigation reveals corruption, inept leadership from the military Flag officer, and political and military leadership attempts to cover-up what occurred.
Where I struggled with the plot is in the scale of the attempted cover-up, and in reconciling the actions the surviving Marines displayed during combat, with their dedication to the Corps and their actions after combat. Lastly, I am not naive enough to think that politics could not and have not screwed up tactical military decisions, but when it does happen, it is always distasteful.
The entire book covers a period of only a few weeks. The majority of the story is revealed through interviews of the survivors as Agent Fisher, an honorable and courageous investigator is charged with getting to the bottom of what happened during a failed rescue attempt. The book is well written and Agent Fisher’s investigation reveals corruption, inept leadership from the military Flag officer, and political and military leadership attempts to cover-up what occurred.
Where I struggled with the plot is in the scale of the attempted cover-up, and in reconciling the actions the surviving Marines displayed during combat, with their dedication to the Corps and their actions after combat. Lastly, I am not naive enough to think that politics could not and have not screwed up tactical military decisions, but when it does happen, it is always distasteful.
May 2, 2022
Disappointing. I listened to hours of battle descriptions. There was no tension, since I already knew how things ended. The descriptions were supposedly provided by the surviving combatants in interviews with our main character, who is tasked with investigating a mission gone awry. I kept thinking, "No Marine would describe a battle like that." The phrasing bordered on lyrical at times. You might get away with one warrior who talks like that, if you gave him a nickname like "The Poet" or something. But not all of them.
And then I finally got to the "great reveal" - when I learn what really happened - and I thought, "You're kidding me." I don't want to give any spoilers, but no way would that group of Marines have gone along with the scenario we were presented with. Yeah, I could believe one individual who was corrupt enough or gullible enough to go along. But not the rest. If the author came up with a scenario wherein the participants were frightened, and chose to go along rather than risk their necks to do what they knew was right, that might have worked. But that wasn't what we were presented with. Just not believable.
TL:DR - Tedious buildup to an implausible climax.
And then I finally got to the "great reveal" - when I learn what really happened - and I thought, "You're kidding me." I don't want to give any spoilers, but no way would that group of Marines have gone along with the scenario we were presented with. Yeah, I could believe one individual who was corrupt enough or gullible enough to go along. But not the rest. If the author came up with a scenario wherein the participants were frightened, and chose to go along rather than risk their necks to do what they knew was right, that might have worked. But that wasn't what we were presented with. Just not believable.
TL:DR - Tedious buildup to an implausible climax.
May 8, 2020
It's military scifi - and it's a mystery set inside the military. Whichever way you want to call it, the jargon is there, the scifi worlds are there, and then there's the betrayal, treason, and lies.
When a marine mission goes sideways, it's Special Agent Jackson Fisher's job to figure out why. He's getting close when his team is abruptly pulled from the assignment. Only one thing to do then. Quit? Hell no. You go private.
I'm not big on military stories, but the mystery in this held me good and tight. The characters are well rounded, unlike many in this genre without any sacrifice when it comes to action. What I'm the most curious about as I write this review is what could book two possibly be about? Because all the loose ends are tied up in a nice, neat bow on this story.
Moving on to book two to find out.
When a marine mission goes sideways, it's Special Agent Jackson Fisher's job to figure out why. He's getting close when his team is abruptly pulled from the assignment. Only one thing to do then. Quit? Hell no. You go private.
I'm not big on military stories, but the mystery in this held me good and tight. The characters are well rounded, unlike many in this genre without any sacrifice when it comes to action. What I'm the most curious about as I write this review is what could book two possibly be about? Because all the loose ends are tied up in a nice, neat bow on this story.
Moving on to book two to find out.
July 24, 2020
NCIS... in... Space!
I went in to this book expecting military sci-fi, instead, I got a mystery novel. Again, I could have forgiven that, but apart from the beginning, the main character didn't do much! It's getting told by the folks who were there - why do I need Fischer at all? The fighting was written well, but jumping around with the mystery wasted my time. Put down the book several times before I finished it.
I went in to this book expecting military sci-fi, instead, I got a mystery novel. Again, I could have forgiven that, but apart from the beginning, the main character didn't do much! It's getting told by the folks who were there - why do I need Fischer at all? The fighting was written well, but jumping around with the mystery wasted my time. Put down the book several times before I finished it.
July 18, 2020
Not really Sci-Fi, just a detective story
Disappointing, purely because it has nothing to do with science fiction, just a detective story set in the future. By the the you get half way, you should have worked out what's going on and who is behind it. No real surprises
Disappointing, purely because it has nothing to do with science fiction, just a detective story set in the future. By the the you get half way, you should have worked out what's going on and who is behind it. No real surprises
October 12, 2023
interesting story telling
I liked the approach of telling a story through investigative interviews and then through direct action. Clearly different and interesting. Worth doing more often I think. Would make a decent movie.
I liked the approach of telling a story through investigative interviews and then through direct action. Clearly different and interesting. Worth doing more often I think. Would make a decent movie.
June 24, 2025
Josh has put together quite a story. Military investigators gradually figure out what happened to a marine operation on a planet far away. The operation had gone sideways and it wasn't pretty. Neither were the investigator's findings. Quite entertaining.
February 14, 2020
Exciting military space opera. Predictable plot bit action packed and entertaining nonetheless. On to the sequel....
March 12, 2020
It was ok. It was good enough that I would read another in the series but I found it a bit slow.
April 15, 2020
Hard to get into, but finished well.
dnf
December 1, 2020Might have not been in the mood
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2021
(AB) - didn't get past first chapter, didn't realize "sci-fi" thriller. weird right off bat
December 18, 2021
Good
The story started out slow and confusing, and I honestly almost stopped reading after the second chapter but I persevered and I'm glad I stuck with it.
The story started out slow and confusing, and I honestly almost stopped reading after the second chapter but I persevered and I'm glad I stuck with it.
June 30, 2023
I'm working on writing my review for this book right now. It will be posted here at some point after it goes live on my blog, you know, just as soon as I remember I need to add it here.
May 14, 2024
Listened on audiobook. Decently entertaining, but had a few too many clichés for my taste, and the story didn’t do anything really new or exciting enough to make me want to continue the series.
March 18, 2020
I really enjoyed listening to this book. Well narrated and paced. A good futuristic military thriller. I'd give this one 4.5*'s. Recommended.
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