Darkside

A Novel

By: Michael Mammay

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

In this thrilling, action-packed fourth installment in the Planetside series from acclaimed science fiction author Michael Mammay, retired Colonel Carl Butler gears up for another military investigation, full of danger, corporate intrigue, and tech people would kill for—perfect for fans of John Scalzi and Craig Alanson.

Colonel Butler has paid his dues and just wants to enjoy his retirement on a remote planet. But the galaxy has had other plans. He has been roped into searching for a politician’s missing son and an industry magnate’s missing daughter. He has been kidnapped, violated numerous laws, and caused the destruction of colonial facilities. He’s famous—or infamous, depending on who you ask—praised and reviled in equal measure across the galaxy for his exploits.

And he is determined to never let the government drag him into another investigation.

But when a runaway twelve-year-old girl whose father has gone missing asks him for help, well…it’s a lot harder to say no.

The girl’s father, Jorge Ramiro, was supposed to have been on Taug, a moon orbiting the gas giant Ridia 5, working on a dig with a famous archaeologist. But now there’s no sign of him and no record of him being there. Mining operations on the moon are run by two different consortiums, Caliber and Omicron—both of which have tried to kill Butler in the past. Butler doesn’t believe in coincidence.

Landing on Taug with his right-hand man Mac, computer genius Ganos, and an elite security squad, Butler soon finds that they’ve charged back into the crosshairs—because Ramiro is not the only who has disappeared, and the perpetual darkside of this moon is hiding more than the truth about a missing archaeologist…

©2024 Michael Mammay (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Absolutely awesome

I loved this book. It grabbed me early, and kept me engaged all the way through. I never felt bored, I never felt like there was any fluff. To the point and very entertaining.

Make sure to listen to all of Michael Mammays stuff. it all is excellent.
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Awesome sci-fi, mystery

A great addition to an awesome series.
such a smooth, easy to follow writing style. I love the mystery aspect of this sci-fi series.

good but ending just so-so

really appreciated giving a synopsis at the beginning of the book for the previous 3 in the series. wish more authors did this! sometime we wait a year in between books and usually don't have time to relisten to the previous one. Just for that, would bump this from a 4 star to 5 star, worth the extra star!

the star of this audibook as always was Lord Bray. Especially knowing his voice surgery now and scaled back work, it's an even better treat to hear Mr. Bray. once again well done!

I hate spoilers so won't give any away other than to say the ending was rather meh...perhaps mammay went for a "real life" style ending where not everything gets wrapped in a perfect nice bow. that's cool, but there was a lot left unresolved. again that's probably realistic. but at the same time these books are also an escape from reality and there has to be a good balance to feel like a book leaves you feeling like it was time well spent. whether reading or listening. to me if this was done better, married resolution, since each of these entries isn't 1 over-arching story...but rather more episodic, concluding the book/episode stronger or with more resolution I think would help the story and time spent feel more satisfying. FWIW, just my 2 cents.

final verdict: enjoyable but "only" 4 stars for story, 5 stars for the performance, and 5 stars overall (bumped up by the synopsis for previous 3 books). well done but not quite perfection ;)

I love this series.

I am hopeful for another book. The story on this one was really good. I love butler’s team as well. Really great listen

A little short

Love the characters and story, but it felt like it was a little shorter than it could have been.

Slow mystery to start, builds, reveals, action.

Slow mystery to start, builds, reveals, action. Likeable characters, more like a space western / murder mystery. I like the negotiating scenes with internal tips on lying, withholding info, and bluffing. Overall, good characters but a bit short run time.

Another great book!!

Enjoyable series, truly enjoy the character development. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

I'll buy the next one, too, but...

I enjoyed it and will read the next one, if there is one. Having a character named Alanson here while "Weps!" in ExForce is named Mammay, with RC Bray as the common thread, is fun. Carl Butler often feels like what a crusty mid-fifties Joe Bishop might have been. The other characters and storyline keep things moving and are very engaging. The ending in this one was not as challenging and thought-provoking as some of the other endings in the series have been. Maybe Carl made the right call at the end. Maybe it was just as tough a call, requiring a LOT of maturity. But it just wasn't that interesting.

Not bad.

This was an easy listen. A little predictable in some places , but definately worth the credit.

Start for the narrator...say for the sci-fi noir.

it is not your standard military sci-fi. It comes off as the evolution of a crime noir series. Butler and crew are fun and things might not always go as expected. Highly recommend. The series is on my pre-order list!