Dark Run by Mike Brooks

Title: Dark Run (Keiko #1)
Author: Mike Brooks 
Date Read: February 8 2017

Published: May 24 2016 @ Saga Press 
Genre: Adult Sci-Fi

Rating: ⭐⭐½








I really really wish I liked this book more than I did. I tried so hard to like this book more than I did. Because at its core, I feel like this book was basically made for me. Compared to Firefly in all its reviews, Dark Run follows a motley crew of small time criminals as they get wrapped up in a job they can't refuse, whose stakes may be higher than they ever realized. The crew, led by the charismatic Ichabod Drift and his stoic counterpart Tamara Rourke, has one rule among them: never ask about anyone's past. But as the story unfolds, so do the secrets of each members' sordid pasts, leaving the crew reeling and wondering who, if not this found family, they can trust.

This novel started off really strong and the pacing was great. Even when the crew were just sitting around and talking about what they were going to do next, I never felt bored, and the world-building was laid out well. It wasn't the most original concept in the world (there's a reason it's compared to Firefly so often-- it's more or less Firefly fanfiction), and I wasn't super attached to the characters, but I was having fun. The game was laid out, the stakes were high, and we were in for a good romp through space. 

It's just that at a certain point, the story kind of devolved into being really self-indulgent. While the storyline thus far had been setting you up to really feel the fallout of all the secrets that come to light between the crew, there didn't seem to be any consequences whatsoever, and this applied especially to Drift, who basically becomes an agent of wish fulfillment for the rest of the story. Everyone basically forgives him instantly, and he flounces away to go have sex with a space lady and win the day... I wish I were kidding, I really do. The author kind of just expects you to swallow the fact that Drift can get through anything by way of being charming, and I just wasn't buying it. 

I think I am still going to check out the second installment in the Keiko series, Dark Sky, if only because the cover art makes me want to cry, and I'm hoping at least that Brooks can sort his shit out, because I want to like this series. I just need it to feel a little more genuine.