Review: Threading the Needle by Monalisa Foster

“Over the Mountains/Of the Moon/Down the Valley of the Shadow/Ride, boldly ride/…If you seek for Eldorado.” – Edgar Allen Poe

Talia Merritt, a former sniper who lost her arm and now has a prosthetic replacement for it, became an indentured servant for seven years on the planet of Goruden, where she worked as a bodyguard. Having finally earned the money to buy her freedom, when a call comes in for a firearms instructor on the island of Tatarka, she leaves the city of Sakura and goes to answer the advertisement.

But all is not as it seems, and Signore Ferran Contesti’s advertisement was less than truthful. Talia learns this when her old friend, Lyle Monroe, meets her in the Full Moon bath house while she is relaxing after a month’s worth of travel to get to Tatarka and the town of Tsurui. Lyle is the local sheriff appointed by the Tsurui residents to deal with Contesti, who is trying to buy out or destroy the first settlers in Tsurui and is making life miserable for the other locals.

So much for the relaxing bath – and the remainder of Talia’s funds.

This book will be available for purchase December 5, 2023.

The Story

Lyle explains that Contesti’s aim is to chase out, buy out, or otherwise destroy the Haricot family, one of the first to settle in Tatarka. A previous attempt to colonize Goruden failed before the Haricots arrived, and the deceased patriarch of the Haricot clan thought he knew why: A fungus bloom that recurs on an unknown cycle killed all the plant life, which led to mass starvation for the settlers and the animals. The initial terraforming of Goruden missed the fungus and while most bigwigs back on Earth think it will not recur, Haricot was certain it would. Haricot’s wife, Dame Leigh Stark, has kept the family on track to finish his work since his death and they seem to be close to a breakthrough that will prevent the bloom from occurring again. It all depends on the genetically bred cattle they raise on their extensive ranch.

Several people have tried to steal the Haricots’ cattle to learn their secret. They have all failed, but Contesti has influence and power the others did not. He wants that genetic design, and he is willing to kill to get it. He hired Talia to go up against Lyle, not to teach his hired guns to shoot.

Talia owes Lyle her life and, moreover, considers him a good friend. She would no more fight him than she would her own brother and tells him she will leave – after she has seen Contesti to terminate their deal. Escorted to Contesti’s ranch by a friend of Lyle’s, a widow named Maeve York, Talia refuses the wealthy man’s offer. Contesti is not pleased but he lets her go, and now Talia must figure out how to get back to Sakura on what remains of her hard-earned money.

While riding to the next town over to take the stagecoach back to the boat so she can go to the city, she encounters one of the Haricot boys. An accident in the wilderness leaves him with a broken leg and Talia sets it, but on the way back to the Haricot homestead, the boy dies. Talia brings his body home to a displeased Dame Leigh Stark, who blames Talia for her grandson’s death. Talia explains what happened but, before she can leave, she is assaulted by the dead boy’s younger angry and grieving younger brother. The boy hits her in the back of the head, causing her to pass out not long after because he hit the implant for her prosthetic arm. When she finally manages to see a cyberneticist, she learns the damage will result in the loss of functionality for her prosthetic if she does not get the implant replaced.

This becomes a problem when a new hire for Contesti, Jerod Rhodes, meets her in Sakura and casually informs her that Lyle has become a drunk. Rhodes has scars on his face, high society manners and clothing, and he carries a sword. More than that, though, he has a superior attitude and confidence in his assertions that sets Talia’s nerves singing. With Lyle, Maeve, and the rest of Tsurui in trouble, Talia needs to choose: Stay in Sakura and earn enough money to repair her prosthetic, or go save her friends. The only question is, will she make the right choice in time?

The characters

Talia is a perfect vehicle for this story. A sniper with a past, she keeps her word and shoots to kill only when she must, but most civilians and even those in her own profession cannot always tell that from a first or even a tenth glance at her. Snipers walk a fine line, and she has so many kills to her name that she was given the moniker “Death’s Handmaiden.” Loyal to the point she lost her arm for a friend, Talia will go to great lengths to maintain her freedom – and greater ones to safeguard the lives and freedom of others.

A fellow former sniper, Lyle has a difficult relationship with Talia since she saved his life in the past. He respects and loves her as a sister but this means she frustrates him in ways no other woman would. The sheriff also has a weakness for redheads that gets him in more than one kind of trouble, and he is none too pleased with himself after Talia and their friends sober him up. Yet when the chips are down, it is difficult to find a steadier presence for the heroine and others to rely upon.

Jerod Rhodes is a madman in love with death, certain that he can win the favor of a death goddess whom he believes takes a new human form each time her previous incarnation is killed. He wants to be this goddess’ next vessel and he is willing to kill or have others kill for him to achieve this goal. Rhodes is a cobra, calm and intent on satiating his lust by any means necessary, no matter the cost to his employer or his opponents. This lover of death has just met her Handmaiden, and he is sure that this time he has what he needs to acquire his wish.

The world

The world supersedes that of Joss Whedon’s Firefly in several ways, but particularly in how it blends American Old West culture with Japanese culture into a harmonious and colorful whole. Goruden is a planet of great beauty with flora and fauna which might kill a man if he isn’t careful. The city of Sakura, the capital, is small but vivid, and it has pretentions to be a grand capitol on this Earth colony. Meanwhile Tsurui has the sweet benediction of a small town that likes itself just as it is, though it doesn’t mind growing a little when newcomers arrive to settle in. Half the fun of the novel is getting lost in Goruden, which is practically a character itself, and it lingers in a reader’s mind long after the last page is turned.

The politics

The politics are “small government, please, thank you, and go away.” They fit the story but will inevitably be seen by some as a jab at modern pretensions rather than a reminder for the ages. These are the only politics in the novel.

Content warning

The F-bomb appears several times, and the MF-bomb gets dropped at least once. There is substance abuse, too, but it is not portrayed as acceptable or good. Mentions of sex and prostitution pop up but are easily skipped. At least one mercy kill is described and while the story does not linger on it, some might find it upsetting. Other than that, Threading the Needle is a PG-13 book and mature teenagers can gloss over the language just fine.

Who is it for?

Readers who enjoy space opera, space westerns, and fans of Firefly will LOVE this book. Western aficionados will especially appreciate it, particularly if they liked the John Wayne film El Dorado, which helped to inspire Threading the Needle. This is the type of space opera and western once ubiquitous in pop culture and which could stand to be resurrected, so those who want that type of tale to return to the wider culture would do well to pick up this book. Fans of Leigh Brackett will also love the book for paying homage to the queen of science fiction, and anyone who wants a pulse-pounding adventure is sure to like the increasing tension as the story rushes to its conclusion. The novel is absorbing and makes one quickly forget the outside world, so for those looking for even a little respite from the present, Threading the Needle is a good place to find it.

Why read it?

If you want something beautiful and fun to read, you would do well to grab Threading the Needle as soon as it becomes available. This is space opera with Japanese flair and Western archetypes at its best. Don’t wait, go put it on your wish list today or mark your calendar for December 5, 2023, to purchase it when it goes live!