Dark Horse

Class 5 Series, Book 1

By: Michelle Diener

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Some secrets carry the weight of the world.

Rose McKenzie may be far from Earth with no way back, but she's made a powerful ally - a fellow prisoner with whom she's formed a strong bond. Sazo's an artificial intelligence. He's saved her from captivity and torture, but he's also put her in the middle of a conflict, leaving Rose with her loyalties divided.

Captain Dav Jallan doesn't know why he and his crew have stumbled across an almost legendary Class 5 battleship, but he's not going to complain. The only problem is, all its crew are dead - all except for one strange, new alien being.

She calls herself Rose. She seems small and harmless, but less and less about her story is adding up, and Dav has a bad feeling his crew, and maybe even the four planets, are in jeopardy. The Class 5's owners, the Tecran, look set to start a war to get it back and Dav suspects Rose isn't the only alien being who survived what happened on the Class 5. And whatever else is out there is playing its own games.

In this race for the truth, he's going to have to go against his leaders and trust the dark horse.

Winner of a SFR Galaxy Award 2016 and the Prism Award 2016 for Best Futuristic.

©2015 Michelle Diener (P)2016 Podium Publishing

Surprisingly great listen!

I wasn’t sure what to make of a romantic space opera and was pleasantly surprised with a great story, clever AI interactions, and a small amount of romance that really only lasts half a chapter and adds rather than distracts from the story. I especially enjoyed how singing is a sought after characteristic and something truly special humans can offer an alien society. This listen is really a lot of fun and holds its own in the space opera genre.

AI/Human story

Interesting story line between an AI, human and an abduction by “people” from other worlds.

Loved this book

Loved the writing and now love the audio version. I can’t get enough of this series and have reread them several times

Great story, wonderful narration

I enjoyed the different earth abduction story. It starts with the escape of the main character and an AI. The plot thickens as the history of AI on the civilizations unfolds. There were a lot of exciting twists and turns. Look forward to reading the whole series.

Excellent story with perfect narration

The story was very well written, great character development, and perfect narration bringing it all together.

great new heroine

Never underestimate the human, or her friendship building skills. This book has it all, a very well written and well rounded story. looking for the next in the series.

loved the story

I loved the story and the character development, but the whole beautiful woman getting rescued by a big strapping man in a position of power is a little too cliché.
why does it always have to be the captain that she falls for why not someone else or no one at all you can have a great story without that cliché.
Also, the story seemed a little rushed in some spots.

Amazing

One of the best stories I've heard in awhile. five Stars Highly recommend! Wonderful narration , characters and universe .

Surprised

Ok, I'd seen this book referenced many times and just never got around to checking it out until now. It's surprisingly well done without the writing and narrating frills. Dark Horse is worth the time if you enjoy sci-fi romance. You'll feel even better about the story if you can get it on sale or special;-))

This book was FANTASTIC.

This is such a unique concept. I love the interactions of the characters. Very well-done storyline.