Betrayed, kicked from a life of Corporate luxury and facing lifelong servitude Jamet Reals accepts the first assignment that comes her way; a posting for co-pilot aboard the starship Kipper. Only to find out once aboard that the ship and crew have nothing in common with the backroom deals and Management sabotage that defined her life. Unproven and intensely disliked, her situation only grows worse when visiting a nearby system results in catastrophic damage and the discovery of an invading force. One strong enough to destroy stations, cripple warships and consume entire worlds... and with a bad habit of following victims homeward. With the fate of survivors and the Corporate Worlds beyond at stake, Jamet and crew struggle to destroy a corrupting alien force while overcoming the worst excesses of a twisted system. And, just perhaps, come out of it as a better person.
I would have finished Conflicts sooner, but I had to stop reading several times when the intensity of the story and the plight of the characters was too much to handle. The world building is phenomenal, the crew of the Kipper are fantastic, and I hope this book isn't a standalone. Unfortunately, there is a lot of death and destruction, which is a recurring theme in current science fiction. Although the mayhem factor is high, the story won me over. I laughed out loud frequently, and I truly cared about these characters. I read the book in KU but bought it to reread.