Ghostdrift (Suzanne Palmer)

Ghostdrift
The Finder Chronicles, Book 4
Suzanne Palmer
DAW
Fiction, Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: Fergus Ferguson, a man with a knack for finding lost things, has spent the past few years in glorious anonymity, serving tea by the seaside of a nondescript world... and he couldn't be more bored. Granted, life had gotten a little too hectic for a while, what with dealing with impossible alien implants and having a bounty on his head from the powerful Alliance (not to mention numerous other organizations), but there are only so many cups of bitter tea (a metaphor for life, naturally) one can brew for tourists before monotony sets in. In a way, he was glad to see an old friend turn up at last - until that friend hands him (and his pet cat, Mister Feefs) over to the notorious pirate Bas Belos of the Sidewinder.
Instead of cashing him in for the bounty, Belos has another task in mind. Some years ago, his twin sister and fellow pirate captain Bel and her ship, the Rattler, went missing in a remote stretch of dead space known as the Barrens, while being chased by Alliance cruisers. If she'd been captured, there would have been chatter, and if she'd been destroyed, there would have been debris, but the Rattler and her pursuers just... disappeared. Ever since, Bas has searched for answers and come up with nothing. Posing as "Vetch", a new member of the Sidewinder's crew, Fergus is to turn his prodigal finding talents toward discovering what happened to Bel - and whom the pirates should take their vengeance upon. If he succeeds, he'll be rewarded with one of the pallai: rare, mysterious, self-aware alien AI devices Fergus has been tracking down across the galaxy. If he fails... well, Bas Belos's reputation is not that of a forgiving man.
Little does Fergus suspect just what lies ahead - a mystery far older and deeper than one missing pirate ship, one that will take him far into unknown reaches of space and pit him against new enemies.

REVIEW: The fourth and final installment of Fergus Ferguson's galactic adventures delivers another space romp full of wonder, danger, new allies and enemies, and more deep mysteries of the galaxy, with a little humor thrown in now and again lest the whole become too weighty.
With little lag time, the tale kicks off early, with few reminders along the way of Fergus's previous adventures (and their fallout). Once more, he finds himself caught up in yet another adventure - and, once more, it's not particularly against his will. He enjoys the challenge, and is never kept down or discouraged for long before a certain innate optimism and curiosity drives him to get back up and take another run at whatever problem lies before him. The crew of the Sidewinder is hardly the most disreputable group of people he's had to work with, though his arrival is not without a little friction, particularly with the suspicious intelligence officer Marsh. Soon enough, Fergus is on the trail across the Barrens, a stretch of space with a suspiciously large number of dead worlds and stars that's long been a haven for illicit activities... and which holds a number of secrets, including one that lands Fergus and the Sidewinder in much greater danger than any of them anticipated. Along the way, he is again visited by the inhuman "agent" of the highly advanced aliens who gave Fergus his peculiar new "organ", which lets him sense electrical fields and even release controlled charges; the fact that the aliens are once more taking an interest in his activities is a near-certain sign that there's a much bigger problem for Fergus to unravel, and a much bigger threat. It builds up nicely to a suitably wild climax, and a conclusion that leaves the door open for more installments. I've enjoyed this series greatly, a nice balance of old-school space adventure and sense of wonder with refreshingly updated characters and writing.

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