eBook Review: Gabriel’s Redemption by Steve Umstead
I don’t know if you knew this or not, but I’m sort of a science fiction fan. I know, hard to believe. I grew up watching sci-fi flicks, reading sci-fi comics and books and generally soaking up every bit of science-related fiction I could get my hands on. Having said all that, however, I have to admit it’s been a bit longer between sci-fi reads than I’m used to. Fortunately for me, I use Twitter.
Steve Umstead is one of my contacts on Twitter, and he recently stopped by my blog and asked if I’d be kind enough to read and review his science fiction eBook Gabriel’s Redemption. “Are you kidding me?” I thought. Of course I would be. And, having read through this eBook on my iPad and iPhone as a ePub file, I can say I’m glad I got the chance.
Gabriel’s Redemption takes place in humankind’s future, after we’ve managed to figure out distant space travel and have begun colonization of planets far and wide. Evan Gabriel, the protagonist of this story, is a disgraced and dishonored former North American Federation Naval Commander living in the back-alley world of Jamaica. Gabriel had been a highly-valued member of the Special Forces community until the situation arose for a corrupt superior officer to use him as a scapegoat for insidious plots. The story opens up as Gabriel is visited by members of the NAF and subsequently re-activated to special forces duty for a unique mission.
The story starts out fast-paced, and doesn’t let up throughout. Gabriel is soon thrust back into the fray and offered redemption for his past “transgressions” by the man who was responsible for his downfall, now Vice Admiral Llewelyn MacFarland. The Admiral spins a horrific tale of drug runners heartlessly killing the indigenous population of Poliahu (one of the sparsely-colonized planets outside our own solar system) to harvest a portion of their brains to make one of the most potent recreational drugs known to man. Gabriel is then placed with a new special forces unit in preparation for the journey to Poliahu and for the confrontation with the drug runners. As you can imagine, the story isn’t as straightforward as Admiral MacFarland played it out to be, and things never go as planned.
Without delving too much into specific plot details, one thing that this eBook does and does well is that it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the storyline, and it’s equally difficult to put down because the pace is speedy enough to keep your attention. In fact, if I had to lodge one complaint, I’d have to say that the story seemed too short. It’s not because the story is actually short, it’s because there are rarely breaks in the action and I found myself reluctant to “shelve it for the night!”
Gabriel’s Redemption has a classic espionage feel (resurrecting an old nemesis for the main character, maybe?), mixed with good old science fiction savvy. You’ll also find some great references to Naval ships and such named after current-day persons (such as the NAFS Richard Marcinko, CAS-408, named after former U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. Commander and author of “Rogue Warrior”), as well as great descriptions of the special forces battle armor, weapons and tactics used during the book’s action sequences. Steve Umstead definitely did his homework and the result is a rich, involved plot laced with subtle comedic relief and topped with a healthy ladle of bravado.
If you’re into military-based espionage or military science fiction, Gabriel’s Redemption will not disappoint. Now, I eagerly await the next in the series!!
[...] Navy, is a complex individual. You can read my review of book 1 in the Evan Gabriel series here, in which I describe his character a bit more, but suffice it to say that Evan is a tough-as-nails, [...]
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