Review: ABSOLUTION (Star Bounty #1) by Rick Partlow
Rick Partlow spent years self-publishing dozens of books before he signed with Aethon, a small press that actually does the hard work of marketing. Now he’s enjoying a well-deserved bit of recognition as he continues to reach new readers with old titles. ABSOLUTION is his latest audio release.
The story
Our MC is Grant Masterson, a former space cop who’s now a space bounty hunter. He’s good at his job and unlike a lot of corrupt types in his line of work, he’s got a moral code. When a new target comes his way, he’s prepared for a run-of-the-mill pickup with a decent payout…until new information comes to light, and he’s got to figure out just how many powerful people he wants to piss off.
The characters
Grant’s our POV character. He’s also got an awesome robot dog (simply named Dog) that looks like a real animal, but has an advanced AI. The two banter with each other really well, and Dog is a good foil for Grant.
I liked that Grant had a moral structure that he didn’t want to violate. (It’s why he’s a former cop.) I especially appreciated his vulnerable moments, his weakness with regard to his ex-wife and estranged son. I half-expected him to be your average hard-boiled emotionally numb action hero, but the fact that he still had emotional sore spots was refreshing.
His primary bounty for this book is a woman named Delia Beckett. She’s serviceable enough as a female lead, her character doesn’t shine through a whole lot until the third act, but she’s got an interesting secret that changes the parameters of Grant’s mission toward her.
The world
We’re many, many years into the future on this one. It’s more like Firefly than anything else—we’ve pushed past Earth, set up camp in the stars, built some space stations, and we’ve got a general sort of intergalactic Union going for us.
But in the poorer parts of the poorer worlds, crime runs rampant, and that’s where Grant makes his money. The setting was advanced enough but still similar to a lot of the problems we face in 2022 (corporations buying up all the housing, for example). Partlow struck a good balance.
The politics
Nothing from our world. All of the in-world politics are related to corruption in government and law enforcement. Standard fare.
Content warning
Lots of language and sensual references. (A few key scenes take place in a robot brothel, for example, though the main characters are never actually there for sex. Partlow shows a lot of creativity with a grungy setting.)
Who’s it for?
Fans of military sci-fi and space opera, without the aliens.
Why read it?
Partlow has a really good pulp series going here. It’s fast, it’s interesting, and it doesn’t drag on and on. Mind you this one ends on a cliffhanger, but still has a satisfying arc, and does its job of getting the reader interested in book two.