Rawlins' Redemption

Mercenary Navy, Book 1

By: John J. Spearman

Narrated by: Joel Richards

The Union is gone. Interstellar travel is no longer safe. Enter ex-Union Navy Officer Cliff Rawlins.

More than four years after being wrongfully stripped of his rank and decorations in a court-martial stacked against him, ex-Union Navy Officer Cliff Rawlins suddenly finds himself a free man.

The galaxy to which he returns, however, is changing.

The Union of Free Planets is on the verge of dissolving. Many of the shadowy political players working behind the scenes to end the Union are the same people who sent Cliff away. Yet, in the coming political upheaval, Cliff glimpses an opportunity.

For centuries, people have relied upon the Union Navy to act as the policeman of the shipping lanes. With the end of the Union will come the end of the navy. Interstellar commerce is about to become fraught with danger.

Cliff has a way to use his expertise to provide secure transport across interstellar space. A mercenary navy to defend settled space and get rich doing it. After all, he deserves it for what he went through.

But there are enemies old and new who want him to fail. And this time, they want him dead . . .

©2024 John J Spearman (P)2025 Tantor Media

Loved the naval officer turned prisoner turned Admiral!

Loved the 'Admiral', loved the script, was hoping there would be book two, just as I finished it appeared and I bought it. Enjoyed it

mediocre narration. Good story

the narration gets better as you go. but I listened to the whole thing at a 1.4 times speed.
the narrator starts out almost monotone. but by the end there's more distinct voices and actual emotion.
the story is pretty solid. no big surprises. all relations are implied, with no details.

The dreadfully slow pace of the narration and uninspired performance. The story had real potential.

Hated the performance it was slow and unemotional. There was no up or down in his reading and I fell asleep several times

Formual Book

Much of the book read like it was written by AI. The narration was good. The story was fine but not very interesting. It got better toward the end of the book as the world building aspect of the story started to hit its stride. I am going to give the second book a go when it's on sale. Over all, this was a good book but a forgettable listen.

You Stinker, You!!!!!!

The Blankety Blank Blank Author just dropped the most GINORMOUS - BLAZINGLY IRRITATING Cliffhanger in history on me!!!!!
But - the story - and narration - had to be good enough to Dredge that kind of Reaction out of me...
Not only once, But Twice! This is my second time through (I had forgotten the first time).
Good Job Sir! (You little Stinker!) (I hope your ears are burning!!!)
After hundreds of books, it takes a pretty good story to get much of a reaction out of me. You did it.
Yes, I bought all three books in the series - something I rarely do.

The Narration is steady and metered - possibly too much so. Varying the speed can help.
It is, however, good enough to suck me in, get a huge reaction, and make me write a review - again, something I rarely do.
Thanks for a good book. On to book 2.