Driving the Deep

March 23, 2020
Palmer’s spaceborne repo man Fergus Ferguson returns in this lighthearted star-skipping adventure through a futuristic solar system (after Finder). Fergus is on Earth for the first time in years when he learns that his friends, a team of engineers who man the shipyard on Pluto, have been kidnapped for their scientific expertise. He tracks them to Enceladus, a watery moon of Saturn, where they are being held hostage. Fergus goes undercover to gather intel, taking a job as the pilot of an underwater vessel and making many allies (and a handful of enemies) along the way. Humor and action abound as the rescue mission unfolds, but the large cast is underdeveloped, and Fergus’s underwater long hauls slow the pace. Fergus makes an endearing hero as he fights for those he cares about, but his special ability to produce electricity—granted by alien bioware installed in his body in the previous book—is overused, conveniently getting him out of one too many jams. This serviceable entry maintains the series’ charm but loses some of its momentum. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky Literary.