Tall Order

Shadow Host, Book 1

De: K. Gorman

Narrado por: Erin Bateman

Join this ragtag crew in their quest for justice in a rollicking science fiction adventure across the galaxy.

Some people need a little extra help out of an airlock. At gunpoint.

Reuben Shirano is the worst kind of criminal: smart, ruthless, and with no lines he won't cross. He runs a tight, sophisticated operation backed by the powerful Tsai-Shirano conglomerate, proving time and time again to be untouchable by the system’s governing bodies.

In other words, he’s precisely the type of person Captain Soo-jin Dokgo tries to avoid.

But sometimes, you only get one little chance to bring an asshole to justice. She and the crew of Huli Jing are determined to bring him down and kick him where it hurts.

And if they get some money for their trouble? All the better.

Tall Order is the first book in a new series by bestseller K Gorman, author of The Eurynome Code. It contains one snarky, foul-mouthed captain, her butt-kicking crew, plenty of scifi action, and some questionable decisions.

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Soo-Jin is back in this gripping thriller!

Tall Order is the first in the Shadow Host series, following Captain Soo-Jin Dokgo. Tall Order takes place approximately 10yrs after the events from the Eurynome Code. The Alliance and Fallan Empire’s have come to a peace agreement after the events in this galaxy following on from the ‘Shadow War’. Soo-Jin is now the Captain of the Huli-Jing, with her friend and Co-Pilot, Zan. They are a former military specialist, who now just wants a bit of quiet life (supposedly!). Together the two of them work jobs in salvage, stripping old sites, and moving it around. Soo-Jin deals a lot in antiques, having studied archaeology, she can identify good deals. They also help out those in trouble, like rescuing people and taking them to the sanctuary that Soo-Jin herself grew up at.
At the start of Tall Order, the crew of the Hula-Jing find themselves caught up with a job that has gone sideways with a pirate-trader Lamar Jones that Soo-Jin knows. Meant to be a simple trade, it turns into something darker. When the crew find themselves in a bit of trouble, we are introduced to the Hula-Jing’s third crew member, Bob – a Shadow. The Shadows are trans-dimensional beings, they were trapped and used to attack others during the Shadow War, not only being used against their will, but then being killed, resulting in millions of their kind dying. Eventually Karin Makos freed them, and worked out that they were not the enemy.
Bob lives on the Hula-Jing, part time, the other part, he lives in his own dimension.
Once they deal with the pirate problem, Soo-Jin receives a call from an old friend, Commander Ji-Hun Baik. Baik was another veteran of the Shadow War, and not only saved Soo-Jin’s life, he was stabbed in the throat with her knife. She has had a crush on him from the first moment she saw him, as he is not just devastatingly good looking, but he has the charisma, charm and personality to back up the good looks.
Baik needs help though. He has discovered a human-trafficking ring operating out of the station he works from (Marduk Station). Reuben Shirano is very rich, rich enough to own his own space station that he has modified to look like his home planet (including smells and winds). But Shirano traffics in humans, his last shipment went wrong, and he left a container of people in space, to die slowly from thirst, hunger or eventually the elements, after he turned off everything. Now he has another 38 people in a container, and the race is on to save them.
However, there is no way into his organisation, except one. Soo-Jin Dokgo.
Her past, her current work, and her education all make her the perfect person to infiltrate his organisation, and get the information they need. There are two major problems, one of course is that she could be discovered and either killed or sold off as a slave. The other, far worse for Soo-Jin, is that they will discover that her Father, the head of a Korean purist cult that believes in keeping the bloodline pure, and is part of a generational legacy that has set up a planetary ‘cult’ to keep their ‘family line’ pure, wants her back as breeding stock to continue the family line. He has a bounty on her head.
Soo-Jin of course, takes the job – knowing that those people are either slaves or dead if she doesn’t help them.
And thus begins a very dangerous job. Baik has a select team of specialists to help her, with high tech equipment to infiltrate Shirano’s organisation. Zan initially joins Soo-Jin given their military background.
What follows is an intense, sometimes brutal, very realistic and gritty story as Soo-Jin falls down the rabbit hole. I don’t want to give away any spoilers as the remainder of the story is brilliant.
I will add a warning though. There are some triggers in this book, strong sexual violence, torture, abduction, strong language. I will add that it is done in the context of the book, Soo-Jin swears a lot, but it’s her character. They are going after a slaver sex-ring, there is going to be aspects of sexual violence etc. Gorman has done it tastefully and thoughtfully, the story has its moments in which it is brutal, graphic and realistic, but it is also an incredibly captivating and powerful story, one that once you pick up, you find you can’t put down either.
Tall Order is a clever and engaging character driven start to the Shadow Host series that is a thrill-ride from the opening sequence to the very end.
If you liked Eurynome Code, then you will love Tall Order, it’s an absolute must read!
Erin Bateman is a fantastic Narrator with a really great voice to listen to. She has a great range of both male and female voices, with a clear and concise voice, and distinct voices for each character. Bateman also provides the emotional state of each of the characters as she tells the story, so that you know how the characters are feeling as the story unfolds, whether that be happy or sad, angry, elated, or in Soo-Jin’s case, most likely about to do someone harm.
Bateman is really wonderful, and brings this story to life. It is absolutely worth the listen, not just for the exceptional story this is, but for the outstanding Narration that Bateman provides!

Now we're talkin! What a great Space Opera!

Now we're talkin! This is the kinda Space Opera I love. The story's filled with Pirates good and bad. A woman Soo Jin on the ship the Hulli Jing and her crew of three Zan, and a Shadow Bob. Bob he has some purdy amazing skills and he's her ace! Baik a paragon... well at least in Soo Jin's eyes, an alliance man. And of course the antagonist Shirano. A man with too much money for his own good and a human trafficker, to boot. Soo Jin is gonna stop him no matter the cost to her, but she has her ace!
So yeah go grab the book or even better get the audiobook because Erin Bateman is a great narrator.

Great, A Lot of Action in this Story

Warning if swearing (alot) by main character bothers you, then this is NOT the book for you. The main character Sue-jin is a interesting and in her opinion broken type woman with many faults. She would do anything for or to help her crew, and protect any innocent people from harm. Narrator does a Great job with the various character voices and with the entire storyline.