Core Punch

An Uneasy Future

By: Pauline Baird Jones

Narrated by: Diane Gelwix Somers

Spinning off The Big Uneasy series and with a guest appearance from Project Enterprise....

A kiss may be all they have life expectancy for.

When an intergalactic cop exchange program serves up an alien partner for NONPD Detective Violet Baker, she can't help wishing the handsome alien would be a little less Joe Friday about keeping the pleasure out of their business. Yeah, he's kind of purple and she can't pronounce his name to save her life, but he's almost the only guy in the New Orleans New police department that she's not related to.

Dzholh "Joe" Ban!drn has come a long way hunting the evil that has infiltrated Vi's floating city. When he meets his charming partner, he discovers another reason to stamp out evil. If only he wasn't keeping so many secrets from her....

When an epic hurricane heads their way, they are sent dirt side to New Orleans Old (NOO) on a rescue mission. But murder and sabotage strands them in the heart of the raging storm.

As they fight for their lives, Joe realizes that the evil he's hunting is actually hunting them....

©2014 Pauline Baird Jones (P)2015 Pauline Baird Jones

Fight a storm to safety but also a secret enemy

Would you recommend Core Punch to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend to a friend that is looking for a low action read with great care of details.

The beginning is packed full with information for us to get acclimated to the world we are in. There are changes to New Orleans, and I think it all would be a great idea to do in real life! There are lots of descriptions of the world, weather, and characters. It's not action packed, fighting type story. The characters fight the weather to do their job and solve the dead body they found. Joe fights internally with Lurch on who is possessed by their enemy.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Diane narrates with natural pauses and upturn in tones that make the characters feel true to their forms. We get voice differences for Joe, Vi, and Lurch. Vi has a slight accent and Lurch has a bit of a scratchy, screechy voice. Diane did a good job at vocalizing the characters with feelings in voices. There is a short section that is repeated toward the end of chapter 7.

Any additional comments?

This is a romantic scifi read. We do get moments focusing on their attraction to each other. The beginning held a lot of description of the world and the attraction of the partners. But then we get into the story as they battle against the storm to get to safety, the attraction is put on the back burner along with the dead body they found. It felt like a long journey to get through the storm for me. I know there is an "enemy" of Lurch out there, but we don't get details of who that might be or why until the very end.

I did smile at the initials of the storms name, even when it was said that Joe had to be explained the meaning by Lurch.

I think I would have preferred to read this story. I could take my time with the world building and the suspense in their blooming relationship. Also, my mind would wonder in scenes that felt they were drawn out to long for me, then I'd hear something important to I'd rewind to catch it.

Narration lead to DNF of audio version

Series Info: #1 of 2 in the “An Uneasy Future” duology. (There may be additional books written regarding this time and place in the future.)

This is a meeting of “The Big Uneasy” and “Project Enterprise” series. I have read and enjoyed several books in the PE series, but haven’t read anything from tBU.

Narration: Disliked / Overdramatic / Lurch’s voice was unpleasant / Not familiar with the New Orleans accents, so I don’t know if these were accurate, but I couldn’t listen to them.

I DNF'd the Audiobook, and instead switched to an ebook copy.

I did not enjoy this book as much as the previous PE ones. Beyond my problems with the narrator, I believe that my main issue was that I expected a complete story and didn’t get one. The past books I read by this author all wrapped up the story of the main couple in a single book, while carrying one or more plot arcs into future books.

I liked both the hero & heroine and do plan to read the sequel. That may change my opinion of the whole.