"Rogue Hunter" by Kevis Hunter

---

Zyra Zanr is a woman on a mission. As a bounty hunter, her livelihood depends on her skills in tracking and capturing the worst felons the Three Galaxies has to offer. However, that's just the job she does to keep food in her belly and her ship repaired, and things haven't been going too well on that front. Zyra's real passion is to hunt down the criminal syndicate, Zaragos, that killed her father. It's a passion that will take her on an adventure through space and time. And an adventure that I had a great time sharing with her. I had hesitated buying the book for a while because of the cover. It looked to "video game," or "adolescent male fantasy" for my taste. But I was persuaded to give it a try and once I started, I was hooked.

I'm a traditional science fiction fan, and this book falls into the space opera/action/adventure sub-genre, written by someone with a sly sense of humor and a nice turn of phrase. Zyra is a well-developed character, and the people with whom she interacts are equally well written. The 52nd century universe she lives in is described in enough detail to give the reader a good background against which to watch the action unfold. And the action is wonderful roller-coaster of a ride to keep me on the edge of my seat to find out where it would end.

There are some unresolved issues by the end of the book, but it is billed as the first of a series, so that is to be expected. While this might deter some readers, the book does well as a stand alone.

---