Mixed Messages: A Vincent Chen Novella

Vincent Chen #4

by Steve Rzasa

Everything on the line…Vincent Chen is loyal to a fault. That’s why the Intelligence Service of the Realm has tasked him with finding a lost operative—Izzara Neoh, the woman who broke his heart. He stopped her from stealing secrets from the Realm of Five, but ISR had different plans for their wayward spy.

Vincent’s not the only one searching for her. An old adversary is one step ahead, determined to claim the same storied treasure from a legendary starship the spies are tracking.

It could be filled with unfathomable riches.

It could hold terrible dangers.

And when all else fails, it will cost Vincent everything he thought was valuable to stand against unyielding greed.

162 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2019

About the author

Steve Rzasa was born and raised in South Jersey, and fell in love with books—especially science fiction novels and historical volumes—at an early age. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University’s College of Communications in 2000, and then spent seven years as a reporter and assistant editor at weekly newspapers in Maine. Steve moved to Wyoming in 2007 to become the editor of a weekly newspaper there, and now works at the local library. He and his wife Carrie have two boys and live in Buffalo, Wyoming.

Reviews

[Nadine Keels · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Intelligence Service of the Realm tasks Captain Vincent Chen with finding a lost operative—a sticky assignment given that the operative is none other than Izzara Neoh. Reuniting (so to speak) with Izzy will lead to more dangers than one for Vincent, and what's coming may turn his world on its head in Mixed Messages by author Steve Rzasa.

So! Is the fourth book in this ChristFic sci-fi series the last one? Perhaps not, since the end of the story leaves room for more to come without cliffhanging, but this book also felt like a heavy handful of goodbyes to me.

Was this my first time feeling all but choked up while reading a Vincent Chen novella? It has some really poignant moments in it...along with some great action, dashes of comedy that don't go overboard with silliness, a little romance, serious questions of faith, and Vincent's signature dry humor.

Yeah, as with the previous books in this series, it took me a while to get into the story, chunks of the science-y narration lost me, and I found some of the technical errors a little distracting, such as the places here and there where quotation marks and small words are missing, and times when Vincent's present-tense narration of his story slips into past tense when it shouldn't. It messes with the "here and now" effect of the storytelling.

But it's been worth it to be along for this overall journey with Vincent. I hope there's more coming for him.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izzy's back and Vincent needs to find her and the Coronado (a lost ship with very valuable cargo) before the enemies find it (his old nemesis from the first novel and the Martian Tiu).

There is a lot of action in this one and some romance. Very good and clean read.